Tax rate for property tax 1.1. Movable property of a company: what is included in the concept and how taxation changes

The code no longer provides an exemption for movable property. All companies now pay movable property tax from 2018. Property will be taxed at a rate of 1.1%. The tax itself is not an innovation, but before the amendments it was paid on a preferential basis. This benefit has been canceled since 2018.

Tax on movable property of legal entities in 2018: in which regions the tax must be paid

Now the regional authorities will consider the tax exemption benefit. If a subject of the Russian Federation adopted the law without amendments, then from 2018 all movable property in the company will be taxed. The maximum permissible tax rate is 1.1%. Not higher than this level, the rest is at the discretion of the region.

Who pays the tax?

The tax is paid by all legal entities located on OSNO. Organizations on the simplified tax system and UTII have not paid and will not pay it. This division is justified by the fact that the latter already pay tax on real estate according to cadastral value. So, they decided not to burden them with the movable property tax.

Tax on movable property from 2018 in Moscow

The movable property tax in Moscow will operate with amendments from 2018, that is, the benefits will remain as before. The same applies to the Nizhny Novgorod region. In September 2017, both regions adopted a law on the application of benefits in the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.

Payment due date

The deadlines for payment of advance payments and movable property tax are set by regional authorities. Accordingly, such terms may vary in different regions.

Table 1. Regions where tax exemptions have been established*

Region	Companies	Property	Base
Vologda Region	Which invest in fixed assets subject to the requirements of the regional property tax law		Law of the Vologda Region dated December 28, 2017 No. 4269-OZ
Ivanovo region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Ivanovo region dated December 11, 2017 No. 94-OZ
Kaliningrad region	Which carry out the activities listed in paragraph 10 of Article 4 of the Law of the Kaliningrad Region of November 27, 2003 No. 336	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Kaliningrad Region of November 28, 2017 No. 118
Lipetsk region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Lipetsk region dated September 14, 2017 No. 106-OZ
Moscow region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Moscow Region dated October 3, 2017 No. 159/2017-OZ
Nizhny Novgorod Region	Who are involved in: - manufacturing; - scientific research and developments; - road transport of beneficiaries on regular routes		Law of the Nizhny Novgorod Region dated November 8, 2017 No. 152-3
	An institution created by the Nizhny Novgorod region or its municipalities, financed from the regional, local budget or territorial compulsory medical insurance fund	Registered in 2016 and later and not rented out
The Republic of Buryatia	All	Railway rolling stock, production date - 2013 and later
Saint Petersburg	All	Registered in 2013 and later, no more than 3 years have passed since the date of issue
Saratov region	All	Classified as innovative high-performance equipment (clause 9 of article 2 of the Law of the Saratov Region dated November 24, 2003 No. 73-ZSO)
Sverdlovsk region	Which are listed in paragraphs. 3 and para. 3 pp. 4 tbsp. 1 law	Registered on January 1, 2013, with the exception of objects registered as a result of reorganization or liquidation and as a result of the transfer of property	Law of the Sverdlovsk region dated December 7, 2017 No. 124-OZ
Smolensk region	Resident or investor	Purchased in the Smolensk region during execution investment projects or contracts. Exception - some types of vehicles	Laws of the Smolensk region from 15.11. 2017 No. 137-zi from 10/06/2017 No. 95-z
Chelyabinsk region	Which are small and medium-sized businesses, leasing companies.	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Chelyabinsk region dated December 27, 2017 No. 649-ZO
Chechen Republic	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Chechen Republic dated November 27, 2017 No. 45-rz
Chukotka Autonomous Okrug	Organs local government and a number of public sector organizations	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug dated December 19, 2017 No. 103-OZ
Yaroslavl region	All	Registered in 2016 and later

