An already agreed real estate purchase is to be undone in Germany. The real estate transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) may already have been paid. For further financial planning you must not simply assume that the transfer will automatically be returned as soon as the contracting parties agree. The tax procedure requires its own examination.
Describe the status of the reversal precisely
Collect the original contract, tax assessment, proof of payment and the actual documents concerning the reversal. Note whether ownership has already passed or which step was still outstanding. A mere intention not to continue the purchase is a different status to a reversal that has actually been legally clarified.
§ 16 GrEStG distinguishes, among other things, reversals before transfer of ownership and reacquisition by the original seller. Under the respective conditions named the tax may, on application, not be assessed or the assessment may be rescinded. [GREST16] This article does not examine any specific entitlement.
Do not compress time and legal grounds into one generalisation
The provision names two-year constellations for certain agreed reversals or reacquisitions. There are other facts besides, for example a reversal due to unfulfilled contractual conditions based on a legal right. [GREST16] For that reason both “it is always two years” and “after two years nothing is ever possible” would be too coarse as general statements.
Have your actual data and the legal basis of the reversal assigned by an expert. Which further prerequisites, notifications and deadlines must be observed follows from a full examination. A checklist shown here does not replace an application.
Keep a possible refund separate
In the fictional case €15.000 tax was paid. For a new flat €12.000 is needed at short notice. As long as the amendment of the assessment and the actual receipt of payment are open, any possible repayment cannot simply be used as readily available funds.
The figures are made up. The case does not calculate the correct tax amount nor a processing time. Its purpose is to separate a tax refund to be examined from a new obligation to be met today.
Continue the documents for the tax decision
Keep queries, evidence and the actual notice of amendment. Changed counterperformances and partial reversals are separate matters; they are not automatically treated like a complete abandonment of the purchase. § 16 also contains a regulation on the reduction of the counterperformance. [GREST16]
The result is a comprehensible separate trail: what was contractually reversed, which tax examination is pending and which amount is actually available again? Only the confirmed current status is taken into the next financing decision. The article does not promise a refund and does not decide any dispute about the reversal.