Adaptation of the costs of acquisition

The costs of acquisition may only be adapted in the regular income calculation (thus essentially for new properties) on the basis of the actual costs of acquisition.

• Production costs (e.g. extension, enlargement, reinforcement, consolidation of apartments, first-time installation of sanitary facilities or a central heating system);
• repair costs (e.g. replacement of essential building parts, window replacement, replacement of heating systems, energy-saving measures such as heat insulation of façades);

increase the actual costs of acquisition and thus reduce the taxable capital gain.

By contrast, maintenance costs (e.g. painting, sanding down parquet floors) are not to be taken into account.

However, it should be noted that expenses should not be taken into account twice:

• No increase in acquisition costs is therefore made as, in the case of the previous rental, the production or repair costs were already taken into consideration anyway as income-related expenses when calculating income from letting and leasing. Alternatively, all of the production and repair costs may be deducted first, but then the amounts already deducted up to the time of the sale must be added back.
• Depreciation for normal wear and tear already claimed for tax purposes when calculating the income from letting and leasing (or similar income) reduces the acquisition cost in the case of the previous rental.
• If tax-free subsidies have been received from public authorities, these also reduce the costs of acquisition or production.