Table 2. Regions where reduced rates have been established

Region	Bid, %	Companies	Property	Base
Astrakhan region	0,5	Those who extract hydrocarbons in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea	Registered in 2013 and later
Jewish Autonomous Region	0,5	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Jewish Autonomous Region of November 30, 2017 No. 194-OZ
Kamchatka Krai	0,6	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Kamchatka Territory of October 2, 2017 No. 147
Penza region	0,55	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Penza region dated December 20, 2017 No. 3127-ZPO
Ryazan Oblast	0,6	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Ryazan region dated November 27, 2017 No. 87-OZ
Tula region	0,55	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Tula region dated November 30, 2017 No. 82-ZTO
Tyumen region	0,55	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Tyumen region dated October 24, 2017 No. 74

Table 3. Who must pay property tax at a rate of 1.1 percent

Region	Companies	Property	Base
Astrakhan region	Everyone except those who extract hydrocarbons in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea	Registered in 2013 and later	Law Astrakhan region dated October 31, 2017 No. 60/2017-OZ
Vladimir region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Vladimir region dated December 27, 2017 No. 135-OZ
Volgograd region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Volgograd region dated November 29, 2017 No. 116-OD
Kursk region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Kursk region dated November 24, 2017 No. 78-ZKO
The Republic of Buryatia	All	Registered in 2013 and later, except for railway rolling stock	Law of the Republic of Buryatia dated October 10, 2017 No. 2568-V
Saint Petersburg	All	Assets registered since 2013, with the exception of those issued less than 3 years ago	Law of St. Petersburg dated November 29, 2017 No. 785-129
Saratov region	All	All movable property registered since 2013, except innovative highly efficient equipment	Law of the Saratov region dated November 28, 2017 No. 112-ZSO
Sverdlovsk region	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Sverdlovsk region dated December 7, 2017 No. 124-OZ
Republic of Tatarstan	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Republic of Tatarstan dated December 22, 2017 No. 97-ZRT
Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug	All	Registered in 2013 and later	Law of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug dated December 20, 2017 No. 92-oz
Yaroslavl region	All	Registered in 2013-2015	Law of the Yaroslavl region dated October 31, 2017 No. 44-z

Tax on movable property until 2018

Amendments were made to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which divided movable property into two categories - taxable and non-taxable. Thus, until 2018, property included in the first and second depreciation groups of the Classifier of Fixed Assets was not taxed. These fixed assets did not fall under the tax base.

Movable property acquired before 2013 continued to be taxed. The fixed asset that was registered later was subject to the benefit and was exempt from tax.

Important: if a legal entity acquires a fixed asset after a decision on liquidation/reorganization of the company, or a transfer of movable property occurs related parties– this does not exempt you from paying tax.

These rules were in effect until the end of 2017. Tax on movable property will be paid in a new way from 01/01/2018. Before moving on to the topic of changes in the law, the very concept of “movable property” should be defined.

1. Organizations on OSN(including separate divisions that have a separate balance sheet) that have fixed assets on their balance sheet that are recognized as an object of taxation for property tax.

2. Organizations on the simplified tax system and UTII, owning .

3. Organizations on the Unified Agricultural Tax in relation to some property.

Organizational property tax: real estate

This tax is imposed on all real estate, except for land plots and other environmental management facilities (clause 1, clause 1, clause 4, article 374 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Moreover, real estate taxation has its own characteristics. Thus, organizations on the OSN must pay property tax in relation to:

• real estate listed on the balance sheet as fixed assets;
• residential real estate not included in the data accounting like OS.

Organizations on the simplified tax system and UTII pay tax (clause 1 of article 378.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) if they own:

• , for example, shopping centers or premises in them. A complete list of such real estate is given in paragraph 1 of Art. 378.2 Tax Code of the Russian Federation;
• residential real estate, which is not taken into account on the balance sheet according to accounting data as a fixed asset.

Organizations on the Unified Agricultural Tax pay tax on property that is not used in the production of agricultural products, primary and subsequent (industrial) processing and sale of these products, as well as in the provision of services by agricultural producers (clause 3 of Article 346.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Organizational property tax: movable property

Tax on movable property has not been paid since 01/01/2019 (Federal Law dated 08/03/2018 No. 302-FZ).

