SteuerGo FAQs

Field help: (2021) Amount

Specify the amount of the expenses.

Tax-deductible include in particular:

• Debt interest for mortgage loans from banks, building societies and insurance companies
• Debt interest for building saving loans
• Debt interest for employer loans
• Debt interest for related loans or for public loans
• Ground rent
• Interim financing interest from the bank if you need money before paying out the loan
• Debt interest for a repayment loan or the pre-financing of a saved building saving contract
• Commitment interest
• Interest that you must pay as the highest bidder for a building until the cash bid is paid.
• Interest on arrears for a construction rate not paid on time

A discount (Damnum/Disagio) must be deducted immediately if it is "customary" in the market. The amount in excess of this must be spread over the fixed-interest period or, in its absence, over the term of the loan.

According to a judgment of the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), if an agreed discount of more than 5% is applied, the simplification regulation of the financial administration does not apply in this way. Even a discount higher than 5% may still be "customary in the market". Thus, a market discount payable on a loan with a term of more than five years is not to be spread over the term, but can be deducted in full in the year of payment. A discount of 10% for a 10-year credit period may well be "customary in the market" and thus fully deductible (the Federal Fiscal Court's (BFH) judgement of 8 March 2016, IX R 38/14).