How do I claim a tuition tax deduction?

Today, few people do not know about the opportunity provided by the state to return part of the money paid for education. These funds are nothing more than personal income tax paid for you by your employer.

The state grants the right to its return to citizens. But what documents to collect for this and what conditions to comply with will be discussed in this article.

Tuition tax deduction

A tuition tax refund is a certain type of tax preference, expressed in the return by the state of the personal income tax withheld by the employer from the employee's salary, but in a certain percentage of the amount paid.

This means that only 13% of the cost of training will be returned to you.

In this case, the resulting amount should not exceed the total amount of tax transferred by the organization and withheld from your salary.

The conditions for receiving a refund are:

• The provision of a tax deduction is regulated by the Tax Code, article 219 of which contains an indication of the mandatory condition for granting a deduction: the educational institution where you receive educational services must have state accreditation and a license;
• Another condition for making a deduction is the receipt of official wages and, of course, deductions to the budget of income tax in the amount of 13%;
• In addition, you can receive not only funds paid for your own education, but the money spent on the education of close relatives: children, brothers, sisters who have not reached the age of 24 years.

Who is eligible for a deduction?

So, the following persons are allowed to receive a deduction for training:

• Officially working citizens whose employer transfers income tax in the amount of 13% to the budget for them;
• Persons who have entered into an agreement for the provision of educational services with institutions, who have received state accreditation, as well as a license to carry out this activity;
• When teaching children, sister or brother, agreement with the educational institution and checks for payment must be issued in your name.

The amount of the deduction for self-tuition

The refundable amount is determined based on the payment you made for your tuition in the calendar year.

However, there is a maximum amount, which is calculated according to the threshold established by the Tax Code of 120,000 rubles.

You can return no more than 13% of this value per year, or 15,600 rubles.

In addition, it is impossible to return an amount greater than the amount of income tax paid for the year. This is also an essential condition, as income tax is usually paid on a larger scale.

The amount of the deduction is automatically calculated in the tax return preparation program and amounts to 13% of the amount paid for training, not more than 15,600 rubles and not more than the amount of personal income tax paid for the corresponding year.

The amount of the deduction for the education of a child, brother, sister ...

When paying for a child's education, there are several rules:

• Contract for the provision of educational services and documents payment must be made out to you;
• One child can be refunded no more than 6,500 rubles;
• According to one's own education and the child's education, the calculation of the amount returns are handled separately.

This means that if you and your child study at the same time, then you can issue deductions for each. At the same time, the threshold of 120,000 rubles will also be available to both of you.

Required documents and procedure for registration

In order to receive a tax deduction for the education of children or your own, you need to collect a lot of documents.

Here is a list of them:

• photocopy of passport(first page and sheet with the seal of registration at the place of residence);
• a copy of the TIN certificate;
• contract for the provision of educational services with additional agreements, If there are any;
• a copy of the license and certificate of state accreditation educational institution;
• payment documents(payment orders, payment receipts, cash receipts, etc.);
• payroll form 2-personal income tax;
• form declaration 3-personal income tax;
• if the deduction is made for the education of a relative, you will need papers confirming the degree of relationship.

When contacting the tax office, the originals of all documents must be with you, since an employee of this service will be required to certify each copy by checking it with the source.

The declaration in the form 3-NDFL can be filled in the tax by hand, or prepare in advance at home in a special program, freely available on the official website of the tax service. Each sheet must be signed by the applicant and the date of application.

It is better to put down the date already at the time of filing the declaration with the attached documents, verified by a tax officer so as not to reprint it if suddenly the papers are not accepted.

The tax authority is given 3 months to verify the submitted documentation and make a decision- make a payment or refuse to pay it. Within 10 days after a positive decision is made, the funds must be credited to the applicant's personal account.

So after 3 months(sometimes at the time of filing) must write an application in which you must specify the details for the transfer of funds.

You can track the progress of the decision and the return of funds through the taxpayer's personal account, all on the same official website of the tax office.

To register on the portal, you need to contact a tax specialist who will conduct the initial registration, issue a login and a temporary password, using which you can enter your personal account for the first time.

At the first visit, you need to change the primary password to a combination of numbers and letters that is more convenient for you.

Remember: this procedure is required. If you do not change your password within a month, your personal account will be blocked, and in order to restore access, you will need to visit the tax authorities again, and this is additional time. Write down your username and password in a notepad so you don't forget and always have access. So you can check not only the progress of the 13% refund case at any time, but also see other tax charges, such as transport tax, property tax and others.

The statute of limitations or for what period you can return the tax

The refund of the money paid for studies is carried out separately for each year in which the payment was made. At the same time, papers are accepted after its expiration, that is, in the year following it.

It is better to issue a return sequentially, immediately after the next year, but you can submit documents later.

In this case, it should be remembered that the social tax deduction has a statute of limitations, which is 3 years.

Thus, you can apply for income tax refund for the previous 3 years, not earlier.

Carefully follow the deadlines, collect and submit documents in a timely manner and receive a deduction - after all, this is a right given by the state, the refusal of which can only affect your financial well-being.