Enterprise property tax: tax base

By general rule the tax base is the average annual value of the property, but in relation to the tax is calculated based on its cadastral value (Articles 375, 378.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Property tax for legal entities: reporting periods

Reporting periods for property tax depend on tax base(Clause 2 of Article 379 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

By the way, regional authorities may not establish reporting periods (clause 3 of Article 379 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Tax period for property tax

Taxable period for the property tax of organizations is the same for everyone (regardless of the value of the property on the basis of which the tax is calculated) and is equal to the calendar year (clause 1 of Article 379 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Property tax rate for legal entities

Regional authorities have the right to set the property tax rate themselves, but its amount cannot exceed the rate established by the Tax Code (clause 1 of Article 380 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This rate is generally 2.2%.

At the same time, it is allowed to establish differentiated tax rates depending on the categories of taxpayers or property recognized as an object of taxation (clause 2 of Article 380 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If regional authorities have not established their own property tax rates for organizations, then the tax is calculated based on the rates specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 4 of Article 380 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Calculation of property tax for organizations

Tax calculation based on the average annual value of property differs from tax calculation based on cadastral value.

And here it is important to note that when calculating the tax based on the average annual value, it is not necessary to take into account real estate, the tax for which is calculated based on the cadastral value.

Calculation of advances and taxes based on the average annual value of property

To calculate the advance you will need to determine average cost property (clause 4 of article 376 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

Having determined the average value of the property, you can calculate the amount of the advance payment (clause 4 of Article 382 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

To calculate the annual tax amount, you need to determine the average annual value of the property:

The tax calculation looks like this:

You need to pay extra to the budget at the end of the year, calculated using the formula:

Calculation of advances and taxes based on the cadastral value of the property

To understand how much advance payment needs to be paid to the budget, you need to make the following calculation (clause 12 of article 378.2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation):

The annual tax amount is determined by the following formula:

And the amount of tax to be paid at the end of the year is calculated as follows:

Deadline for payment of corporate property tax

The deadline for payment of property tax is established by the laws of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (clause 1 of Article 383 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

For example, owners of Moscow property must pay tax for the year no later than March 30 of the year following the reporting year (Clause 1, Article 3 of the Moscow Law of November 5, 2003 N 64). And the payment deadline for property tax payers in the Republic of Tatarstan is April 5 of the year following the reporting year (Part 3 of Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Tatarstan dated November 28, 2003 No. 49-ZRT).

Deadline for payment of advance payments for property tax

The deadlines for paying advance payments, as well as the deadline for paying taxes, are set by regional authorities. And, accordingly, these terms may be different in different regions.

Submission of reporting on corporate property tax

Payers of property tax must submit reports on this tax within the following deadlines:

Reporting type	When it appears	Submission deadline
Calculation of advance payment for property tax (Appendix No. 4 to the Order of the Federal Tax Service dated March 31, 2017 No. ММВ-7-21/271@)	Based on the results of the reporting periods	No later than the 30th day of the month following the reporting period (clause 2 of Article 386 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)
Declaration (Appendix No. 1 to the Order of the Federal Tax Service dated March 31, 2017 No. ММВ-7-21/271@)	At the end of the year	No later than March 30 of the year following the reporting year (clause 3 of Article 386 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)

If reporting periods are not established in your region, then, accordingly, you only need to submit a year-end declaration to the Federal Tax Service.

There is no need to submit calculations and declarations if the organization does not have taxable property.

