OREANDA-NEWS. February 28, 2012. As regards the declaration of income for the previous year, the largest change concerns investors. Namely, it is now possible to also use, in addition to the regular sales transaction based taxation, the investment account scheme. It should be noted, however, that only in the tax return for the year 2011, can one carry over the losses for previous periods and the taxes on existing investments from the standard system to that of the investment account, reported the press-centre of SEB.  

A regular scheme or the investment accounts system may be employed in taxing investment income from 2011. Under the regular system, any profits from the transfer of property are subject to tax and the tax liability is calculated as the difference between the sales price and the acquisition cost of the assets. Under the investment account scheme, the profit from taxable investments is taxed similarly; however, the income tax need not be paid immediately but may be rolled over to the following years.

“The income tax return for 2011 is special in that it is only in the return for that year that the financial assets acquired before 1 January 2011 and the loss for previous periods can be carried over from the regular scheme into the investment account system. For that, the amount of loss for previous years regarding the financial assets owned as at 1 January 2011 needs to be marked as a down payment into an investment account on the tax return. This new scheme opens up greater possibilities for an active investor, thus one needs to take special care when declaring their income and consult with the Tax and Customs Board where necessary,” said the head of the Tax Policy Unit of SEB, Kadri Arula.

An investment income declaration assistance tool is being prepared for use in SEB’s Internet bank, which facilitates the use of the investment account scheme for income declaration purposes. This special tool will help sort the investment products, define the investment accounts and formulate the entries of the tax return. Following a couple of days of testing, the tool can be used by all the clients who wish to declare their income via SEB.

As from 15 February, the taxpayer can start confirming their pre-completed income tax returns via e-tax board. The pre-completed tax returns show information on salaries and other fees, mandatory funded pension payments, unemployment payments that have been withheld, training costs that have been paid, pensions and voluntary pension fund payments, all in euros.

The Tax and Customs Board starts returning income tax to those who submitted their income tax return via e-tax board as from 28 February. The due date for submitting an income tax return is 2 April 2012.