Tatarstan wants to tax all shopping malls and offices
Currently, only objects with an area of 1,000 or more square metres pay the maximum rate
This year, Tatarstan's budget will receive an additional over 1 billion rubles in taxes from shopping and administrative centres with an area of 1,000 square metres or more. According to the law of the Republic of Tatarstan, they were included in the list of real estate objects for which the tax base is defined as the cadastral value. However, on 27 January, the board of the Ministry of Land and Property of the Republic of Tatarstan proposed to completely abandon the lower limit of the area when calculating tax for all commercial facilities, as is already adopted in half of the Volga regions. Read more about how 10.8 billion rubles in tax debts have accumulated in the republic, in which cases residential housing land will be withdrawn from owners and where orphans can be evicted, in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Tax and rent debts
Tatarstan's consolidated budget received 25.4 billion rubles, the Minister of Land and Property Relations of Tatarstan, Azat Kadyrov, stated at the final board meeting. This is almost 10 billion more than a year earlier, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Nigmatullin later noted. At the same time, according to him, the republic retains significant reserves for budget replenishment, and this is primarily about tax arrears:
“As of January 1 of this year, the tax arrears to the consolidated budget amounted to 10.8 billion rubles, including 1.2 billion rubles in the sphere supervised by the ministry. I appeal to the heads of enterprises and organisations present here to prevent the formation of arrears in taxes and fees to the budgets of all levels, both for the organisations themselves and for your employees," he said.
Arrears on rent payments to municipal budgets decreased by 29.9 million rubles (-10.6%), amounting to 270.9 million, of which 40 million were debts of tenants in liquidation or bankruptcy. “The executive committees should take timely measures to recover them so as not to bring the debt to a state of hopelessness," the deputy prime minister urged.
In order to improve the financial and economic condition of loss-making enterprises with state participation, the Ministry of Land and Property of the Republic of Tatarstan proposed to conduct interdepartmental balance commissions, and at the same time, approve a methodology for remuneration of managers of such companies in relation to net profit and dividends paid (no more than 5%). As part of the reform of unitary enterprises in Tatarstan, 72 state unitary enterprises and municipal unitary enterprises were liquidated (one more this year) and 49 were restructured (two more this year).
“Do not patronise such cases”
An important topic was the reliable assessment of state property. “We often encounter poor-quality results, about 30% of reports are returned for revision," complained Azat Kadyrov. According to him, this is due to low qualifications, and sometimes to the dishonesty of individual appraisers.
The minister gave examples where abuses could lead to significant shortfalls in budget revenues. For example, in Naberezhnye Chelny, an appraiser calculated the cost of the site of the Central Car Market 22 times lower than the cadastral and market prices. The budget could lose up to 2.5 million rubles annually. “Experts confirmed the poor quality of the report. SROs must strictly fullfill their functions, and not patronise such cases!” the minister stressed. According to him, the Union of Appraisers of the Republic of Tatarstan NP is doing a lot of work in identifying shortcomings in the work of appraisers.
“Cadastral engineers are also taking risks. In the interests of the owners of a shopping centre, a cadastral engineer altered the information about the building's wall material from reinforced concrete to frame-panel, which, according to the classification, corresponds to wooden walls. Budget losses could amount to about 40 million rubles a year," said Azat Kadyrov.
A criminal case has been initiated on this matter, and an investigation is underway. The minister promised to continue “the fight against unscrupulous players who violate the rules of the game," together with law enforcement officers.
“We propose to reduce the area of shopping centre buildings further”
Another source of budget replenishment was the receipt of taxes from real estate, for which the tax base is defined as the cadastral value. This year, Tatarstan has significantly expanded the list of such facilities — about 1,800 administrative, business and shopping centres with an area of 1,000 square metres or more have been added to it. As a result, 618 million rubles in corporate property tax and 557 million rubles in individual property tax is expected to be allocated to the budget for these facilities this year.
“An analysis of the situation in the Volga Federal District shows that 8 out of 14 subjects calculate taxes without a lower area limit. We propose to continue gradually reducing the area of shopping center buildings in order to increase tax revenues," Azat Kadyrov urged.
The minister cited a number of positive examples of the involvement of facilities in economic turnover. So, they found a use for the old property complex of the former fire station in the village of Yudino. The republican DOSAAF has begun work on the design and construction of a new motodrome for the needs of the ministry of defense. In Kazan, in the Kirovsky district, an uninhabited two-story building, an object of cultural heritage, was sold to investors. With an initial price of 1 ruble, the object was sold at the auction for 43.9 million rubles with the obligation to complete the work on the adaptation by September 30, 2030. To reduce the number of unused facilities, the ministry proposed to develop a three-year reduction program for each facility, including a review of federal property.
A new area of activity was also briefly discussed. Starting February 2025, a federal law will come into effect granting the republic the authority to manage confiscated property. The draft procedure governing this activity is undergoing interdepartmental coordination.
Undeveloped residential housing lands will be seized in Tatarstan
The problem of land development remains the most acute. Since 2013, the area of settlements in the republic has increased by 9,500 hectares. In most of the territories, the necessary set of related documentation has not been developed.
Almost every day, the ministry considers appeals from district heads and investors to change the category of agricultural land. All decisions on the alienation of land should be made taking into account the totality of social, economic, and environmental factors of sustainable development of territories, development of engineering, transport, and social infrastructures.
“There should not be an approach of selling as quickly as possible and then trying to buy it back five years later for a completely different price," the minister stated. “There are numerous requests for inclusion under individual housing construction (IHC).” Detailed analysis continues to reveal undeveloped or partially developed land plots that were previously included at the request of the heads.
There are appeals from areas where there is a shortage of land for large families, while they ask to transfer private land for residential housing, which looks “at least illogical," complained Azat Kadyrov.
According to him, there are cases when the owner transfers the category of his land, leaving the type of permitted use of the land for agricultural use, which entails a shortfall in land tax. But now it will be easier to solve these problems — the law has changed.
“Starting this year, at least regarding individual housing construction (IHC) lands, municipalities have the opportunity to seize these lands so that, if the owner fails to manage them, the lands can be reclaimed in accordance with the law. Unutilized lands that we see can simply be returned to normal circulation because there is still demand for them," stated Rustam Nigmatullin.
Orphans with utilities debts may be evicted to a dormitory
Turning to social projects, the board noted that since the beginning of the support measure (since 2012), more than 50,000 land plots have been provided to large families, including about 3,000 in 2024. At the same time, there is a shortage of land, which amounts to more than 19,000 plots.
Last year, the geography of land plots for Kazan residents with many children was expanded to five suburban districts and for Naberezhnye Chelny residents with many children to eight municipal districts. According to calculations, about 3,000 plots will be allocated to the families of each city.
For orphaned children in the period 2013-2023, about 5,000 (4,725) residential premises were acquired in the ownership of the republic for a total amount of 8.4 billion rubles. Of these, 808 million rubles are federal budget funds (10%). In 2024, the specialised housing stock was replenished by 621 apartments. At the same time, the debt for utilities services among orphaned children who have received free housing remains a big problem. The total debt reached 68 million rubles.
In relation to 4,332 apartments for orphans, according to the ministry, it is necessary to carry out constant safety monitoring and carry out work on timely payment by their owners.