The State Duma is preparing amendments to the Tax Code, according to which the maximum property tax rate could rise to 2.5% from the current 0.3%. This change will affect owners of real estate with a cadastral value exceeding 300 million rubles.
Experts believe that Russian showbiz stars will be among the first to face the higher tax. However, it is not always possible to determine the cadastral number of a plot and its exact value by address alone.
For instance, singer Stas Mikhaylov mentioned in an interview with Forbes that he bought the most expensive mansion in an elite village in the Moscow region. He did not specify the location, but journalists have speculated that it is the “Agalarov Estate” in Istra. According to the public cadastral map, there are indeed houses there valued at over 300 million rubles.
On the other hand, the famous castle of Alla Pugacheva in the village of Gryaz may avoid the new taxation.
“I do not think that the castle in Gryaz will have a high value — either cadastral or market. At one time, it might have been valued at the upper range and belonged to the ‘super-luxury’ segment, but today it is morally outdated,” explained Viktor Sadigov, owner of the elite real estate agency Nika Estate, to the Parliamentary Gazette.
The cadastral value of Philip Kirkorov’s mansion in Moscow is also unknown. Some sources suggest that the purchase cost the pop music king $12 million, but the cadastral value of the plot on which the mansion stands is just over 110 million rubles.
The three-story mansion of ballerina Anastasia Volochkova may also escape the higher tax rate. According to Rosreestr, its cadastral value is 33 million rubles.
Sadigov believes that the increased rate will impact top-tier stars, as well as major businessmen and officials. The complexity lies in the fact that there are not many such individuals, and consequently, not many properties either.
The list of expensive residential properties might include apartments in central Moscow or mansions in closed elite villages. However, plots valued over 300 million rubles are mainly found in the capital and some areas of St. Petersburg.
Industry specialists are confident that the tax increase is unlikely to prompt a mass exodus of luxury property owners. Konstantin Barsukov, a member of the Russian Guild of Realtors, noted that the new rate is a kind of luxury tax.
“As for ordinary people and the Russian real estate market as a whole, these innovations will not affect them in any way,” Barsukov assured.
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