As of: February 4, 2024, 3:26 p.m
By: Marco Blanco Ucles
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When buying real estate, there are several taxes to pay.
Both buyer and seller must pay taxes to the tax office.
The dream of owning your own home is firmly anchored in many people.
Anyone who has the financial means to purchase a property despite the high prices must also pay attention to the tax conditions when purchasing.
This also applies the other way around to people who are planning to sell a property.
Here you can find out what points buyers and sellers need to consider - and what savings tips there are.
There is also a lot of advice from specialist lawyers on how to save taxes on your own home.
Buyers must pay property transfer tax
Theoretically, it is not specified which party must pay the real estate transfer tax, which is levied on the basis of the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act.
As a rule, however, it is the property buyer.
This is recorded in the purchase contract.
The real estate transfer tax is calculated from the notarized purchase price, multiplied by the real estate transfer tax rate, explains the
Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken
.
Since 2006, each federal state has set its own tax rate.
Buyers in Bavaria particularly benefit from this, as you can see from our table.
Federal State |
Real estate transfer tax rate |
|---|---|
Baden-Württemberg |
5.0% |
Bavaria |
3.5% |
Berlin |
6.0% |
Brandenburg |
6.5% |
Bremen |
5.0% |
Hamburg |
5.5% |
Hesse |
6.0% |
Mecklemburg-Western Pomerania |
6.0% |
Lower Saxony |
5.0% |
North Rhine-Westphalia |
6.5% |
Rhineland-Palatinate |
5.0% |
Saarland |
6.5% |
Saxony |
5.5% |
Saxony-Anhalt |
5.0% |
Schleswig-Holstein |
6.5% |
Thuringia |
6.5% |
The Real Estate Transfer Tax Act stipulates that the amount of tax to be paid when purchasing property results from the sum of all so-called considerations.
This includes, among other things, the purchase price of the property, the applicable tax rate and the value of the property on it.
If a developer buys a piece of land and only builds a property on it at a later date, it may be that the property transfer tax is only due on the price of the property.
However, the tax office monitors the interval between purchase and start of construction.
After you have received the property transfer tax notice from the tax office, you must pay the amount within four weeks.
When you purchase a property, taxes are due – some for the buyer, some for the seller.
© serienlicht/IMAGO
However, there are some exceptions in which the real estate transfer tax does not apply - unless the inheritance and gift tax law violates this.
These exceptions are: real estate with a value of less than 2,500 euros, death of the owner, divorce - if one of the spouses takes over the property -, gift or sale to first-degree relatives - i.e. between life partners and spouses or parents and children.
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If it is a commercial real estate transaction, income and profits are taxable as commercial income.
Therefore, in this case, sales tax is due, which is currently 19 percent.
The buyer must pay this.
According to the online portal
“taxfix”,
the situation is different with trade tax.
This affects the seller and can be calculated using the following formula: profit x 3.5% x municipal assessment rate.
Another case is the speculation tax, which is officially called the income tax for private sales transactions.
However, sellers can exempt themselves from this.
This is the case if there are ten years between buying and selling the house, then the speculation tax does not apply.
According to Exporo
, this tax also lapses
if the owner lives in the house in the last three years before the sale.
A relatively simple calculation can also be made for this tax: acquisition costs minus depreciation are offset by the sales price.
Tax law is completely different when it comes to inherited properties that are resold - income tax does not apply here.