You have rented out an Austrian condominium and have so far declared losses. You now want to sell earlier than originally planned in the rental schedule. For advisory purposes, therefore, the taxation of the sale and the previous tax classification of the rental must both be examined. A positive sale price does not answer this second question by itself.
Clearly distinguish three points in time
Our editorial recommendation: place the original management plan, the actual development and the later decision to sell side by side. When was which intention present, which costs incurred and which events occurred? Keep the documents from that time; a declaration formulated only today will not be accepted as an old record.
The presentation should also include facts that contradict your current assessment. Earlier sales offers, financing assumptions and actual usage decisions should not be omitted just because they make the review more challenging.
Early sale does not automatically mean hobby activity (Liebhaberei)
The VwGH explains in the decision of 18.03.2025, Ra 2023/13/0046, that a transfer before an actually achieved positive overall result of profitability does not necessarily preclude it. However, when the rental is discontinued it depends on proof that it was not planned from the outset only for a limited period and why it later ended. The Court does not describe contingencies as the only conceivable case. [VWGH-RA2023-13-0046]
These notes are not an acknowledgment of your specific reason for selling. Whether your plan and its evidence are sufficient will be assessed individually. The article does not declare every early sale harmful nor every unexpected development sufficient.
The later reason does not replace an originally viable management
The decision also emphasises: if the activity was objectively unsuitable from the outset to achieve a positive tax overall result within the relevant period, the later termination does not retroactively make it a source of income. [VWGH-RA2023-13-0046]
Therefore, earlier forecasts and actual annual results also belong in the advisory process. A detailed explanation of the reason for the sale cannot simply substitute for a missing or inappropriate presentation of the original profitability. The applicable forecast period is determined separately; old case timeframes from the decision are not automatically transferred to new rentals.
A sale invented after unexpected changes
An owner intended to rent for longer. After several actual changes she considers selling and calls it a distress sale in conversation. Instead of passing on only that word, she provides the plan, receipts, results and the traceable decision-making process.
The advisory review examines original profitability and later termination as interconnected but distinct questions. No tax outcome is derived from the label alone. At the same time the real estate sale itself is classified separately.
The result is a complete basis for reviewing the actual exit. It helps to assess earlier loss assumptions and current revenue expectations with the same documented course of events before both are planned together as freely available funds.