Are you paying for your own education or for your child's education? Do you attend paid courses of additional education or at a driving school? Then you have the opportunity to receive a tax deduction for education. From this article you will find out who is granted a deduction, and what needs to be done to apply for it.
What is a tax deduction
If you are employed and pay thirteen percent income tax, you are eligible under certain circumstances to claim a tax deduction.A tax deduction is an amount with which it is allowed not to pay personal income tax. As part of the deduction, you can return part of the taxes already paid or receive “tax holidays” for a certain period.
The basis for receiving a tuition deduction is the expenses incurred when paying for your own education or the education of your child, brother or sister.
Who can get a deduction
Tax benefits are provided only to those citizens who pay personal income tax, while the deduction is made from the taxes actually withheld. There is no deduction for non-working pensioners and students, as they do not receive a salary and do not pay taxes.You can get a tax break both for your own education and for the education of your children, wards, brothers or sisters under the age of 24 years. If you are making a deduction for your education, it does not matter at what age you received it.
Other relatives cannot claim compensation. So, if a grandfather or grandmother paid for the education of their grandson, they will not be given a deduction. Also, the benefit is not provided if the child's education was paid for from maternity capital.
Both parents have the right to receive a deduction for the child's education, but the amount from which the tax can be returned should not exceed a total of 50,000 rubles. for each child for both parents.
What training is deductible?
Compensation is provided when paying for any training in organizations providing educational services. At the same time, there is no difference whether it is a state institution or a commercial one, Russian or foreign.It can be:
- general educational institutions of any level: universities, colleges, private kindergartens and schools, etc.;
- music, art, sports schools;
- additional education courses: driving, foreign languages, etc.
The license details are usually contained in the service agreement. If they are not listed there, a copy of the license itself will be required, which the institution must issue upon request. If you plan to apply for a tuition tax credit, ask in advance if the organization or individual entrepreneur has the appropriate license.
The requirement for a license does not apply only to individual entrepreneurs who personally provide educational services, provided that information about their activities is reflected in the unified state register of individual entrepreneurs.
When making a deduction for your own education, it does not matter whether you studied full-time or part-time. But compensation for paying for the education of a child, brother or sister is due only on condition of full-time education.
How much can be returned
Taxes are refunded not from the full cost of training, but from a fixed amount. The maximum amount for registration of compensation when paying for tuition:- for yourself, brother or sister - 120,000 rubles. in a year;
- for a child or ward - 50,000 rubles.
Example 1. For studying at the institute, you pay 150,000 rubles annually. Your salary before personal income tax is 50,000 rubles, of which 6,500 rubles. the employer monthly transfers to the budget. Thus, per year you pay 78,000 rubles. income tax. Since the maximum deduction amount is 120,000 rubles. per year, you can return 13% of this amount, that is, 15,600 rubles. This amount is less than the personal income tax withheld from you, so you can return it in one payment.
Example 2. You take English courses and at the same time pay for your child's studies at the institute. The cost of the courses is 80,000 rubles. per year, the cost of studying at the institute is 100,000 rubles. in year. Your salary before personal income tax is 70,000 rubles, so the amount of personal income tax withheld from you for the year is 109,200 rubles. For a year, you can return 16,900 rubles: 10,400 rubles. for your own education (13% of 80,000 rubles) and 6,500 rubles. for the child's education (13% of 50,000 rubles). This amount is less than the maximum refundable amount, so you will also receive it in one payout.
The unused balance of the deduction is not carried over to the next tax period, so it is better to pay for expensive tuition annually, rather than in one payment for the entire period of study. So you can return tax every year from 120,000 rubles.
The deduction can be made for the last three years. At the same time, the date of payment is important for registration of the declaration, and not the date of commencement of training. So, if you paid for your studies at the end of 2017, and your studies began in January 2018, the deduction will be calculated from taxes for 2017.
How to get a tuition deduction
There are two ways to get a tax deduction: through the tax office and from the employer. In the first case, you will be able to return the amount due to you in full, in the second, you can apply for tax holidays. Let's consider both methods in detail.Through the tax
To apply for a deduction, you must contact the IFTS office at the place of registration or submit an application through the "Personal Account" on the website nalog.ru. The second option is more convenient, but to gain access to the "Personal Account" you still need to come with a passport to any tax office, where you will be given a username and password.
Copies of documents must first be certified by a notary public or independently. With self-certification, on each page of the document, you must write “Copy is correct”, sign with a transcript and indicate the date.
When submitting a request through the IFTS service, the 3-NDFL declaration can be filled out electronically. The declaration will need to indicate passport data, information about income from 2-personal income tax and information about tuition payments. Other documents will need to be scanned and attached to the application. The average period for checking documents and transferring money is 30 days.
Through the employer
This option is suitable for those who do not want to wait until the end of the year to submit 3-personal income tax, but expect to immediately start saving on taxes. Before applying to the employer, you will need to obtain a tax notice from the IFTS.To do this, you will need to collect almost the same set of documents as when making a tax deduction. You will not need only a 2-NDFL certificate and an income declaration, but instead of an application for a deduction, you will need to fill out an application for issuing a notification (sample: (downloads: 18)).
Documents can be submitted directly to the IFTS branch at the place of registration and through the website www.nalog.ru. When applying in person to the tax office, you need to have a passport, copies and originals of all documents.
A month is allotted for verification of documents. If everything is done correctly, you will be issued a tax notice, which, along with your application (sample: (downloads: 11)) will need to be handed over to the employer. After that, personal income tax will no longer be deducted from your salary for a certain period.
Conclusion
If you are paying for your own tuition or for someone else's tuition, the tax deduction will save you money. You can apply for compensation through the tax office or through the employer. To do this, you will need to collect a set of documents on the expenses incurred for education.You can apply for a tuition deduction an unlimited number of times. In this case, the deduction can be issued only for the last three years and for fixed amounts.
Have questions or need help with paperwork? Seek advice from experts who will advise you.
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