The nuances of payment and reporting

Organizations must pay advances/taxes at the location of the property:

Location of property	Where is the tax paid?
The property is located at the location of the organization (clauses 3, 6, Article 383 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)	In the Federal Tax Service, where the organization is registered
The property is located at the location of a separate division that has a separate balance sheet (Article 384 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)	In the Federal Tax Service, where the OP is registered
Real estate is located outside the location of the organization and the OP (Article 385 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation)	To the Federal Tax Service, which serves the territory in which the property is located

The same procedure applies to the submission of property tax reports (clause 1 of Article 386 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

If the organization did not own the property for a whole year

If the taxable property was not registered from the beginning of the reporting year or was disposed of during the year, then the formula for calculating advances/tax based on the average annual value of the property this fact won't have any effect.

If we are talking about property, the tax in respect of which is calculated based on the cadastral value, then advances/tax are calculated taking into account the ownership coefficient (clause 5 of Article 382 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This coefficient is determined by the following formula:

When calculating the number of complete months of ownership, you need to take into account that:

• if ownership of cadastral real estate arose before the 15th day of a specific month inclusive, then this month is taken as a full month. If the right to real estate arose after the 15th day of the month, then this month is not taken into account;
• if ownership of cadastral real estate is terminated after the 15th day of the month, then this month is included in the calculation of the coefficient as a full month. If the right is terminated before the 15th day of the month inclusive, then such month does not need to be taken into account.

Since 2018, the procedure for taxation of movable property of organizations registered as fixed assets since January 1, 2013 has changed. Organizations are exempt from paying movable property tax if the region has adopted a law that establishes such a benefit. If a subject of the Russian Federation for 2018 did not decide to apply the federal tax benefit for movable property and did not reduce tax rates, then such property is taxed at a marginal rate of 1.1% ().

What, according to financiers, is meant by the terms “category of taxpayers” and “category of property” for the purpose of applying tax benefits or a reduced rate on property tax and income tax for organizations? The answer is in the material “Rates for corporate property tax” in "Encyclopedia of solutions. Taxes and fees" Internet version of the GARANT system.
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It is clarified that the application of a reduced rate of 1.1% does not apply to movable property registered as a result of reorganization or liquidation legal entities, transfers, including acquisition, of property between persons recognized as interdependent. In other words, movable property that was not exempt from taxation before 2018 cannot be taxed in 2018 at the preferential rate of 1.1%.

You can find out about the rates and benefits for property tax of organizations in various constituent entities of the Russian Federation from ours.

Until 2019, the object of taxation also included movable property (with the exception of movable property, which belongs to depreciation groups 1 and 2 - clause 7, clause 4, article 374 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Since 2019, Federal Law No. 302-FZ dated August 3, 2018 has excluded movable property from the subject of corporate property tax. Thus, from 2019, the organization’s movable property will not be subject to property tax. This also applies to movable property acquired before 2019. From 2019, only real estate is subject to property tax.

The same law N 302-FZ abolished, from 2019, the property tax benefit on movable property (clause 25 of Article 381 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) as it was unnecessary. The need for this benefit has disappeared, since movable property cannot, in principle, be taxed, since it does not belong to the object of taxation.

This exemption will also apply to concession agreements. A concession agreement is a form of partnership between the state and the private sector on mutually beneficial terms, where the government transfers part of its assets and services for management to improve the efficiency of the economy.

Exemption of organizations from tax on all movable property is a measure to reduce tax burden on entrepreneurs and is included in the state tax policy planned for the period from 2020 to 2021, the purpose of which is aimed at depreciation of the main capacities of organizations and a more accelerated introduction of the development of new technologies in the Russian industrial sector.

How to reduce now?

There are very real and legal ways to reduce the property tax of organizations, and without resorting to criminal tricks and direct deception of the state, you just need to know about some of the intricacies of taxation and conflicts of current legal acts, then you can achieve a significant reduction in property taxation.

Property tax minimization methods fall into two categories:

moving an asset to another company (or to an individual entrepreneur) that does not pay tax at all; does not pay it on a specific property or can take advantage of a tax break;

decrease in the value of property in accounting.

