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WirtschaftsWoche (also still in 2023) - "Higher depreciation on real estate".

(Still possible in 2023!) Starting in 2023, increased depreciation on buildings is to be eliminated. That's what a draft of the annual tax law says. This year, however, landlords may still write off more. Also: rulings on customs and housing.

It's a familiar game. No sooner does a court issue a ruling in favor of taxpayers than the federal government wants to take it back. This time, it's about increased depreciation on buildings. At the end of July, the Federal Fiscal Court ruled that landlords are allowed to write off more on their property if they prove with an expert opinion that the economic useful life is shorter than estimated by the tax office (BFH, IX R 25/19). According to the draft bill for the Annual Tax Act 2022, this option is to be eliminated in the future.

Normally, real estate is depreciated over 50 years, which means that the landlord can deduct two percent of the building value per year as a cost from tax. If the useful economic life shortens, the annual depreciation rate increases. So the landlord pays less tax for decades.

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