Real estate industry

22.02.: BFH ruling on purchase price allocation for real property

Since April 2014, the Federal Ministry of Finance has provided the tax administration with a working aid for apportioning the total purchase price for a developed property (purchase price apportionment). In its ruling of 21 July 2020 (Ref.: IX R 26/19), the Federal Fiscal Court has now decided that this assistance may no longer be used in disputes between the taxpayer and the tax office.

Why is the purchase price allocation relevant at all?

Anyone who acquires a property for the purpose of earning an income usually has an interest in dividing the purchase price in such a way that the building accounts for as high a proportion of the purchase price as possible and the land for as low a proportion as possible. This is because depreciation for wear and tear can be claimed on the building portion. In principle, the tax office is obliged to accept the values from the notarial purchase contract as long as there are no significant doubts (BFH, judgement of 10.10.2000, ref.: IX R 86/97). If any doubts arose, the tax office, in its constant practice, referred back to the BMF’s working aid.

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01.02.: The new Flat Ownership Law

The reformed Flat Owners’ Act (Wohnungseigentümergesetz, WEG) has been in force since 01.12.2020 and brings with it numerous innovations for administrators and flat owners. In essence, the reform is intended to eliminate bureaucratic problems due to resolution quotas or regulations that are distant from practice. This is to be achieved through more rights of the condominium owners’ association and the administrator as well as a greater possibility of structuring the internal relationship of the condominium owners’ association. You can find a summary of the most important innovations here.

27 Jan: Rent brake

The law on the rent brake for new or re-let flats stipulates that the rent at the beginning of a tenancy may not be more than 10% above the local rent, cf. § 556d BGB, provided that the residential property is located in an area with a housing shortage. New buildings and extensively renovated flats are generally exempt from this regulation. For which areas the so-called rent control is to apply, i.e. which specific area is defined as an area with strained housing, can be determined by the federal states for 5 years by legal ordinance. Some federal states make use of this possibility and define areas that are subject to the Mietpreisbremse. Areas with tight housing markets exist by legal definition if the sufficient supply of the population with rental housing in a municipality or part of the municipality at reasonable conditions is particularly at risk.

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15.06.: On the written form termination of commercial leases

Commercial leases are often concluded for periods of 10 years or longer – during this time, many things can happen on both the landlord and tenant side that cause one of the two parties to no longer want to be bound by the contract. Even a third party who enters into the existing rental agreement by law as the purchaser of a property (“purchase does not break rent”) often has interests that conflict with the continued existence of the rental agreement.

However, it is not so uncomplicated to terminate the existing tenancy.

If the rental agreement is limited in time and thus concluded for a fixed period of time, ordinary termination for this period is excluded for both parties. It ends automatically only at the end of the rental period.

This can be a real challenge for the respective parties – after all, they have to put up with the unpleasant contractual partner until the latter gives them a reason for extraordinary termination. This may never happen and they are bound until the end of the rental period.

A possible way out of this plight is offered here by the so-called notice in writing.

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