What to do if your tax deduction is not returned?

If the tax office does not pay the deduction for longer than promised or the citizen receives a refusal altogether, it is worth turning to the possible reasons why this may happen.

Registration of a deduction from the tax paid is a rather labor-intensive procedure, and therefore can take a long period of time, since the inspectorate must check all the documents.

Reasons for not deducting tax

IMPORTANT!!! If a citizen is absolutely sure that he is entitled to a tax deduction, but the inspectorate where he submitted the package of documents does not credit the refund to his account, then there may be many reasons for this.

The main factors due to which a citizen was left without a deduction depend on:

• A citizen submitting documents for deduction;
• Tax Service, which reviews the application;
• Reasons beyond the influence of the service or citizen.

In the first case, the reason for refusal to deduct is the provision of an incomplete package of documents to the service, or documents with errors or inaccuracies. And also, if a citizen is found to have no rights to receive tax allowances or simply indicated an incorrect account number.

Reasons that depend on the federal service include errors in the assessment of documents or transfer of funds made by a specialist. This also includes other unlawful actions of a tax employee.

It also happens that a delay in payment or refusal is affected by a failure in payment systems, the activities of which are not under the control of the tax service.

How to find out the reason for the lack of deduction

Before asking the question of what to do in this situation, it is worth deciding on the reason. You can understand why the taxpayer has not yet received a tax deduction by calling the tax office or through personal presence and conversation with a tax specialist. In most cases, employees explain in some detail the reason for the refusal or delay of payment. They also explain what should be done to resume the process.

ATTENTION!!! The reason for the delay may also be the unfinished process of document verification. A citizen begins to worry about deductions ahead of time and contacts the tax office. Although even 2 months after the desk audit, the money will not be transferred, since the verification takes 3 months from the date of submission of the application. The maximum period is 4 months.

But it happens that it can be difficult to get a tax deduction from a mortgage loan for an apartment, because the tax office is not always ready to explain the reason for the refusal. If the inspection refuses to comment on the reasons, or even the specialist’s explanations did not help solve the problem, the citizen has the opportunity to contact higher authorities for help.

What to do if there are no compelling reasons

If the federal service does not answer the question about non-receipt of a tax deduction for an apartment, the citizen will have to perform the following series of actions:

1. To begin with, it is worth writing an application to the inspectorate, in which the taxpayer asks to review the documents and the situation as a whole, and also provide him with a specific reason why he was refused. The application can be written on your own, in free form. After submitting your application, you should wait for a response, which by law must come. In the response, the tax office is obliged to notify the taxpayer of the errors or failures provided. If the incident occurred due to the citizen’s carelessness, then he needs to submit the documents again, taking into account all the errors.
2. If the response reflects unlawful actions of the service, the recipient must write a complaint, attach the results of interaction with the inspectorate, and submit it to the regional tax office.
3. If the citizen is right, and he has evidence that he has the opportunity to receive a deduction, but the federal service also refused him, he can apply to restore his own rights.

If all the necessary documents are available, the tax office does not have the right to refuse a citizen to receive a tax deduction. In practice, problems on this issue rarely arise, but a citizen is obliged to know his rights and seek payment if he is actually entitled to it.

The Tax Code of the Russian Federation establishes two ways to obtain a deduction for the purchase of an apartment:

• through the employer;
• through the tax office.

The timing of receiving a tax deduction when purchasing an apartment depends on the method chosen.

At the place of work

• The deadline for receiving a notification from the tax office for tax refund through the employer is 30 calendar days.

A certificate of income from the employer in form 2-NDFL and documents can be submitted to the tax authority immediately in the year of purchase of the apartment.

The tax office will check your documents, and after 30 days you will receive a notification, which clearly indicates the amount of property deduction.

At your place of work, you need to write an application for a property deduction, and the accounting department will stop withholding personal income tax from your wages immediately.

There you will be paid the tax that they managed to withhold from the beginning of the year, based on your written application for a tax refund.

Read more about the process of obtaining a deduction at your place of work in the article.

Example

Ignashevich A.V. On September 26, 2016, I bought an apartment with a mortgage for 1,980,000 rubles. On October 3, 2016, I submitted all the necessary documents to the tax office, on November 2, 2016, I received a Tax Deduction Notice in the amount of 257,400 and on the same day handed it over to my employer.

