Glossary
Nießbrauch
Nießbrauch: Nießbrauch is the German usufruct (§ 1030 BGB): the right to use a property and keep its income while someone else owns it. The holder may live there or let it and keep the rent.
What is Nießbrauch?
Nießbrauch (usufruct) is a right entered in the German land register to use a property and keep its income (§§ 1030 ff. BGB). Someone else owns the property. A typical case is parents transferring their house to their children while keeping the usufruct, so they can go on living there or keep collecting the rent.
Usufruct and German gift tax
If you keep a usufruct, the gift is worth less, so the capital value of the right is deducted:
Capital value = annual value × multiplier
For a 65-year-old woman the 2026 multiplier is 12.583. With €24,000 of annual rent that is about €302,000 that is not taxed. The Gift Tax Calculator shows what that saves in your case.
Usufruct or right of residence?
A right of residence (Wohnrecht) only allows the holder to live there, often in just part of the house. A usufruct also allows letting. For tax both are valued the same way.
This page is for information only and does not replace tax or legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Nießbrauch means usufruct. It is a right registered in the German land register that lets a person use a property and keep its income, for example the rent, while someone else is the owner.
The capital value is the annual value times a multiplier based on the holder's age and sex (§§ 14 to 16 BewG). The annual value is usually the local annual rent, capped at the property's tax value divided by 18.6. The capital value is deducted from the value of the gift.
No. The usufruct is entered in the land register and survives a sale. It ends with the holder's death or if they waive it.