‘It will fall on the shoulders of the population’: Minnikhanov asks to exempt management companies from VAT
A meeting of the State Duma working group headed by Marat Nuriyev was held in Kazan
“Management companies did not switch to the simplified tax system in order to avoid taxes. This was done in order to ease the tariff burden for the population as much as possible,” Dmitry Anisimov, a member of the State Council Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on housing policy and infrastructure development, called on raising the “problem of VAT in housing and communal services” at a meeting of the working group under the State Duma committee. 90% of management companies in Tatarstan work on the simplified tax system, which means that by April 25 they will have to pay VAT on housing services for the first time. In response, the guests from Moscow assured that the simplified tax system will end by 2030, but Tatarstan deputies are determined to fight to the end. Otherwise, housing tariffs will have to be indexed by 5-7%. Read more about it in the report of Realnoe Vremya.
“We are not going to make a coup”
Tatarstan parliamentarians and management companies propose considering the possibility of excluding the payment of VAT by management companies operating on the simplified tax system. This could contain the cost of housing services, namely, keep the tariff for the maintenance of residential premises (editor's noteÑ in Tatarstan it is 36 rubles per 1 sq. m.). Rais of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov supported their position and sent an appeal to the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin. This became known today at an off-site meeting of the working group under the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Utilities, which was held in Kazan.
The “revolutionary” meeting from the point of view of taxation was held by Chairman of the working group under the State Duma Committee on Construction and Housing and Utilities Marat Nuriyev and the first deputy minister of construction, architecture and housing and utilities Damir Shaidullin. Although before this, the deputy of the lower house of parliament tried to convince journalists that nothing extraordinary was being prepared. “We are not going to make a coup,” he said with a slightly sly smile. “There is the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, to which many changes have been made, we just need to streamline it.”
What exactly? As it turned out, the authorities have taken up updating the rules for managing the housing stock. According to Marat Nuriyev, a working group under the committee has been working on improving this system for three years, organizing hearings in the State Duma. “But in Moscow there is one situation, and in the regions — another,” he emphasized. “I want to hear the voice of those who work “on the scene.”
Why did they decide to gather in Kazan? “Our speaker Vyacheslav Volodin always says: ´Start with yourself! Let's get started!’” Marat Nuriyev kept the intrigue until the last moment. Before being elected as a deputy of the State Duma, he worked for almost 30 years in the housing and utilities sector, heading Cosy House management company.
Management companies were shown VAT
VAT in housing and communal services is a new disaster for management companies in the sphere of apartment buildings operating on a simplified taxation system. But not all federal guests share this point of view. Member of the expert council of the State Duma and the Government of the Russian Federation, CEO of the Institute of Management of Housing and Communal Services Irina Malikova tried to convince that the introduction of VAT does not carry risks. She recalled that since 1 January 2025, management companies servicing apartment buildings have become VAT payers. According to the new rules, companies on the simplified taxation system, whose income for 2024 exceeds 60 million rubles, will be required to pay VAT at a rate of 5% or 7% (depending on income). The difficulty is that the VAT rate for the management company can change, since it is “tied” to the time of the current repair of the house (usually this happens in April and August). This means that the management company is obliged to agree on the amount of payment for housing services with the residents each time, that is, hold meetings of the residents of the building.
Irina Malikova emphasized that the management company can attract contractors. This will make it possible to receive benefits for VAT payments, that is, optimize the tax burden. According to her, tax authorities will soon provide clarifications on how to apply them correctly in order to avoid suspicions of business fragmentation. She considers fighting for the abolition of VAT for simplified taxpayers to be a futile exercise. “Everything is moving towards the fact that this tax regime will be terminated by 2030,” she is confident, making it clear that in other regions, management companies operate on a common taxation system.
The peremptory nature of the Moscow guest confused the Tatarstan deputies. “In your speech, you allowed the idea that it is not worth trying [“to fight”]. “VAT is an indirect tax, and it falls on the consumer,” objected Dmitry Anisimov, a member of the Tatarstan State Council Committee on Housing Policy and Infrastructure Development. According to him, management companies did not switch to the simplified tax system in order to avoid taxes. “This was done in order to ease the tariff burden for the population as much as possible,” he explained. According to him, the regions want to convey this idea to the federal legislator. “Nobody is against the tax, but it is worth trying to exclude it. Or show a way out,” he believes. He was supported by another leader of the management company who stated that there is always a risk of under-collection of housing and utility services payments.
Currently, management companies work in such a way as to meet and pay VAT, which is not included in the tariff for housing management. It is assumed that VAT will be automatically deducted from the fee for the maintenance of residential premises.
“It is necessary to comply with the legislation, and we understand this perfectly well. But the tariff has not increased enough to ‘accommodate’ the payment of VAT. It has remained the same, the population is starting to receive fewer services for this amount. No one is against paying taxes, but the tariff is already low. If it were economically justified, where a normal salary, normal cost of materials and taxes are included, then it would be fine,” Dmitry Anisimov reasoned. The first VAT report for management companies must be submitted by 25 April.
Later, management companies got it. In Tatarstan, most complaints are received about their work, noted head of the State Housing Inspectorate Alexander Tygin.
He proposed to tighten the requirements for them. According to him, the management companies are subject to licensing requirements, and the homeowners' associations do not receive either a manager's qualification certificate or licensing requirements. “If the management company pays a fine of 50 thousand for an uncleared snowdrift, then the homeowners' association will pay 500 rubles," he was indignant. In his opinion, regardless of the number of houses, the manager must confirm his qualifications. However, not all Moscow guests agreed with him. Thus, Irina Gentzler, a member of the State Duma expert council, said that homeowners' associations work well in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the obligation to have qualifications will not help. In conclusion, the working group brought together the comments to discuss in the State Duma.