From the earnings of Ignashevich A.V. the employer does not withhold personal income tax and pays wages without withholding tax. Thus, he will receive his tax deduction for the purchase of an apartment monthly.

To a bank account through the tax office

• Deadlines for payment of tax deductions through the Federal Tax Service -120 calendar days.

When you receive a tax deduction when purchasing an apartment directly depends on the correctness of the paperwork.

• According to the Federal Tax Service, the Federal Tax Service will check your right to receive a tax deduction when purchasing an apartment within 3 months from the date of submission of documents, this is called a desk audit.
• If no errors or discrepancies are found, the treasury will transfer money to your card or bank account within 30 days from the date of application.

It is important to understand: 3 months The tax office checks the declaration, approves the payment amount, and the Treasury transfers the tax deduction for the purchase of an apartment within 1 month from submitting an application.

Deadline for receiving deductions online through the tax website

If you submitted an application for a deduction through the taxpayer’s personal account on the Internet, then the deadline for receiving a refund, in accordance with clause 6 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, is the same as for a personal visit to the inspectorate - 1 month.

If deadlines were missed

If you submitted documents but did not receive your personal income tax refund within the time limits required by law, then, in accordance with clause 10 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, you have the right to compensation from the tax office in the amount of the refinancing rate for each day of such delay.

The period for checking the declaration will be increased if discrepancies, errors in filling out and calculations, as well as lack of information are detected.

Frequent mistakes that lead to longer deadlines

1. Incorrect deduction amount indicated

To purchase an apartment with a mortgage, you used your maternal (family) capital. The purchase price must be reduced by the amount of budget funds, according to

Example

You bought an apartment for 2,340,000 rubles, your money is 1,900,000 rubles, the Pension Fund transferred 440,000. Tax deductions are due only from 1,900,000 rubles.

1. There are not enough supporting documents or they are completed incorrectly

Make sure that every document you sign with the seller includes his passport details, address and Taxpayer Identification Number.

Here you will find everything list of documents for tax refund.

1. You have a tax debt to the budget

Pay it off or indicate in the application for the transfer of a tax deduction the amount minus this debt.

1. You bought an apartment from a close relative

• spouse;
• parents;
• brothers and sisters;

You are not entitled to a deduction for purchasing an apartment. Ground - clause 2 of article 105.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

1. The apartment is registered in your name, but someone else transferred the money for it

This provision does not apply to cases of transfer of funds by spouses in a registered marriage.

How to get a deduction faster

For this:

• Check that the documents are correct.
• Submit your 3-NDFL return in January or later.
• The tax office is given 3 months to check and approve the amount of property deduction.
• Without waiting for notifications by mail, go to the tax office and write an application for the transfer of the tax amount to your bank account, if you did not submit an application for a refund immediately when submitting your tax return.

Within 30 days from the date of filing the application, but not earlier than the end of the desk tax audit, the money will be transferred to you.

To speed up the process to receive a property deduction, do not waste time going to the tax office and see how long it will take for the money to be transferred to you, create a Personal Taxpayer Account on the website of the Federal Tax Service https://www.nalog.ru. Documents submitted to the Federal Tax Service in electronic form are processed faster in practice, and you will have to wait less for a tax deduction when purchasing an apartment! To obtain a login and password, you need to contact any tax office or your own with your passport and TIN (then you can do it without a TIN). The password you receive has a limited validity period, so be sure to change your password.

Tax deductions allow you to reduce income taxed with personal income tax at a rate of 13% (except for income from equity participation in organizations) by a certain amount of money, that is, pay tax in a smaller amount (clause 3 of Article 210 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

In some cases, in order to receive a tax deduction for personal income tax, the taxpayer must submit a tax return in form 3-NDFL and documents confirming the right to the deduction to the tax authority at the place of residence. After checking the declaration and confirming the right to deduction and the fact of paying personal income tax in an excess amount, the tax authority, on the basis of your application, must refund the overpayment in the prescribed manner (Article 78, paragraph 4 of Article 218, paragraph 2 of Article 219, paragraph 7 Article 220, paragraph 2 of Article 229 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

1. Reasons for failure to return the overpaid personal income tax amount within the prescribed period

There may be various reasons why, after submitting a declaration claiming a tax deduction to the tax authority, the amount of overpaid tax was not transferred to you. To clarify them, it is advisable to contact the tax authority.