Options for legal reduction of the tax base:

Due to the written-off raw material base transferred to production needs. Any structural enterprise has a policy of writing off costs for Consumables, and can be used various ways: according to the first receipt method - the most expensive components are written off, based on the last delivery, using the average calculation of the cost of a certain group of materials. This methodology allows you to write off the materials spent in production at the maximum cost; as a result, the cost of manufactured products increases, and the amount of profit goes to minus. The balance sheet reflects a lower value of assets, which undoubtedly leads to a significant reduction in property taxes.

Due to revaluation of the value of fixed assets. Many enterprises optimize property taxation using this method, that is, they lead to restoration market value fixed assets. But there is a degree of risk here: it does not seem realistic to accurately establish the market price, since, for example, in different periods the same equipment can vary significantly in value. But if you take into account its lowest value in a certain period, then you can sharply reduce the value of all assets, although it will be difficult to get by with the involvement of specialized valuation specialists. All this will lead to a decrease in the net asset of the enterprise, but there is also another side of the coin in the form of mistrust of investors and creditors. But the tax base will be significantly reduced.

Using the methodology of conservation of fixed assets. This method is applicable only in one case: when existing assets pose an unaffordable tax burden, but it is also impractical to fully realize them; in the future they may become fixed assets. In this case, an order is issued from the management of the enterprise to freeze them, with mandatory notification to the tax authorities.

Reducing the base based on the inventory performed. If during the audit it is discovered that the manufactured products are obsolete, unfit for use, or technological equipment for the release of discontinued products, it is subject to write-off, that is, a reduction in the tax base.

Accounting for obsolete equipment. Nobody has been using typewriters or computers of the first editions for a long time, but they continue to remain on the balance sheet of the enterprise, and therefore are subject to taxation. Identified office equipment that does not meet modern requirements can be written off, but in fact it can be used for some time until it is completely out of working order. Here you should start drawing up a disposal certificate, with the simultaneous receipt of valuable spare parts, thereby achieving your goal.

Future Ways to Reduce Property Taxes

Ways to reduce property taxes may include the following:

In the transfer of part of the property rights to a “subsidiary” company working in tandem with the main enterprise.

Transition to a simplified type of taxation. But not every enterprise can use this method, but only those companies whose annual income does not exceed 15 million rubles.

Reducing costs, and one of the ways is purchasing equipment and a vehicle fleet under a leasing scheme. One feature is visible here: all assets must be listed on the lessor’s balance sheet, otherwise it will not be possible to reduce the actual taxation.

Tax reductions are allowed for enterprises engaged in the processing and preservation of agricultural products, river or sea fishing and marine fishing, but on the condition that the share of revenue from this activity exceeds 70% of the total profit of the companies.

Taxation may also be exempted or significantly reduced for those enterprises and companies that have more than 50% of their employees with disabled status.

Similar concessions are available to public organizations and cooperatives that employ disabled people.

At the government level, the collection of property tax from companies belonging to a certain type has been completely cancelled. economic activity:

Serving housing and communal services or cultural leisure centers.

Those involved in nature conservation and environment, fire safety of the population or civil safety issues.

Marine vessels with nuclear-type engines, main-line pipelines, railway lines, public highways.

Technical means satellite communications.

State lands.

The full list of organizations and companies that can use preferential taxation (read: zero) is closed to the public and can only be provided to the competent authorities at the request of the court.

Now only real estate will be taxed. As a result, companies now have an effective tax planning tool in their hands. In this regard, now is the time to summarize the experience accumulated by companies in optimizing property taxes. Indeed, in practice, quite a lot of ways have been developed to reduce the burden of this tax.

Optimization through rental relationships

With the help of a lease agreement, you can avoid paying tax on the cost of permanent improvements.

There is reason to believe that it is possible not to pay property tax from the moment of creation of inseparable improvements until the end of the lease agreement. Improvements increase the landlord's property tax base only after they are transferred to his balance sheet. The tenant does not pay tax, since he does not take them into account in accounting as a fixed asset.

