Is value-added tax shown on broker commission/payment?

Hello,

my boyfriend and I viewed a house a few weeks ago and agreed with the real estate agent on a 5% commission if we bought the property. The original amount in the exposé was 6.9% commission.

We decided to buy the property and received a draft of the notary contract, which stated: the commission in the amount of ...% including VAT is to be paid upon notarization.

Two weeks later was the notary appointment and suddenly it said: 5% commission plus VAT is to be paid...

We were briefly confused but were talked into the fact that, of course, VAT is still added... well... and since everyone was gathered and the notary wanted to continue reading, we also signed.

Somehow we feel completely cheated because shouldn’t it have been stated in the exposé that tax is added to the commission? We assumed it was included there. Also, during the verbal negotiation of 5% with the agent, he did not point this out.

Only now in the notary contract, which we have now also signed, and on the invoice does the explicit disclosure appear.

Is all this correct, or does it make sense to take action now? It is about 3,000 € more... and we just want to know if we are being cheated.

Many thanks for your advice!!

Hello,

if I have understood correctly, you have already signed the notary contract at the notary, haven't you?

Well, a contract is a contract and with notary contracts you always have at least 2 weeks to read it and possibly have it changed.

Apparently, nothing needs to be changed here anymore.

Yes, everything is signed. In the version we had for two weeks to read, the first wording mentioned above was included. So without specifying the exact amount...X% including VAT. The notary then presented a slightly modified contract at the appointment, and the agreed 5% plus VAT was stated there. We were then told that was the first draft and it was not correct because it is logical that VAT is added to the commission. But we were not aware of that... so we simply feel tricked and ambushed because, of course, we did not want to make a fuss at the appointment. We would have taken the house anyway... now the question is whether we should pay the broker's invoice as is, or if it would be sensible to lodge an objection because the broker must quote us final prices...

Hello,

Yes, everything is signed ... so we simply feel fooled and ambushed because, of course, we didn’t want to make a fuss at the appointment. We would have taken the house anyway... just now the question is whether we should pay the broker’s invoice as is, or whether it would be sensible to file an objection, because the broker is supposed to name the final prices to us...

We are not allowed to provide legal advice here; this is reserved for the consulting professions in Germany!

I "think" though that you can save your money for a lawyer because you signed at the appointment—without necessity. That would have been the right time to have the wording changed; that is always possible. The notary then adds his initials next to it and the matter is settled. So if you cannot prove that you agreed under pressure—e.g., because otherwise you would not have gotten the house or similar—you will have to pay the 19% VAT on top.

Ignorance does not protect against stupidity, especially since the notary—and also the broker—can assume that it is well known that commissions are subject to tax.

Best regards from the Rhineland

Straight from the gut, I think it’s not worth fighting against. One claims this, another that... then you probably misunderstood... because negotiations are done with net prices.... and so on and so forth.
This is roughly how the broker (who certainly has more business experience and a shrewd streak) can talk his way out of it.
Maybe it’s also the case that net prices are negotiated, and he took it for granted that VAT would be added to the 5%?!

Yes, you are confirming my suspicions about the matter of interpretation. I might have just thought that he would have been legally obligated to give us final prices. If that is not the case, then it's our own fault, because we did not explicitly ask. Well...something always goes wrong, for us it was just that. But we won't let it spoil our mood now...

Thank you!