Let's consider the most typical situations.

1.1. The deadline for the desk audit of the tax return has not expired

The tax authority conducts a desk audit of the tax return submitted by you within three months from the date of its receipt along with supporting documents (clauses 1, 2 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Upon completion of the inspection, another month is allotted for the return of the overpaid amount of personal income tax (clause 6 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation; clause 11 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 22, 2005 N 98; Letter of the Federal Tax Service of Russia dated October 26, 2012 N ED-4- 3/18162).

Thus, the maximum tax refund period is four months.

1.2. The taxpayer did not submit an application for a refund of the overpaid amount of personal income tax

To return the overpaid amount of personal income tax generated in connection with the provision of a tax deduction, it is necessary to submit a corresponding application to the tax authority (clause 6 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). You can submit it along with your tax return or upon completion of a desk audit of your return. The application must indicate, in particular, the bank account number for transferring the overpayment amount to it.

If you did not submit an application for a refund of overpaid personal income tax or did not indicate a bank account in it, the tax authority will not be able to return the overpayment to you.

1.3. The amount of overpaid personal income tax is offset against tax debt

If you have arrears on other taxes of the corresponding type, arrears on penalties and fines for tax offenses, the tax authority, when identifying an overpaid amount of personal income tax, will first count the overpayment towards repayment of the debt. The inspection will do this on its own, without your application. Only the amount remaining after offset will be returned to your bank account (clauses 1, 6, Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

1.4. Application for refund of overpaid personal income tax amount was lost by the tax authority

In this case, it matters whether you can confirm that you have already submitted an application for a refund of overpaid personal income tax. For example, this is possible if you have a second copy of such an application with a note from a tax official indicating its acceptance and the date.

If, from the date of filing the application, the established period for returning the overpayment (one month) has expired, the tax authority must return to you the amount of overpaid tax along with interest. They are accrued for each calendar day of violation of the deadline for the return of the overpayment based on the refinancing rate of the Bank of Russia in effect on the days of delay (clause 10 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Reference. Refinancing rate

From 01/01/2016, the refinancing rate of the Bank of Russia is equal to the value of the key rate of the Bank of Russia and from 10/30/2017 it is 8.25% ( Note Bank of Russia dated December 11, 2015 N 3894-U; Information Bank of Russia dated October 27, 2017).

2. Appealing the decision of the tax authority, actions or inactions of its officials

If you believe that your rights have been violated when returning an overpaid amount of personal income tax, you have the right to appeal the decisions of the tax authority, the actions or inactions of its officials to a higher tax authority and (or) to court. First, a written complaint is submitted to the Federal Tax Service of your region through the inspectorate, whose decision is disputed. A complaint can be submitted in person or through a representative directly to the tax authority, sent by mail, or transmitted electronically, including through the taxpayer’s personal account. Appealing the inspector's decision in court is possible only after an appeal to the Federal Tax Service (

A.V. Ovsyannikova, tax expert

The Federal Tax Service confirmed the right to personal income tax deduction, but the money never arrived: what to do?

Receipt of money according to the declared personal income tax deduction (property/social/standard) does not always go smoothly. Let's look at the situation when you submitted a declaration with the necessary documents to the inspectorate, the tax authorities, after checking this declaration, confirmed your right to a deduction, but you never received the money on time.

You will learn about the results of the desk audit of your declaration and, therefore, whether the money will be returned to you when you receive from the Federal Tax Service a message about the results of the consideration of your application for a personal income tax refund, which the tax authorities are required to send to you within 15 working days from the date of submission of the application or completion desk audit of the declaration pp. 8, 9 tbsp. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. True, tax authorities do not always send such a notice, so you can:

• <или>call the inspector who conducted the desk inspection;
• <или>use the “Find out about the completion of the verification of the 3-NDFL income declaration” service on the website of the Federal Tax Service of your region.

