M. Stulov / Vedomosti

Moscow authorities intend to force city residents who rent out apartments to pay a 13% tax on the income they receive from renting out their apartments, as stipulated by law, according to a statement by Maxim Reshetnikov, head of the city's Department of Economic Policy and Development. To collect this tax - that is, to identify apartments being rented out - city authorities will work together with district police officers, management companies and homeowners' associations, the official said. "The process has been launched," he emphasized.

Cases where an apartment is rented out without a lease agreement will be considered tax evasion, Reshetnikov added.

According to his calculations, the implementation of the new scheme for control over the housing rental market will allow the authorities to increase tax revenues to the Moscow budget by 5 billion rubles. Currently, at least 100,000 square meters are rented out in Moscow, the official noted. If we assume that the average rent is 30,000 rubles per month, then tax deductions from one apartment to the city budget should amount to 50,000 rubles, he said.

According to Miel-Arenda, at the beginning of June 2012, the average rental cost for economy class one-room apartments in Moscow was 30,700 rubles, two-room apartments – 37,900 rubles, and three-room apartments – 44,600 rubles.

The organized rental market (excluding hand-to-hand transactions) in Moscow currently comprises 47,300 apartments and 7,800 rooms, reported Galina Kiseleva, head of the apartment rental department at Inkom-Real Estate. According to the Department of Housing Policy and Housing Stock, in 90% of cases, Moscow apartments are rented out illegally. Earlier, Dmitry Taganov, head of the analytical center at Inkom Corporation, estimated the entire housing stock of the capital at 4.5 million apartments.

There are no rules on the Russian apartment market that would regulate relations between owners, tenants and the state, notes Kiseleva. In her opinion, if hasty measures are implemented, the market will go even further into the shadows: many tenants will introduce themselves as relatives of the owner or claim that they live in the apartment on a non-cash basis (for example, they look after it at the expense of paying for housing and communal services). In addition, Kiseleva continues, for many owners of economy-class apartments, renting out an apartment is the only source of income, and literally every ruble is critical for them. Another possible development is a proportional increase in rates by owners, which will push up apartment prices, the expert predicts.

Moscow to force renters to pay 13%