Paying out partner and second time real estate transfer tax

The taxpayer for the land transfer tax is basically the transferee (=buyer).

In my purchase contract it says "The parties are informed of their joint and several liability for costs and taxes." This is also how I learned it from the www ... See also § 13 No. 1 Real Estate Transfer Tax Act and § 44 AO. I am not allowed to link ...

But if the gift is not a genuine gift (I assume your ex-partner will not simply want to gift you the 1/2 house)

Even then, gift tax applies to the value of the gifted item. It would be interesting to know who determines this value and how -- and what the tax office then says about it.

Alternatives for the thread starter:
- Both remain owners, rent jointly.
- ???

I was in the same situation: my husband left and I stayed in the house.

Your husband = married!
That is the big difference, as it can be transferred without real estate transfer tax. For unmarried couples, the transfer is to be regarded as if to a third party.

If you live in the house yourself, the 10-year speculation period does not apply, by the way. You only have to have lived in the house yourself in the year of the sale and the 2 years before, then the sale is tax-free. Partial years also count. For example, if you moved in in December 2014, you could sell the house tax-free from January 2016.

Thanks, I didn’t know that :) I thought the 10-year period applied, so no one thinks I was taking advantage of my ex-partner, I think we agreed fairly, although I had also carried the main burden of repayment before but that was OK, I understand that as partnership.

If it is solely self-occupied, there is no time limit; if it was rented out once, it is three years otherwise occupied; otherwise ten years. I had to deal with this when selling our condominium last year.

If it is occupied purely by the owner, there is no deadline,

Correct, I had forgotten to mention that. Thanks for the addition. I also had to deal with this when my father wanted to resell an inherited house (after paying out a co-heir) and the corresponding questionnaire from the tax office arrived. By the way, in our case it was very helpful to visit the officer at the tax office directly. After that, the matter was settled immediately.