In its coalition agreement of 9 April 2025, the new German federal government announced its intention to reduce the corporation tax rate in Germany to 10 per cent from 2028 onwards, in five annual stages of one percentage point each. The so-called ‘Immobilien-GmbH’ could also benefit from this.
Planned tax rate reduction
The coalition agreement of 9 April 2025 sets out, alongside many other tax measures aimed at revitalising the German economy – such as, in part, the so-called ‘super-depreciation on capital goods’ at an annual rate of 30 per cent – a key measure to reduce the corporation tax rate from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. This reduction is to be phased in over five years, with a one-percentage-point reduction each year. It is not known whether this will be accompanied by measures relating to the solidarity surcharge, which is still in place. All companies and legal entities subject to corporation tax, such as limited liability companies (GmbHs), public limited companies (Aktiengesellschaften), foundations and others, would benefit from this. As far as is currently known, trade tax will remain unchanged.
Characteristics of a property limited liability company
The so-called ‘property limited liability company’ or ‘family pool limited liability company’ – as is frequently found in wealthy family structures or corporate groups for tax reasons – would also benefit from the tax cut. With an optimised corporate structure and asset allocation, such a property limited liability company is already subject to favourable tax treatment under income tax law, irrespective of the planned reduction in tax rates, provided that it exclusively lets out property and does not otherwise engage in any commercial activity. In this case, the so-called extended trade tax relief for property companies applies, and income from the letting of property is entirely exempt from trade tax (Section 9(1), sentence 2 et seq. of the Trade Tax Act (GewStG)). This presupposes that the property limited liability company derives its income almost exclusively from the management and letting of property.
Ertragsstarke Immobilieninvestitionen, welche von Anfang an steuerliche Überschüsse nach Abschreibungen und Kosten vorweisen, werden häufig in intransparent besteuerten GmbHs allokiert und führen dort unter Anwendung der Gewerbesteuerbefreiung zu einer effektiven Steuerbelastung auf die positiven Überschüsse von 15,825 %. Würden vergleichbare Immobilien mit langfristiger Investitionsabsicht im steuerlichen Privatvermögen gehalten werden, wäre bei vermögenden Steuerpflichtigen im Spitzen- oder Reichensteuersatz eher ein Steuersatz von ca. 50 % anzuwenden. Natürlich birgt ein Immobilieninvest über eine Immobilien-GmbH fakultativ auch steuerliche Nachteile, wie z.B. die Notwendigkeit einer steuerpflichtigen Ausschüttung der Immobilienerträge für private Verwendungszwecke oder die Steuerpflicht von Immobilienveräußerungen nach 10 Jahren. Bei langfristigen Immobilieninvestitionen in einer Immobilien-GmbH mit steuerlich betrachtet positiven Überschüssen ist der steuerliche Vorteil jedoch immens und eröffnet ungefähr in Höhe der thesaurierten 34 Steuersatzpunkte erhebliche Möglichkeiten für weitere Immobilieninvestitionen oder Darlehensrückführungen bei fremdfinanzierten Immobilien.
Conclusion
If the corporation tax rate were to be reduced from 2028 onwards, the effective tax rate for a qualifying property GmbH would ultimately amount to just 10 per cent plus the solidarity surcharge, further enhancing the tax appeal of a property GmbH.
However, from a tax perspective, property investments incurring initial losses should continue to be held within the standard family office structure in partnerships subject to transparent taxation, so that the initial losses in the first few years can be set off against the partners’ other income subject to income tax. In such cases, it is often only after a few years that a so-called depreciation step-up to commercial status makes tax sense.
