A German property GmbH wishes to sell its last asset. A date shortly before the end of the year is proposed for the transfer. Within the company it is assumed that a few remaining hours could play no role for tax purposes. For a possible extended property deduction the actual timing is a separate point for review.
Name the affected tax question clearly
§ 9 Nummer 1 GewStG contains the statutory starting point for the simple and, under its conditions, the applied-for extended deduction. It particularly describes the management and use of own real estate; the provision contains further conditions and exceptions. [GEWSTG-9]
This article does not calculate trade tax and does not declare the company generally eligible for a deduction. Our editorial recommendation: Submit the previous tax classification, property portfolio and actually planned changes together to tax advisory.
A decisive year-end case
In III R 1/23 of 17 October 2024 the BFH denied the extended deduction for the period in question. The company transferred all its real estate at the beginning of 31 December and continued to exist afterwards. The temporal gap was not simply irrelevant for the examination of exclusivity. [BFH-IIIR1-23]
The judgment relates to the year in dispute 2016. Its then calculation of the simple deduction is expressly not transferred here to current years. The decision serves as an occasion to have the concrete transfer and the activity continuing thereafter fully reviewed.
Capture more than the signature date
Our own preparation method: Place the intended notarisation, the course of the purchase price and the concretely planned transfer arrangements side by side. Which rights, encumbrances and actual activities change when? A date line in an internal list does not replace a contractual interpretation.
The further continued existence of the company and still ongoing processes also belong in the consultation. The sale of the last house does not, without review, lead to the end of every tax-relevant activity. The article does not recommend automatic dissolution of the company.
An invented seemingly small change of date
For a GmbH a variant was discussed in tax pre-consultation. Later the contracting parties wish to bring the intended transfer forward somewhat because this seems organisationally more convenient. The person responsible has this change reviewed again before the commitment.
She does not apply the earlier classification unchanged to a different sequence. The example neither promises a deduction nor provides a reliable year-end clause. The permissible and tax-appropriate structuring must belong to the entire concrete case.
Maintain the confirmed plan until execution
Keep the assessed contractual version and its prerequisites findable. If payment or transfer prerequisites are later fulfilled differently than assumed, the advisory receives the actual status. This connects the sales organisation with the tax review. An ostensibly insignificant remainder of the year does not simply disappear from consideration because the property holdings have already become zero.