Kaufpreisaufteilung: The Most Valuable Clause in Your Notary Deed

The Kaufpreisaufteilung - the split of one purchase price into land and building - fixes your AfA base for the next five decades. Shifting ten percentage points from land to building on a €195,000 deal is roughly €390 more AfA a year, about €165 of tax at 42%, every year for 50 years.

Put the split in the deed

BFH IX R 12/14 (16 Sep 2015): an allocation agreed in the notarised contract is generally binding on the Finanzamt unless it is a sham (Scheingeschäft), an abuse of structuring options (§ 42 AO), or grossly misses real value relationships and is economically untenable. Sellers are usually indifferent, so ask for the clause. Retrofitting a split in your tax return is a far weaker position.

The BMF Arbeitshilfe is only an argument

The BMF publishes an Excel Arbeitshilfe zur Kaufpreisaufteilung (current version dated March 2026, updated annually). BFH IX R 26/19 (21 Jul 2020) held it does not deliver the market-value split the case law requires: it narrows valuation to a simplified Sachwertverfahren and ignores a regional cost factor. It is effectively the tax office's own submission. In a genuine dispute the Finanzgericht must normally appoint a sworn valuer (§ 81 FGO). The BMF has since improved the tool, but its legal status is unchanged.

Sanity-check your own number

Land value = Bodenrichtwert (official indicative land value, free at BORIS.NRW) x plot area x your Miteigentumsanteil (co-ownership share, stated in the Teilungserklärung).

Example: €800/m² x 1,200 m² x 55/1000 = €52,800 land on a €180,000 flat, so 29% land / 71% building.

Defensible versus abusive

Defensible: derived from a documented Bodenrichtwert calculation, building share broadly 55-80% for a Bonn condominium. Abusive: 90%+ with no arithmetic behind it, or a high Bodenrichtwert simply ignored.

Not tax advice - have a Steuerberater review the clause before you sign.