As practice shows, it is better to call the Federal Tax Service. And the online service is not available in all regions.

Personal income tax return deadline

You can find out about the results of the desk audit of the declaration online on the website of the Federal Tax Service of your region. For example, in Moscow: website of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow→ Electronic services → Electronic services of the Federal Tax Service in Moscow → Find out about the completion of the verification of the 3-NDFL income statement

So, the tax authorities, having made a positive decision on your application for a personal income tax refund, must transfer the money to you:

• <если>If you submitted an application for a tax refund after completing a desk audit of the declaration in Form 3-NDFL, then no later than 1 month from the date of receipt of this application by the Federal Tax Service clause 6 art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• <если>You submitted an application for a tax refund along with your declaration, then no later than 4 months from the date of submission of the declaration (3 months for conducting a desk audit + 1 month for a personal income tax refund) clause 2 art. 88, paragraph 6 of Art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. After all, the month-long period for a tax refund will begin to run only after the completion of a desk audit of the declaration in which the deduction is claimed. Letter of the Federal Tax Service dated October 26, 2012 No. ED-4-3/18162@.

If the specified return deadlines have passed and the money has not been received, take action.

Your actions in case of non-receipt of money

Each inspection has its own unwritten rules of work. Therefore, it is quite problematic to give some kind of universal recipe on how to speed up receiving money. We will tell you how to proceed, and you choose for yourself what suits you best.

ACTION 1. We call the Federal Tax Service. Call your tax department (usually the debt settlement department) and find out why you haven't received your money yet. Most likely, they will tell you over the phone that the money has been sent. And even if in fact this is not the case, the inspectors, realizing that you are monitoring this issue, will try to quickly draw up documents for the transfer of money.

ACTION 2. We are writing a statement to the Federal Tax Service. If after calling the inspectorate you have not received the money within about a week, then write a statement with the following content.

To the Head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 30 for Moscow
from Stepanova O.M.
TIN 773059316970,
registered at:
121170, Moscow, st. Poklonnaya, 8, apt. 25
phone: 8-925-526-79-32

Statement

On April 22, 2013, I submitted a personal income tax declaration for 2012 (with the declared amount of property deduction in the amount of 2,000,000 rubles) and an application for a refund of the personal income tax amount overpaid in 2012 in the amount of 260,000 rubles.

On August 15, 2013, I received a notification that a decision had been made to return the overpaid amount of personal income tax in the amount specified in my application. However, as of September 2, 2013, the money was not returned to me, thereby the Federal Tax Service violated the provisions of clause 6 of Art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

Please look into the current situation and transfer the amount due to me as soon as possible. Otherwise, I will be forced to file a complaint with the Federal Tax Service in Moscow.

In addition, I remind you of the obligation of the Federal Tax Service to pay me interest for violating the deadlines for the return of overpaid tax in accordance with the provisions of clause 10 of Art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

O.M. Stepanova

If the Federal Tax Service did not notify you of the decision on return/refusal, be sure to indicate this in your application.

The most convenient way to submit an application is via the Internet, using the “Applying to the Federal Tax Service (IFTS)” service on the website of the Federal Tax Service of your region in the “Electronic Services” section.

You can also submit an application in person to the Federal Tax Service or send it by mail.

If you send it by mail, be sure to send a letter with notification and a description of the attachment.

As a rule, after such an application, the money reaches the applicant very quickly.

ACTION 3. We are writing a complaint to the Federal Tax Service of our region. If there is no response from the tax authorities approximately a week after you submitted your application for non-receipt of money, file a complaint with the Federal Tax Service of your region, in which you describe in detail the entire situation.

You can also submit a complaint through the service on the website of the Federal Tax Service, in person or by mail.

"Compensation for moral damage"

If you miss the tax refund deadline, the tax authorities must pay you interest, the amount of which is calculated as follows: clause 10 art. 78 Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

1clause 2 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court No. 13, Supreme Arbitration Court No. 14 of 10/08/98

Most often, tax authorities do not pay interest without a reminder of this obligation. Therefore, you must decide for yourself whether you need this “compensation”. After all, for example, if the tax authorities are 10 days late in returning 260,000 rubles. (2,000,000 rubles (maximum amount of property deduction) x 13%), then the amount of accrued interest will be only 596 rubles. In this case, you will have to file a declaration at the end of the year in which you received interest and pay personal income tax on this amount Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated August 22, 2013 No. 03-04-05/34450.

