Property acquisition tax

Hello everyone,

I have been following various topics for a while. Today we received a statement that we cannot really believe. A house seller informed us that in Berlin, for about 2 years now, the real estate transfer tax must be paid on both house and land. I actually understood the legislation to mean that if I acquire land through a real estate agent, I have to pay real estate transfer tax on this. If I then have a house built by a house provider, the real estate transfer tax does not apply to that. It seems different to me, however, for house projects where I buy both house and land from one provider. In that case, in my opinion, real estate transfer tax is due on everything.

Can one of you explain the procedure (when, for what, and how valid) so that there are no surprises.

Regards
Dirk

Hello, I don't know exactly how it is in Berlin, but basically you always pay (with a new purchase), whether you buy just a plot of land, a finished new building, or an old building, etc., real estate transfer tax 3.5% + notary fees 1.5% + possibly broker commission ...% (I think Berlin will make no exception here) If I have researched correctly, it is even 4.5% in Berlin and from 2011 5% (source FAZ) for the real estate transfer.

Hello Blurboy,

my question is whether I have to pay real estate transfer tax on the house and land if I buy a plot of land from person/company A and company B builds a house on it shortly afterward?

The statement from the house seller was that basically real estate transfer tax has to be paid on both.

In my opinion, the statement from my seller is correct if house and land come from the same company – but not if the house builder is a different company than the land seller. According to a rough estimate, this difference amounts to around 9 - 10 thousand €.

Regards Dirk

PS: The increase of the real estate transfer tax in Berlin at the beginning of the year is new to me – it’s correct for Brandenburg. I will google it again right away or could you post me a link?

YES no, you only pay the tax for what you acquire, if you buy a property, you pay the taxes for it, if you build something on it shortly afterward, you naturally do not pay for the house! So far you have understood everything correctly and the construction company is probably a bit confused or even wants to pocket the money!?

To define it a bit more precisely than blurboy. If you only buy the plot of land from A and have the house built by B, it does not mean that you only have to pay the land transfer tax on the plot. If it is a condition to build with B on the plot, you also pay for the house.

The developer/house builder must have no relationship to the seller of the plot, otherwise there can be problems.

Hello,

wow, this is turning out to be much more complex.

The developer/homebuilder must not have any relationship with the seller of the property, otherwise there can be problems.

What does not having any relationship mean? How does the tax office check for such relationships? We are being referred to real estate agents by the house provider who then take care of us – does that already count as a relationship through which transfer tax must be paid on both? I assume that there is no clause that I must necessarily build with the house provider when acquiring the property.

Regards
Dirk