In its ruling of October 8, 2025, II R 22/23, the Federal Fiscal Court issued a significant decision regarding the reporting obligation under Section 18(3), sentence 1, of the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (GrEStG).
As a general rule, courts, government agencies, and notaries are required to report legal transactions subject to real estate transfer tax to the competent tax office within two weeks of the notarization, certification of signatures, or notification of the decision—even if the validity of the legal transaction is contingent upon a condition, deadline, or approval, or if the transaction is exempt from taxation.
In the facts underlying the decision, a notary failed to meet the two-week deadline for reporting a legal transaction subject to real estate transfer tax pursuant to § 18(3), sentence 1, of the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (GrEStG).
The court has determined that neither reinstatement of the previous status nor a retroactive extension of the deadline is possible. The same applies to the taxpayer.
The decision has significant practical implications:
Failure to meet the filing deadline can result in significant tax losses. Timely and proper reporting is, for example, a prerequisite for the tax-neutral rescission of real estate transfer agreements. Furthermore, in a share deal, both the signing and the closing generally involve matters relevant to real estate transfer tax; however, if the properties are identical and the acquisition transactions are reported on time, double taxation is avoided by the revocation of the first tax assessment.
Practical Note:
Taxpayers or their advisors should verify that the notification is filed on time. In addition, it is currently advisable for taxpayers to be aware of their own reporting obligation under § 19 of the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (GrEStG) and to file notifications of notarized real estate contracts in a timely manner on their own, regardless of whether the notary has filed a notification.
The government’s draft bill dated January 14, 2026, regarding the Ninth Act Amending the Tax Consultation Act and Amending Other Tax Provisions, holds out the prospect of alleviating the issue of deadlines. Under this draft, the reporting deadline is to be extended from two weeks to one month (Section 19(3) of the Draft Real Estate Transfer Tax Act). In addition, the issue of double taxation of share deals under the real estate transfer tax is to be mitigated by a change in the structure of the law.
It remains to be seen whether the extended deadline will, in practice, be sufficient to document complex share deal structures in a legally compliant manner. What is clear, however, is that there is no systematic change to the strictness of the deadline regime; the time window is merely being expanded. It remains possible to request a timely extension of the deadline within the notification period.
