Tax deduction for child education in 2020 - what documents are needed

What is the Tuition Tax Credit?

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation (Article 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation), when paying for educational services, you can count on a tax deduction, that is, return part of the money spent on training.

A tax deduction is the portion of income that is not subject to tax. Therefore, you can get your tax refund on expenses incurred for education. If you officially work and pay income tax, have paid for your education or the education of your children/brothers/sisters, then you can get back part of the money in the amount of up to 13% of the cost of education.

In what cases can you get a tax deduction for your own training?

You can take advantage of the social tax deduction for your own education and get part of your expenses back if:

You paid for educational services in official educational institutions. For example, at a university, technical school, driving school or training courses.
You officially work and pay income tax (all employees pay it);

Note: the tax deduction for your own education, unlike the deduction for the education of children, has no restrictions on the form of education: the money can be returned for full-time, part-time, evening or any other form.

Payment calculation

Reimbursement is subject to up to 13% of the amount paid. The maximum amount of payments is 15.6 thousand rubles. for 1 year. An amount of up to 50 thousand rubles can be claimed for reimbursement of expenses for training children or wards, up to 6.5 thousand rubles are paid, up to 120 thousand rubles can be claimed for refund for one’s own education and brothers (sisters). with payment up to 15.6 thousand rubles.

You should know that all social tax deductions are calculated on an aggregate basis; the maximum amount of expenses from which compensation can be received is 120 thousand rubles. during the tax period. The amount of payment to reimburse the costs of training children (guardians) can be assigned to both parents in total from an amount of no more than 50 thousand rubles. for each child.

Examples

Citizen X. paid 140 thousand rubles for his education in 2020. He will be able to receive a deduction from 120 thousand rubles. in full amount 15.6 thousand rubles. If the cost of training was 45 thousand rubles, he will be able to reimburse 5.85 thousand rubles. (13% of 45 thousand rubles).
Citizen D. paid 100 thousand rubles for his education. and for my daughter’s education 45 thousand rubles. Since the costs of educating children are not included in the total amount of social deductions, he can claim for reimbursement the total amount of expenses incurred: 145 thousand rubles. The social deduction will be 18.85 thousand rubles.

The amount of tax deduction for your own training

The amount of tax deduction for your own education is calculated for the calendar year and is determined by the following factors:

You cannot return more money than you transferred to the personal income tax budget (about 13% of the official salary)
You can return up to 13% of the cost of paid training, but not more than 15,600 rubles. This is due to the restriction on the maximum deduction amount of 120 thousand rubles (120 thousand rubles * 13% = 15,600 rubles).
The limit of 15,600 rubles applies not only to the deduction for education, but to all social deductions (except for expensive treatment and charity). The amount of all social deductions (training, treatment, pension contributions) should not exceed 120 thousand rubles. You can return a maximum of 15,600 rubles for all deductions.

Example: In 2020, Ivanov A.A. paid for his own university education in the amount of 150 thousand rubles. At the same time, in 2019 he earned 250 thousand rubles and paid income tax of 31 thousand rubles. Since the maximum tax deduction amount is 120 thousand rubles, then for 2020 (in 2020) Ivanov A.A. will be able to return only 120 thousand rubles. * 13% = 15,600 rubles.

Additional and more complex examples of calculating the tax deduction for training can be found here: Examples of calculating the tax deduction for training

Two ways to get a tax deduction for education

If you paid for your (children’s, brother/sister’s) education and want to receive a deduction, then you have two options:

You can wait until the end of the calendar year in which you incurred expenses for educational services, and then submit documents for deduction to the tax authority. In this case, the tax deduction is returned immediately for a whole year or several years by the tax office.
The detailed process is described in the article Obtaining a tax deduction for education through the tax office. Example: In 2020, Ivanov A.B. paid for my university education in the amount of 50 thousand rubles. Ivanov waited until the end of the year and in January 2020 submitted a package of documents for deductions (3-NDFL declaration, supporting documents, application for refund) to the tax office. At the end of the desk audit, the tax office issued a refund in the amount of 13% x 50 thousand rubles. = 6500 rubles to the account specified in the application of Ivanov A.B.
Without waiting for the end of the year, you can contact the tax authority for a Notification confirming your right to the deduction. After receiving the Notice, you must take it to the employer. From the moment your employer receives this Notice, no income tax of 13% will be withheld from your wages until the deduction is exhausted.

Please note: you can only receive a deduction through your employer for training expenses incurred in the current calendar year. If expenses were incurred in previous calendar years, the deduction can only be obtained through the tax authority.

Example: In March 2020, Petrov B.V. paid for my university education in the amount of 50 thousand rubles. Petrov B.V. officially works and his salary is 25 thousand rubles per month. He receives 21,750 rubles in his hands, since 3,250 rubles are withheld from him in the form of income tax.

After paying for his studies in March of the same year, he applied to the tax authority to issue a Notice confirming the right to a tax deduction. A month later, the tax office issued him this document. In April Petrov B.V. took the notice to the employer's accounting department. In April and May 2020, from the salary of B.V. Petrov. personal income tax was not withheld, and he received 25 thousand rubles in his hands. From June 2020, the tax began to be withheld from him again, since the deduction in the amount of 50 thousand rubles was exhausted.

