Apartment Tax In Belarus: Important Nuances Announced

• 22.07.2022, 11:17

Who will have to pay it, and how much will it be?

We can safely say that the most discussed tax change of the year is the abolition of benefits for apartment owners. Now, even if your real estate property is just a one-bedroom apartment, you will have to pay property tax for it once a year, albeit a small one. Some Belarusians have already received corresponding notifications. Office Life asked Andrei Kavaleuski, head of the main department of taxation of individuals of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, when the rule will work for everyone, and what nuances homeowners need to take into account.

WHO SHOULD PAY APARTMENT TAX?

Until this year, the owners of one apartment did not pay tax for it: it was applied only from the second and subsequent apartments. This benefit has now been abolished. It has been worked out for a long time in order to equalize the conditions for real estate taxation. For example, if a person had one house, one garage or one country house, they needed to pay taxes for all these objects, while one apartment was not taxed.

The tax authorities are already sending payment requests to the citizens. They are sent via Belpochta; more than 3 million such notices have been sent so far. Someone has already received a notice, and they promise to send them all before September 1. In addition, at the beginning of August, a one-time upload of notices to the personal accounts of taxpayers who do not receive notices on paper is still planned: this is about 300 thousand more.

WHO IS EXEMPTIONED FROM THIS TAX?

Many apartments belong to socially unprotected categories of the population, including pensioners and people with the 1st and 2nd degree of disability.This moment was taken into account, and it was decided that for those categories of persons who require social protection of the state, the benefit for one apartment will be preserved. Simply put, if a pensioner owns one apartment and one house, then the tax will not have to be paid on any of the objects. But already from the second apartment or house the tax will be billed. It is noteworthy that the object for which the amount of tax is higher always falls under the benefit.

HOW TO PAY?

Here, too, there is a feature. Previously, property tax, like land tax, was paid for the current year. In the summer, people received notices for objects that were registered with them on January 1 of the current year, and paid until November 15. This payment mechanism had its drawbacks, since after receiving a notice, a person could already sell or donate their property, which is why they had to contact the tax office to make a recalculation. As a result, since 2022, it has been decided that real estate and land taxes will be paid at the end of the year, that is, already next year. With this approach, the tax authority will process all the information on the acquisition and alienation of real estate, as well as on the receipt or deprivation of rights to benefits, and by the end of the year, knowing the full information about the payer and the object, it will calculate the tax. Simply put, for 2023 people will need to pay the apartment tax no later than November 2024.

As for 2022, it has become a transitional period, so it was legally fixed that this year citizens pay an advance payment of 50% of the tax amount until November 15. And already in November 2023, the remaining 50% must be paid. In both cases, payment will be based on a notification from the tax authority. Please note that this year, for the first time, citizens are being sent a single notice across the country to pay all property taxes. For example, earlier, when a person had real estate in Minsk and Vitsebsk, while they themselves lived in Hrodna and owned a car, they could receive three different notices for each of the regions. Now all objects across the country are collected in one notice, which indicates the total amount of real estate, land, and transport taxes. This allows you to plan the funds that need to be paid, especially since the payment of taxes is allowed ahead of schedule, including in installments.

WHAT IF THE NOTIFICATION DID NOT COME?

Indeed, there are cases when a person does not live at the place of registration and could not receive a notice. But you can always contact the tax authority and ask for a copy of the document.

An even simpler option is to pay the tax using the payer's account number through the United Payment and Information Space, where the amount will be immediately highlighted. If you have forgotten your account number, you can also get it remotely: the website of the tax authorities provides special services that will remind you of the account number according to the payer's personal data.

HOW IS THE APARTMENT TAX CALCULATED?

The Tax Code defines the estimated cost per square meter of typical housing, and they are differentiated by region. We understand that metropolitan housing has a higher market value, and tax rates in Minsk are higher than in the regions. For example, let me clarify that the cost per square meter for calculating tax in Minsk is 810 rubles, in regional centers — 680 rubles, in large cities — 600 rubles, and in other territories — 450 rubles. That is, in Minsk the price of a square is almost twice as high as in small towns.

Even on your own it’s easycalculate the amount of tax. For example, in Minsk, let's take a typical apartment with an area of 60 square meters. We multiply this area by 810 rubles and by the real estate tax rate, that is, 0.1%. As a result, we get 48 rubles 60 kapeykas a year, and since this year it is necessary to pay in two installments, the advance payment by November 15 being 24 rubles 30 kapeykas. The same amount should be paid next year.

When we worked out the issue of rates, we also analyzed the market value, which is clearly higher. But in this case, the tax would be unbearable for certain categories. As a result, not the highest estimated costs were provided.

By the way, there is also a gradation for houses, but the rates there are even lower, since houses still usually have a larger area than apartments. As a result, in Minsk the cost of a square meter for calculating the tax on a house is 650 rubles, and for a garage it is even less — 300 rubles. All these calculations were carried out by analyzing the costs that were set by the real estate registration authority, and deriving the average price, so that it turned out fairly and differentiated by region.

HOW WILL THE TAX BE CALCULATED FOR THOSE WHO JUST BOUGHT AN APARTMENT?

A person will not be included in the advance payment if they did not have an apartment on January 1, 2022. But next year, when the tax authorities summarize all the information on the acquisition of real estate, they will be credited with a one-time amount for 2022, which they will pay already in 2023. In this case, the period of how many people owned the apartment will be taken into account, since the tax is charged only for periods from the month following the month of purchase of the apartment. For example, you bought an apartment in July 2022, which means that you will pay tax only for five months, that is, from August to December. The annual amount is taken and determined proportionally: the person does not need to do anything, the tax authority will process all the information and calculate taxes.

WHAT IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH THE BILLED AMOUNT?

It is enough to contact the tax authority at the location of the property. They will double check to see if everything is correct. But if the amount is calculated in accordance with the rates and the Tax Code, you can no longer dispute it.

Penalties for non-payment, of course, are also provided: non-payment of tax due to negligence is fraught with a fine of 15% of the amount accrued. But the tax authorities expect that such situations will be rather an exception, and payments will be made voluntarily and on time.

DO NON-RESIDENT OWNERS PAY TAX ON THE APARTMENT?

Yes, this is also provided for by law. The object of taxation is real estate located on the territory of Belarus. And the payer is any homeowner, regardless of citizenship. Therefore, foreigners who have inherited or bought an apartment in Belarus also pay taxes. Such owners are sent notifications in electronic form, or at the location of the property.