Field help:
(2022)
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) ruling dated 08.03. 2016, IX R 38/14).
The Federal Fiscal Court has recently ruled that the term "debt interest" is to be understood broadly and can also include costs for project controlling. This is the case if they are to be assessed as financing costs because the payment of the loan instalments by the bank depends on the preparation of documents relevant for the bank and the preparation of controlling reports within the scope of controlling (ruling of the Federal Fiscal Court dated 06.12.2021, IX R 8/21).