In what cases and in what amount can you receive a deduction for the education of your children?

You can receive a social tax deduction for the education of your children if the following conditions are met:

the child is no more than 24 years old;
the child is studying full-time (kindergarten, school, full-time university, etc.);
the agreement for payment for educational services is drawn up for you (or your spouse);
actual payment documents (receipts, bills) must be drawn up in your name (or a power of attorney for the transfer of funds has been issued);

The maximum deduction for one child is 50 thousand rubles, that is, 6,500 rubles. to return.

Example: In 2020, Ivanov A.A. paid:

correspondence education at a university for his daughter Katya in the amount of 30 thousand rubles;
tuition at a paid school for his son Kolya in the amount of 40 thousand rubles.

At the same time, for 2020 Ivanov A.A. earned 250 thousand rubles and paid income tax 31 thousand rubles.

Since Katya is studying in the correspondence department, the money for her is A.A. Ivanov. can't return it. Therefore, for a maximum of 2020 (in 2020), he will be able to return 40 thousand rubles. * 13% = 5,200 rubles.

You can read more detailed information about the deduction for the education of children (the amount of the deduction, restrictions, nuances of paperwork) in the article: Features of the tax deduction for the education of children .

Amount of tax deduction for education of brothers/sisters

The amount of deduction for payment of educational services for brothers/sisters is calculated for the calendar year and is determined by the following factors:

You cannot return more money in a year than you transferred to the personal income tax budget (about 13% of the official salary).
In total, you can return up to 13% of the cost of paid training, but not more than 15,600 rubles per year.

Example: In 2020, Ivanov A.A. paid for the education of his brother Ivanov V.A. at a university for full-time study in the amount of 80,000 rubles. At the same time, for 2020 Ivanov A.A. earned 250 thousand rubles and paid income tax 31 thousand rubles. For 2020 Ivanov A.A. will be able to return 80,000 * 13% = 10,400 rubles.

Additional and more complex examples of calculating the tax deduction for training can be found here: Examples of calculating the tax deduction for training

How to get a deduction?

The process of obtaining a deduction for education consists of: collecting and submitting documents to the tax office, checking documents by the tax office and transferring money. You can learn more about the process of obtaining a tax deduction with an indication of the deadlines here: The process of obtaining a tax deduction for education .

The process of obtaining a deduction can be simplified by using our service. We will fill out the 3-NDFL declaration for you, tell you what other documents you will need for the deduction, and also give detailed instructions on submitting documents to the tax authorities. Or we will send your documents ourselves, without your participation. If you have any questions while working with the service, tax experts will be happy to advise you.

Prepare documents for deduction

The process of obtaining a tax deduction for education

Fill out documents for deductions If you want to fill out the documents yourself, then you can find all the forms here: Forms and examples of documents for deductions for education).

Step 3. Submit documents to the tax office

Now that you have a completed 3-NDFL declaration and a certified package of documents, you must submit them to the tax office. This can be done in several ways:

Option 1. Submit documents to the tax office in person.

The advantage of this method is that the inspector will personally check the documents and in some cases will immediately tell you if something is missing or requires correction.

At the same time, this method has two significant disadvantages:

it takes time;
in some cases, the tax inspector may require additional documents that the taxpayer is not required to provide by law (in this case, they will not give an official refusal, but simply will not accept the documents).

Option 2. Send documents to the tax office by mail.

You can avoid visiting the tax office and send all documents for deduction by mail (this method is provided for in clause 4 of article 80 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). This method has the following advantages:

saving time (sending documents by mail usually takes much less time than taking them personally to the tax office);
all communication with the tax authority will be strictly formalized (and much less subject to the opinion of an individual inspector). You will be able to refuse a deduction or request additional documents only through an official request (indicating the legal reason for the refusal/request);

Documents must be sent in a valuable letter with a list of attachments. To do this, you need to collect all the documents (more details: Documents for applying for a tuition deduction), put them in an envelope (no need to seal the envelope!) and make two copies of the postal inventory. In the inventory you must list all the documents you are sending. You can download an example of filling out an inventory here: Example of filling out an inventory of documents to be sent by mail.

The big advantage of this method is that it saves time, but if you forgot to attach some documents or made mistakes in them, you will find out about it and will be able to re-send the documents only after 2-3 months (after a desk check).

You can read more detailed information about the methods of submitting documents and their nuances in our article: How and where to submit a 3-NDFL declaration?

Step 4. Wait for the results of the tax inspection and payment of money

After the tax office receives your documents, it will conduct a desk audit. According to the law, the inspection must be completed within three months (clause 2 of Article 88 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Based on the results of the audit, the tax inspectorate is obliged to send a written notification within 10 working days with its results (grant or refusal to provide a tax deduction).

Note: during the desk audit, you may be called to the tax office to clarify any controversial issues or provide original documents (if there are any doubts about the copies). Although, in most cases, the verification will take place without your participation.

Within one month from the date of filing an application for a tax refund (or one month after the end of the desk audit, if the application was submitted initially), the tax office must transfer the money to you (clause 6 of Article 78 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Note: In our experience, it is worth noting that if you filed for a tax refund along with your return, the tax office often does not send a notification of the results of a positive audit, but simply transfers the money to your account.