The company leases real estate to a friendly counterparty. The lessee, in turn, makes capital investments in fixed assets with the consent of the lessor. According to the terms of the agreement, they must be taken into account on the lessor’s balance sheet. Civil legislation also states that such improvements are initially the property of the lessor (clause 4 of Article 623 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

However, the lessor does not accept them on his balance sheet until the end of the lease agreement, since he may simply not be aware that the inseparable improvements have been made. The tenant, until the end of the contract, does not notify the lessor of either the volume of work performed or their cost. In this case, the rental period can be as long as desired.

When the lease agreement ends, the inseparable improvements are transferred to the lessor, which is formalized by a deed. On the date of the transfer deed, the owner includes them in his fixed assets. And only from this moment does the property tax begin to be paid.

In addition, when returning inseparable improvements, the tenant may well “forget” to give the owner documents confirming the cost of the work. Hence, initial cost the fixed asset will not increase, nor will the property tax base.

In this case, tax risks fall on the tenant. Since, according to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, from the moment the improvements are put into operation until they are transferred to the lessor, the balance holder of the completed capital investments is the tenant (letters dated 03.11.10 No. 03-05-05-01/48, dated 01.11.10 No. 03-05 -05-01/46, dated 10.24.08 No. 03-05-04-01/37). And until the moment of disposal, he must take into account inseparable improvements on his balance sheet and pay property tax. Note that by disposal, officials mean the end of the lease agreement. The judges of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation share a similar opinion (ruling dated March 26, 2012 No. VAS-2715/12).

There are two ways to avoid such claims. First of all, do not put inseparable improvements into operation until the end of the lease agreement. However, in this case, the parties to a general lease agreement lose the opportunity to depreciate the cost of capital investments in tax accounting. Let us remind you that depending on whether the improvements are refundable or not, either the landlord or the tenant has the opportunity to do this.

Another way to reduce risk is to make a company using a special regime as a tenant, for example, a simplified tax system with an “income minus expenses” base. Such a company will be exempt from the obligation to pay property tax (clause 2 of Article 346.11 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). At the same time, she has the right to take into account the costs of capital investments.

Liquidation of the object

There is no need to pay tax on an object acquired for liquidation or reconstruction.

This scheme allows you to save property tax when accounting for objects that do not correspond to the characteristics of fixed assets (clause 4 of PBU 6/01).

Company on common system acquires an unfinished construction project or a dilapidated building with the goal of demolishing it and building something else on this site. The company formalizes its intention by ordering the demolition or liquidation of the property. The facility is not put into operation because one of the conditions of PBU 6/01 is not met - there is no ability to generate economic income in the future. Consequently, there is no property tax object.

The Russian Ministry of Finance recognizes that property not intended for use in the business activities of a company is not recognized as an object of taxation (letter dated April 22, 2008 No. 03-05-05-01/24). Arbitration courts also agree with this approach (decrees of the federal arbitration courts of the Volga region dated 02.20.12 No. A55-6362/2011 and the North Caucasus district dated 13.10.11 No. A53-24208/2010).

Real estate acquired for reconstruction for the purpose of subsequent resale is also not subject to taxation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 23, 2009 No. 03-05-05-01/36, resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Moscow District dated February 17, 2010 No. KA-A40/687 -10). Judges come to a similar conclusion in relation to other real estate, which, due to objective reasons, cannot generate income for the company (decrees of the federal arbitration courts of the East Siberian Federal Arbitration Court No. A33-11830/2008 dated 01/21/10, No. A75 dated 04/09/10 West Siberian -6674/2009 districts).

Transfer of property into goods

Property planned for sale can be transferred to the category of goods and thereby reduce tax.

The scheme allows you not to pay property tax from the moment when the company ceases to use the objects in its business activities or plans to sell them.

The company decides to sell the property. However, finding a buyer can take a long time. Then, in order to avoid property tax losses, the company transfers it to the category of goods. Since the company has ceased to use the property in its activities and plans to sell it, it is no longer capable of generating economic income in the future. This means that it does not meet the criteria of paragraph 4 of PBU 6/01.

