As of: March 16, 2024, 6:00 p.m
By: Carina Blumenroth
Comments
Press
Split
Anyone who has income from rentals must declare this on their tax return.
How you can save on taxation of rental income.
Having a property behind you is certainly a relief for some.
This can provide security for the future and be a source of income if you rent out the apartment or house.
However, you must declare your income from rentals or leasing in your tax return.
What you need to consider and where you can save.
Tax return and information from rentals
If you rent out a property, you have to pay taxes on the income, although you can deduct other costs from your taxes.
© Zoonar.com/Sirijit Jongcharoenkulchai/Imago
You must tax the income in your tax return in Appendix V. However, you can deduct expenses related to the rented property as business expenses.
The
Finanztip
portal informs that new living space will benefit from further tax relief with a special depreciation from 2023.
Advertising costs for landlords: What you can deduct
You can deduct certain costs from your taxes in the year in which you incurred the expenses.
The so-called inflow and outflow system applies to rentals and leasing.
This means that you have to tax all actual rental income - if rental income is still outstanding, it does not have to be taxed at first.
What advertising costs you should know as a landlord or lessor:
Necessary travel and travel expenses, for example if you need to carry out repairs or want to read meters.
The outward and return journey is recognized, informs
Stiftung Warentest
.
operating cost
Interest on debt from financing
Maintenance expenses/repair costs: Can be claimed over short periods of one to five years from the year in which they arise, informs
guide Immowelt
.
Building depreciation
Property tax, building insurance, property legal protection
Garden tools: If the price is less than 800 euros net, they can be written off immediately; beyond that, the depreciation is spread over nine years.
Would you like valuable money-saving tips?
Merkur.de's “Clever Save” newsletter always has the best money-saving tips for you every Thursday.
My news
Tip for your tax return: How you can save taxes through gardening read
Heirs in Germany: Who is entitled to the compulsory share? read
It only takes a few minutes: here's how you can get the transferred money back
Separation maintenance: Money only flows under certain conditions
Inheritance tax due?
In which case you have to pay how much read
Worldwide comparison: This is how much money Germans save per month read
If the costs of major renovations are high, you may have a lot of expenses in one year, but the costs need to be spread over a longer period of time for tax purposes.
So you can write off part of it every year.
This applies, for example, to the acquisition costs of a property, where you can write off two percent of the acquisition costs every year for 50 years and claim the value of the building, informs
guide Immowelt
.
If you want to depreciate the rental property more quickly, you must be able to prove that the useful life of the property is shorter, informs
Stiftung Warentest.
How much tax do you pay on rental income?
How much tax you pay on your rental income depends on your income tax rate.
If your total income exceeds the amount of 11,604 euros, the input tax rate starts at 14 percent, informs the
comparison.de portal.
If you have more income, the tax rate increases.
Depreciation of ongoing costs
Other ongoing costs also reduce income.
These include, for example, non-allocable additional costs for property management and brokerage costs for a new rental.