When a German owner-occupied flat is let, service charges (Hausgeld) are paid every month. Part of this is allocated to the communal reserve for repairs (Erhaltungsrücklage). For tax and financing planning it would be a mistake to treat that part immediately as a deductible expense (Werbungskosten) merely because the money flows out.
The allocation is not yet the measure
With its judgment of 14.01.2025, IX R 19/24, the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof) decided that the allocation to the reserve for repairs does not, even after the 2020 condominium reform (Wohnungseigentumsreform), justify a deduction as Werbungskosten in letting and leasing. The decisive connection arises only when the community actually spends the funds on repair measures. [BFH]
Even then, the tax character of the measure actually carried out must be assessed. The judgment explains why only at that point can a distinction be made between immediately deductible repair expenses and, alternatively, capital expenditure (Herstellungskosten) treated differently. [BFH] From this page therefore no blanket assurance follows that every later expenditure by the community will be immediately deductible.
Isolate the reserve portion in the example
In the hypothetical case, service charges of 320 euros are paid monthly. According to the expressly assumed documents, 90 euros are attributable to the allocation to the reserve for repairs. The annual outflow of 3.840 euros therefore contains 1.080 euros of reserve allocations. In the example year these funds are not yet spent on measures.
The 1.080 euros remain included in the personal payment schedule. However, they are not treated as Werbungskosten arising solely from this allocation. The tax treatment of the remaining 2.760 euros is not determined in the case as a general rule. The specific items must be examined separately for that.
Link two years with different receipts
Keep the allocation of your own payments and the documents on subsequent actual measures and their payment. Ask the property management and tax advisers for the information needed for the concrete tax review. A mere year-end balance of the reserve does not fully explain the tax-relevant expense nor its allocation to your let flat.
In the event of a change of ownership or use, advice must take account of the actual timing. An earlier personal outflow of funds must not be transferred to a later period without examination.
Carry the loan calculation without anticipated reimbursement
If your financing has so far been based on an immediate deduction of the entire Hausgeld, have that assumption corrected and calculate the actual effect. This page does not calculate a personal reimbursement. It shows which specific item must be removed from the simplified approach before the tax inflow can be regarded as a component of a sustainable financing plan.