In practice, there are examples when judges side with taxpayers. According to the arbitrators, the objects that the company ceases to use in its business activities do not meet the criteria of fixed assets. Therefore, they can be excluded from depreciable property and taken into account as goods for resale (decrees of the federal arbitration courts of the Volga region dated January 27, 2009 No. A65-9168/2008, Central district dated July 4, 2008 No. A48-3994/07-14).

In another case, the judges indicated that the disputed objects were not used for a long time either in production, or for management needs, or for rental, and were later sold under a purchase and sale agreement. Therefore, the company rightfully excluded real estate from fixed assets (resolution of the Federal Arbitration Court of the Volga District dated February 20, 2012 No. A55-6362/2011).

Other methods of tax optimization

The amount of property tax depends on the book value of fixed assets and can increase with each purchase of additional assets or when they are modernized. Because of this, a considerable number of companies find it difficult to pay big tax for property on time, creating gaps in business. Optimization of property tax is difficult, since this payment is “direct”. In other words, this tax cannot be reduced by the amount of certain deductions. We also emphasize that the list of beneficiaries is very limited.

When vehicles are considered as an object of taxation, then, in addition to property tax, the organization must pay transport tax. This means that there is a non-compliance with the rights of taxpayers associated with double taxation of some objects.

Based on all that has been said, it turns out that legal optimization of an organization’s property tax today turns out to be the only effective way its reduction.

In this case, taxpayers have several options for optimization. Thanks to them, any enterprise can seriously reduce tax burden.

Method of calculating depreciation

In accounting, depreciation of fixed assets is calculated in one of the following ways:

linear;

reducing balance;

write-off of cost based on the sum of the numbers of years of useful life;

write-off of cost in proportion to the volume of production.

Most often, accountants resort to the linear option, since it is much simpler and makes it possible to avoid the formation of a difference between accounting and tax accounting. But if we consider it from the point of view of property tax optimization, this method turns out to be the most unsuccessful. With a factor of 2, the reducing balance method is usually much more profitable. Therefore, if you want to reduce your property tax, calculate depreciation using each of the four methods presented and choose the most profitable one. But of course, linear method should be excluded only if a large difference in the calculations is found.

Application of a simplified taxation system

When working under a simplified system, property tax and some other taxes are replaced by a single tax, with the exception of retail premises and premises of business centers.

Leasing

Often, enterprises purchase fixed assets on credit. To optimize property tax in such a situation, we recommend considering the option of concluding a leasing transaction. The fact is that it has significant advantages compared to bank loan. Registering an object on the balance sheet of the company leasing it will free you from tax for the entire duration of the contract. If depreciation is fully charged on the date you take ownership of the asset, you will in principle not have to pay this tax.

If an object is not fully depreciated, it is accounted for at its residual value, which is obviously much lower than the original price. Placing a fixed asset on the lessee's balance sheet allows the use of an accelerated depreciation rate of 3. This benefit also applies to objects initially recorded by the lessor and accepted onto the balance sheet at residual value upon completion of the contract.

Using property tax benefits

This option is considered one of the most labor-intensive, and therefore is not often used to optimize property taxes. The reason is that almost all existing benefits are associated with the presence of specific (rather specific) types of property by the company or with the belonging of a given enterprise to any industry and the use of property specifically for it. It turns out that optimization must be carried out in advance, even when creating a company and choosing a specific industry for it.

Also, such optimization is long-term in nature, because reorientation later will be difficult, expensive, and this procedure will take a lot of time. We emphasize that when choosing a field of activity, production and general economic issues are a priority, while the possibility of tax optimization is only their addition. But it cannot be denied that competent application of the benefits offered by the state to business can bring serious benefits.

