Depreciation of owner-occupied property

Hopefully the programmers of Elster will also read this and include a new field in the income tax form.

According to the imprint someone from Rio de Janeiro

The Income Tax Act as announced on October 8, 2009 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 3366, 3862), last amended by Article 20 of the Act dated December 22, 2023 (Federal Law Gazette 2023 I No. 411), is amended as follows:
1. In § 6b paragraph 6 sentence 2, the words “§ 7 paragraph 4 sentence 1 and paragraph 5” are replaced by the words “§ 7 paragraph 4 sentence 1, paragraph 5 and 5a.”
2. § 7 is amended as follows:
a) Paragraph 4 sentence 2 is to read as follows: “If the actual useful life of a building in the cases of sentence 1 number 1 and 2 letter a is less than 33 years, in the cases of sentence 1 number 2 letter b less than 50 years, in the cases of sentence 1 number 2 letter c less than 40 years, then instead of the depreciations according to sentence 1, the depreciations corresponding to the actual useful life for depreciation may be applied.”
b) After paragraph 5 the following paragraph 5a is inserted: “(5a) For buildings located in a member state of the European Union or another state to which the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) applies, insofar as they serve residential purposes and were constructed by the taxpayer or acquired by the end of the year of completion, depreciation in declining annual amounts pursuant to paragraph 4 number 2 letter a may be applied instead of depreciation in equal annual amounts pursuant to paragraph 4 number 2 letter a, if construction began after September 30, 2023 and before October 1, 2029, or acquisition took place on the basis of a legally binding mandatory contract concluded after September 30, 2023 and before October 1, 2029. The start of construction is deemed to be the date specified in the construction start notification to be submitted according to the respective national legal provisions. If, under national law, no construction start notifications are prescribed in individual cases, the taxpayer must declare that construction start was voluntarily reported to the competent building authority. Depreciation in declining annual amounts may be made at a fixed rate of 5 percent of the respective book value (residual value). Sentence 4 of paragraph 1 applies correspondingly. For buildings whose depreciation is calculated using declining annual amounts, depreciation for extraordinary technical or economic wear and tear is not permitted. The transition from depreciation in declining annual amounts to depreciation in equal annual amounts is permitted. Further depreciation is calculated after the transition to depreciation within the meaning of paragraph 4 on the residual value

§ 7
Depreciation for
Wear and Tear or Reduction in Substance
(1) 1 For assets whose use or utilization by the taxpayer for the purpose of generating
income usually extends over a period of more than one year, a portion of the acquisition or production costs must be depreciated each year corresponding to the equal distribution of these costs over the entire period of use or utilization (depreciation in equal annual amounts). 2 The depreciation is calculated based on the usual useful life of the asset.

Okay. But what does that mean now?