Erhaltungsaufwand
Repair and maintenance costs — deductible in the year paid.
Erhaltungsaufwand covers costs that keep an existing property in a usable condition: repairing the heating, repainting, replacing worn flooring with equivalent material, fixing the roof. These are Werbungskosten and deductible in the year paid. Larger maintenance costs on a mainly residential building held privately can instead be spread evenly over two to five years under §82b EStDV, which helps when one year's profit is small. Two limits apply. Work that extends the property or raises its standard markedly is Herstellungsaufwand and goes into the depreciation basis. And maintenance within three years of purchase that exceeds 15 % of the building cost (net of VAT) is reclassified as anschaffungsnahe Herstellungskosten. Keep invoices addressed to you and paid from a traceable account.
Last reviewed: by Yann Lephay.