A financing sketch for a rented flat includes an expected depreciation. For this, a specific building portion of the purchase price is used. If this portion is still unresolved, the calculation result is also on an open basis. An apparently customary percentage from a sales conversation does not replace an object-specific review.
Explicitly name the basis used
Ask where the building assessment basis comes from and which part of the acquisition is included in it. Gather the purchase contract, related schedules and any available valuation documents. A total purchase price and an already checked building size are different pieces of information.
§ 7 Absatz 4 EStG regulates the building deduction. [ESTG7-BASIS] This article uses this only as a starting point for the question of the correct basis. It does not determine land value or an accepted allocation method and does not replace a tax valuation.
Place two fictitious assumptions openly side by side
For a pure comprehension test the assumed amount to be allocated is 300.000 euros. Variant A uses 240.000 euros as the building basis, Variant B 180.000 euros. These are arbitrarily set learning variants, not appropriate market or land ratios.
With an annual calculation factor of two per cent chosen additionally only for the model, the result would be 4.800 and 3.600 euros respectively. The gap is 1.200 euros per year. This merely shows how the still unresolved basis changes a subsequent figure. It is not a confirmation that these factors and allocations apply to your property.
Do not turn the calculation result into a tax saving
The two model amounts are not disbursements and not an individual tax relief. What effect an actually recognised deduction has in your case only emerges from the complete tax consideration. An assumed personal tax rate is not applied to the difference without verification.
Also check whether the financing plan would be viable without the still uncertain tax effect. The actual purchase price must still be paid if the tax allocation later turns out differently. The open basis therefore belongs to consultation before any far-reaching commitment.
Demand a comprehensible document
Have the allocation and its concrete relation to the property explained to you. If two professional documents state different values, record the difference instead of choosing the number that looks better for the financing. None of the learning variants shown here is a recommendation to assert as high a building value as possible.
Your completed checklist names the amount used, its origin, valuations still open and the effect of a deviation. In this way an inconspicuous denominator in the tax calculation becomes a comprehensible and individually verifiable assumption in good time.