Of course, it can be argued that the amount of interest received is not subject to personal income tax. As an argument, we can draw an analogy with organizations in which interest received for late tax returns is not subject to income tax. subp. 12 clause 1 art. 251 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. But in any case, this is a waste of time and nerves. Whether it's worth it is up to you to decide.

If you are determined to receive interest, write a corresponding application to your Federal Tax Service.

Finally, we want to give some advice. It is possible that the Federal Tax Service does not return your money because you yourself made a mistake when specifying the details to which the refunded tax should be transferred. Therefore, carefully check the correctness of all the specified details in the personal income tax refund application. And if necessary, submit an adjusted application.

Some employees of our magazine have already returned personal income tax in connection with receiving various deductions. And they want to express their gratitude to the Moscow Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service No. 16, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 35, 43, the Moscow region MIFTS No. 1, 17 and 22, as well as the Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service for the city of Kemerovo and the Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service of Russia No. 3 in the Republic of Tatarstan for the timely return of money on declared personal income tax deductions.

It happens that a citizen, having sent documents for a deduction to the Tax Inspectorate, is denied the appropriate compensation. What could it be connected with? How should a person proceed in order to still receive a deduction?

The tax office does not return the deduction: reasons

Failure by Tax Inspectorate (FTS) specialists to pay a deduction due to a citizen may be due to:

1. With illegal actions of the Federal Tax Service.

For example:

• incorrect assessment of the documents submitted by the citizen when applying for a deduction;
• errors by Federal Tax Service specialists responsible for directly transferring the deduction to the applicant’s bank account;
• other actions of department specialists that lead to unlawful failure to provide a deduction.

1. With lawful actions of the Federal Tax Service.

For example:

• refusal to deduct due to the taxpayer’s failure to provide a complete set of documents, or the provision of documents with errors or inaccuracies;
• refusal to deduct upon identification of circumstances indicating that the citizen does not have the right to deduction.

1. With factors not directly related to the work of the Federal Tax Service:

For example:

• failure of banking systems that are used to transfer deductions to citizens;
• indication by the taxpayer of erroneous bank account details to receive a deduction.

For a citizen who has not received a deduction, it is important, first of all, to find out for what specific reason he found himself without the tax compensation required by law.

Deduction not provided: find out the reason

The most effective way to find out the reason for not providing a deduction is to contact the Federal Tax Service for clarification. As a rule, to do this you need to personally appear at the territorial representative office of the department, sometimes it is enough to call there by phone. Typically, tax authorities meet citizens halfway in such matters and explain in sufficient detail how to act if the deduction has not been transferred.

If the necessary clarifications from the Federal Tax Service are not provided or their content does not suit the citizen (or these clarifications did not contribute to resolving the problem), then it is necessary to respond to the situation that has arisen within the framework of the established legal mechanisms.

The deduction is not provided without compelling arguments: what to do?

In this situation, you need to adhere to the following algorithm:

1. Send an application (in free form) to the Federal Tax Service with a request to once again consider the situation with the deduction and specify the reason for its failure to provide it. The Federal Tax Service will be obliged to respond - these are the requirements of the law. If the inspection’s response reflects its lawful actions, then it will be necessary to once again re-prepare the set of documents for the deduction, taking into account the identified errors of the taxpayer in its preparation.
2. If the response from the Federal Tax Service reflects facts indicating clearly unlawful actions of tax officials, then it is necessary to contact a higher authority - the Federal Tax Service Office for the region. A request to the relevant department is made in the form of a complaint. It needs to reflect the results of previous communication with the Federal Tax Service and request a lawful response to the actions of local inspectors.
3. If the response of the Federal Tax Service for the region does not satisfy the taxpayer, in this case it is necessary to go to court. This procedure is carried out in accordance with the norms of administrative procedural legislation. It is quite possible that the dispute will be subsequently considered at the level of appellate and cassation instances - it all depends on the results of the hearings.