The German property market shows an increase in value for many years.

it might be a very good decision to invest in German properties.

There are top rated regions in Germany like for example big cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Munich but also regions with expected declining populations and decreasing property values (e.g. former GDR).

Legal form: You can own property as

Depending on this, you will have to pay either income tax or corporate tax. Each case is different. Our specialist at Cosmotax will show to you the best way to setup the assignment.

If you are planning to acquire property in Germany, Cosmotax and its network of lawyers, notaries, bankers and estate agents will help you to find

We can consult you in the setup and also in the recurring compliance work, no matter if you are planning to acquire a small apartment or have big plans to invest several millions in large scale projects.

At each year a tax result has to be calculated. Income is rent income and e.g. sales gains of property.

Costs are typically operating and administration expenses, depreciation and interest expenses.

Especially interest expenses are an issue you can safe many German taxes with. Under certain circumstances interest on a property mortgage are full deductable in Germany, no matter if paid to a bank or a private person. If for example the private person is non-resident in Germany, the interest income of this person will not become subject to German tax. There are very detailed tax rules on this interest matter.

Contact your specialist at Cosmotax to find the best solution for you.

Depreciation costs are acquisition costs for the building (not for land) that are for tax purposes spread over a certain amount of tax periods. This means depreciation lowers your taxable income although you did have no costs for this. There are very detailed tax rules on this depreciation matter.

Contact your specialist at Cosmotax to find the best solution for you.

You furthermore have the possibility to carry tax losses forward or backward. This means for example of you have a tax loss in year 2016, you can offset this lost from a tax gain you might have made in years 2015 or 2017.

Renting out apartments or commercial properties is usually VAT free.

If you rent out commercial properties you might opt voluntarily to VAT method which often is the preferable method (purchase VAT on invoices to you can be claimed back from German tax office).