The mechanism of action of this tax benefit is as follows: the taxable income of citizens for the reporting period (year) is reduced by the amount that they spent on the purchase of housing. You can formulate this easier: the income of the taxpayer spent on the purchase of housing is exempted from taxation. However, freed — strongly said. The taxpayer is forced to first pay the tax, submit documents for receipt of the deduction and, in the event of a positive decision, get the already paid money back.