Revaluation

Any company has many movable assets whose value is constantly decreasing. Therefore, outdated assets that have greatly lost in value are revalued with the help of expertise in order to reduce property taxes. In this case, tax accounting will be maintained without changes, only the value of fixed assets reflected in the balance sheet will be reduced. This procedure is carried out once a year in relation to groups of homogeneous fixed assets.

In other words, all objects included in a certain group must take part in it, for example, cars. According to the law, it is not possible to revalue one of them while maintaining the same value of the others. The company itself selects a specific category of objects, based on economic feasibility. If the price of transport has decreased significantly, and that of real estate has increased, only cars are revalued, while buildings continue to be taken into account without changes.

In conclusion, it should be noted that changes in legislation will certainly have a positive effect on the renewal of fixed assets. But we should not forget that there are effective ways to optimize property taxes.

The authorities of the subject can completely exempt organizations from paying tax on movable objects. For example, in Moscow and the Moscow region, the tax on movable property has been reset to zero since 2018. We'll tell you how long you can apply the new rates and how to pay tax.

From January 1, 2018, new property tax rules are in effect. The changes affected movable assets that companies acquired since 2013. If back in 2017 such objects were exempt from tax, now they have to be paid for into the regional budget. But there may not be such an obligation if local authorities have exempted this property from tax.

There is no longer a federal personal property tax break. But regions received the right to independently introduce benefits on their territory (clause 1 of Article 381 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Tax on movable property must be paid at a rate of 1.1% from 2018, if the regional authorities have not approved theirs. The Federal Tax Service reported this in a letter dated December 20, 2017 No. BS-19-21/327 in response to a private question.

Tax on movable property from 2018 in Moscow

Since January 1, 2018, the decision on exemption from payment of tax on movable property of organizations is made by regional authorities. According to the provisions of Federal Law No. 335-FZ of November 27, 2017, a subject of the Russian Federation has the right to issue a law on the application of tax benefits on movable objects on its territory. If there is no such law, rates on movable property cannot exceed 1.1% in 2018.

The Moscow Government has received many requests from organizations and individual entrepreneurs with a request to maintain the zero rate of property tax for organizations in Moscow since 2018. As a result, amendments to the Moscow Law “On Organizational Property Tax” were adopted, that is, since 2018, the zero tax rate on movable property has been maintained.

As a result, the Moscow City Duma adopted the Law “On Amendments to Article 4 of the Moscow City Law of November 5, 2003 No. 64 “On Organizational Property Tax”. The document extended the validity of zero rate tax on movable property.

Article 4 of Law No. 64 lists the current benefits. Organizations in relation to movable property specified in paragraph 25 of Article 381 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation have been added to the list of beneficiaries.

Law No. 4 applies to legal relations arising from January 1, 2018, and ceases to be in force from January 1, 2019. That is, the tax on movable property in Moscow has been abolished for one year for now.

Tax rate on movable property in 2018 in Moscow- 0%

Vladimir Efimov, Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Department of Economic Policy and Development of the City of Moscow, about the tax on movable property of organizations in the capital since 2018:

Tax on movable property from 2018 in the Moscow region

In the Moscow region in 2018-2020, a 0% rate was also established for movable property accepted by an organization for registration as fixed assets from January 1, 2013 (see table). The corresponding changes were made to the Law of the Moscow Region dated November 21, 2003 No. 150/2003-OZ “On the property tax of organizations in the Moscow Region.” The document came into force on January 1, 2018.

Tax rate on movable property in the Moscow region in 2018-2020.- 0%

The tax rate for movable property in the Moscow region, registered as fixed assets from January 1, 2013, is set in 2018-2020 at 0%, with the exception of the following movable property items registered as a result:

• reorganization or liquidation of legal entities;
• transfer, including acquisition, of property between persons recognized as interdependent in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 105.1 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation.

These exceptions do not apply to railway rolling stock produced from January 1, 2013 (the date of production is determined on the basis of technical passports).

Note! The deadlines for payment of advance payments and movable property tax are established by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Therefore, timing may vary in different regions.