Many taxpayers collect more than they need to because they are unaware of the confusing list of tax benefits
The 2023 personal income tax (IRPF) season is open from March 15 to May 31. For the third consecutive year, the delivery deadline was extended by the Federal Revenue Agency. As always, this is the moment for the taxpayer to find himself immersed in an ocean of doubts, about the most varied situations, and their impact on the declaration.
One of these is the question that everyone is asking: how to pay less taxes legally?
The big truth is that a significant portion of taxpayers end up collecting far more taxes than they need to, simply because they are unaware of the confusing list of tax benefits they are entitled to.
Therefore, here are some tips that should be observed before submitting the statement.
1. Analyze all deductible expenses
Start with the basics: Check all possible deductible expenses incurred in 2022, such as health care, education, child support, and contributions to the Free Benefit Generator Plan (PGBL).
This applies both to the expenses of which you are the beneficiary, and to those of which I am responsible.
Speaking of dependents, remember that not only children can be declared dependents. They can also depend on, among others:
- • parents, grandparents or great-grandparents (provided they received taxable income up to R＄ 22,847.76 during the year), and
- • Spouse or cohabitant (in the latter case, provided they have a child in common or have been living together for more than 5 years).
An important detail: the education costs of dependents with physical or mental disabilities are deductible as health expenses. Therefore, they are not subject to the education spending limit.
2. Think carefully before making a joint statement
The spouse can always be declared dependent. When that happens, we say it’s a joint statement.
It turns out that by including him as an employee, the taxpayer is required to also include his income, which will increase his tax liability.
Therefore, if the spouse has his own income, the ideal, in most cases, is to file the declarations separately. In this case, it is advisable to enter the dependents in the declaration of the spouse with the highest taxable income.
3. Incorporate repairs and remodels into your property’s cost of ownership
If the taxpayer owns his own property, he cannot forget to keep on file all the evidence of expenses with repairs and renovations. This could be painting, screen installation, plumbing, masonry, etc.
Invoices, receipts or bank statements are used as vouchers (in the latter case, as long as they contain the supplier’s CPF or CNPJ).
All these expenses can be incorporated into the purchase cost of the property (that value declared in the “Situation at 31/12…” field of the “Assets and rights” form), reducing any future capital gain at the time of sale, and , consequently, the income tax due on it.
4. Sell and buy back shares periodically
If the taxpayer trades shares on the stock exchange, he must adopt this strategy: whenever the shares are appreciating, sell them in one day (up to the limit of R$ 20,000 per month) and buy them back in the next. Do this periodically.
This will not generate any loss (since the sale and repurchase will be done at practically the same price and income tax will not be due on the capital gain, since, with total sales of shares in the month of less than R $ 20,000 , your earnings are exempt), but will regularly increase the cost of acquiring your shares, reducing future taxable capital gains.
5. Deduct the condominium expenses and the IPTU from the rent
Taxpayers who have received real estate rentals and are required to pay the condominium fee, the IPTU and administrative expenses (for the real estate agency), do not forget to deduct them from the rental amount at the time of the declaration.
This means that only the difference between the rents and these expenses should be included in the statement.
6. Don’t miss the deadline
Many people wait until the last minute to send the return, and any inconvenience (such as instability in the Revenue Agency’s servers, absence of a document, etc.) can cause the deadline for submitting the return to be exceeded (which this year will be May 31st).
Delayed shipments will incur a fine of at least BRL 165, up to 20% of the tax amount due.
7. Don’t delay paying dues
If the declaration generated the tax to be paid and the option was to pay it in installments, it is advisable to do so by automatic debit to avoid possible delays, which involve penalties and interest.
Victor Gadelha is a specialist in tax law, founder of IR Bot, he has specializations at CUOA Foundation (Vicenza, Italy) and Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV-SP).
Source: Terra
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