Riina Randver-Sõer, service owner of the Income Tax Department of the ETCB, reminds that there is no need to rush with the submission of the tax return. “In the first few days, our e-services environment may be overburdened by the large number of users. In this case, we recommend signing in to the e-services environment later. There is no need to rush with the submission of income tax return as it can be submitted until 30 April,” said Randver-Sõer.
A large part of the income tax return has already been pre-filled on the basis of the data available to the ETCB. However, the ETCB asks everyone filing their tax return to double-check that the pre-filled data is correct. Income data that has not been pre-filled in the income tax return must be added by the person filing the tax return.
“If the pre-filled data contains inaccuracies– for example, sale of immovable property which is exempt from tax – it should be deleted from the tax return by the person filing the tax return.
If some of the income earned last year is missing from the tax return, such as income from rent, income earned through a platform or abroad, this data must be entered by the person filing the tax return,” Randver-Sõer explained.
Vehicle owners can submit their income tax return after they have opened their motor vehicle tax notice. By opening the tax notice, taxpayers can identify their tax liability and, if they wish to, leave the refundable income tax in the prepayment account to cover the motor vehicle tax or land tax obligations.
In the income tax return to be submitted for 2024 this year, the tax rate is 20%. Last year, the so-called tax hump and the calculation of basic exemption did not change. This means that the basic exemption is up to 7848 euros per year, but it depends on the income of the taxpayer. If the annual income exceeds 25 200 euros, the basic exemption is 0 euros. The basic exemption for people of retirement age is 9312 euros per year. It does not depend on the amount of income.
Compared to previous years, housing loan interest, as well as increased basic exemption for children or a spouse can no longer be deducted from last year's income. Training expenses, gifts and donations in the amount of up to 1200 euros can still be deducted from income. Contributions to the supplementary funded pension, i.e. the third pension pillar, can also be deducted from taxable income to the extent of up to 15% of taxable income, but not more than 6000 euros per year.
“If the data on training expenses is not pre-filled in the tax return or they differ from information available to you, it is worth contacting the educational institution and asking for the data to be corrected or submitted to the ETCB,” Randver-Sõer suggests.
Heli Kullamaa, Head of Customer Service of the ETCB, points out that during the first weeks, the customer support lines and service bureaus of the ETCB may have longer queues than usual. “Most people do not need to come to our service points to submit the income tax return, as it can be submitted in the e-services environment without leaving one’s home. If possible, we ask you to help your elderly relatives with submitting the income tax return,” Kullamaa said.
Starting from 17 February, the service bureaus of the ETCB in Kärdla, Rapla and Jõgeva will also be temporarily open for the period of filing income tax returns. The locations of all service bureaus of the ETCB can be found on the website of the ETCB.
The income tax return need not be submitted by persons whose income tax has been correctly withheld. Also, persons whose income does not exceed the basic exemption of 7848 euros or, in the case of persons of pensionable age, 9312 euros per year do not have to declare their income.
On 5 March, the ETCB will start refunding overpaid income tax to customers who submit the tax return in the e-services environment. When the refund is made does not depend on the time of submission of the tax return. The refunding of overpaid income tax to customers who submit the tax return on paper form starts on 18 March. The final deadline for refunds is 1 October, the same as the deadline for paying additional income tax.
More information on declaring income for 2024 can be found on the website of the ETCB.
