Speculation Tax Calculator: Work Out the Tax on a German Property Sale

If you sell a property held as private assets and make a gain, the so-called speculation tax (Spekulationssteuer) may apply. It is not a separate type of tax. It is income tax on a private sale transaction (privates Veräußerungsgeschäft) under § 23 EStG (the German Income Tax Act). You pay tax on the gain from the sale like regular income, at your personal tax rate.

The decisive factor is the 10-year holding period (Spekulationsfrist). If more than ten years lie between acquisition and sale, the gain is entirely tax-free. Anyone wanting to save tax on a sale therefore watches this holding period closely. The second exception is owner-occupation (Eigennutzung). If you lived in the property yourself, you can sell tax-free even within the period.

Our calculator checks both tax exemptions, works out the capital gain including the depreciation effect (AfA) and shows you the estimated tax burden. So before the sale you know whether and how much tax is coming your way.

For property, the holding period (Spekulationsfrist) is ten years. It is calculated to the day, namely between the two notarized purchase contracts. What matters is the date of notarization. The day of the land register entry counts just as little as the handover of the keys or the payment of the purchase price.

An example: if the purchase contract was notarized on 15 March 2016, the period ends on 15 March 2026. A notarized sale from 16 March 2026 onwards is tax-free. A sale even a few days earlier, by contrast, triggers full tax liability. So if the period is about to expire, it is often worth waiting a few more days or weeks for the notary appointment.

It is important that both key dates are the dates of the notarized contracts. A verbally agreed sale or a preliminary contract does not count. When in doubt, rely on the deed numbers and notarization dates from your notary.

If you lived in the property yourself, the sale remains tax-free even within the ten years. § 23 EStG provides two variants for this. In the first, the property was used exclusively for your own residential purposes between acquisition and sale. The second variant is the practically more important case: here it is enough if the property was occupied by you in the year of the sale and in the two preceding calendar years.

This second variant is interpreted generously. It is enough for the owner-occupation to span three consecutive calendar years. The middle year must be fully occupied by you; the first and last year count on a pro-rata basis. In practice, around 14 months of continuous owner-occupation is therefore sufficient, provided it spans the turn of the year.

Note: anyone who rented the property out most recently loses the tax exemption, even if they had lived in it themselves for years before. A home office that was claimed as a business expense, by contrast, is harmless for owner-occupation according to more recent case law.

The amount of tax depends on your personal marginal tax rate. The capital gain is added to your other taxable income. Since a property gain often runs into six figures, most sellers end up in the top tax rate of 42% or the wealth tax surcharge (Reichensteuer) of 45%.

On top of income tax comes the solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag) of 5.5%, where it still applies to your income. Anyone liable for church tax additionally pays 8% or 9% church tax on the income tax. You can switch both surcharges on in the calculator.

Some relief comes from the exemption threshold of €1,000 (Freigrenze, from 2024 onwards, previously €600). If the total gain from private sale transactions in the calendar year stays below this limit, no tax is due. But note: it is an exemption threshold, not an allowance. If it is exceeded by even a single euro, the entire gain is taxable.

For an inherited or gifted property, the step-into-the-shoes principle (Fußstapfentheorie) applies: the heir or recipient steps into the shoes of the previous owner. For the 10-year holding period, what counts is not the day of the inheritance but the original acquisition date of the deceased or the donor. So if the deceased bought the property 15 years ago, the heir can sell tax-free immediately.

Caution is needed with commercial property trading (gewerblicher Grundstückshandel). Anyone who sells more than three properties within five years crosses the so-called three-object limit (Drei-Objekt-Grenze). That is then no longer a private sale transaction but a commercial activity. The gains are then taxable regardless of the 10-year period, and trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) may apply on top. Anyone holding several properties is better off clarifying this in advance with a tax advisor.

There are two clean ways to avoid the tax entirely. The first is to wait out the period. From the day on which ten years have passed since the purchase contract, the gain is tax-free. Anyone without acute pressure to sell should check this date.

The second way is to establish owner-occupation. Anyone who lives in the property in the year of sale and the two preceding years sells tax-free. For a previously rented apartment, it can therefore be worthwhile to move in yourself before the sale and meet the three-year rule.

A third lever is the precise recording of all costs. Closing costs and modernizations increase the acquisition costs, while selling costs such as agent commission or an early-repayment penalty reduce the taxable gain. Both ultimately lower the tax.

Note: this calculator provides non-binding guidance and does not replace tax advice. Especially for rented properties, depreciation (AfA) and special cases, you should clarify your specific situation with a tax advisor or the tax office. For the yield view of a rental, the rental yield calculator helps you, for ongoing liquidity the cash flow calculator and for the closing costs on acquisition the property transfer tax calculator.