The expert explained the importance of paying tax for landlords

The year 2026 in Russia will be marked by tax collection. Against this background, it is better for rental housing owners to be proactive and not take risks with gray schemes. Alexander Chernokulsky, director of the Zhilfond company, told Izvestia on January 30.

"Interest from the tax service can be expensive. The fact is that the Federal Tax Service can charge personal income tax on an individual's income for all income received from renting an apartment for a period of up to three years. That is, 13% of the amount of income up to 5 million rubles per year, or 15% if the annual amount of income is higher," he warned.

In addition to the tax itself, you will most likely have to pay penalties for each day of delay, calculated at the Central Bank rate, and a fine of up to 20-40% of the unpaid tax.

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Chernokulsky explained that if you take a non-metropolitan city and the average rental price is 40 thousand rubles per month, the arithmetic will be as follows: in a year you received 480 thousand rubles for an apartment. The tax at the standard personal income tax rate, fines and penalties, will cost 105-110 thousand, and in three years it will be 300 thousand and more. At the same time, it was possible to register self—employed status at a rate of 4% and pay 1.6 thousand rubles of tax per month - 19.2 thousand per year.

According to the expert, the self-employment format is suitable for most private landlords of residential real estate, whose income does not exceed 2.4 million rubles per year. When a tenant transfers money, the landlord just needs to deposit the amount in the system and write out a check — this serves as proof of receipt of payment. The system calculates taxes automatically on a monthly basis, and the amount is displayed in your personal account. Unlike personal income tax, you do not need to submit additional reports to the tax service. If the amount of annual rental income is higher than 2.4 million, you can apply for an individual entrepreneur with a simplified taxation system — the tax rate will be 6% in this case.

"Despite the simplicity of the system, gray schemes are still a mass practice. So, at the end of 2025, the volume of the illegal rental market ranged from 80 to 95%. Given this fact, as well as the focus on filling the budget, we expect that 2026 may be a turning point for the rental market," Chernokulsky believes.

Earlier, on October 23, 2025, it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of improving support for student families. He noted that the system of social assistance to families with children should be clear and transparent. The Head of state also announced an increase in maternity benefits for full-time students and the opening of mother and child rooms at universities. Putin called for continued measures in the higher education system aimed at supporting the birth rate.

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