> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10014100-aufwendungen-fuer-die-zeitlich-befristete-ueberlassung-von-rechten-lizenzen-ko.md). # Expenses for the temporary transfer of rights (licences, concessions) Help on the Immodio entry item Expenditure on the temporary granting of rights (licences, concessions).
Use this category for **rights of use, licences or concessions granted for a limited time** that you need for your letting activity and for which there is no more specific entry category in Immodio. You do **not** acquire the right concerned permanently but may only use it for a particular period or for a period of use agreed by contract. {% hint style="info" %} The costs of **software subscriptions and cloud services (SaaS)**, where you do not buy the software permanently but only use it for the duration of your subscription, are entered in the category "[**Software licences, software, SaaS, Immodio, software subscription**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10107700-softwarelizenzen-software-saas-immodio-softwaremiete.md)". {% endhint %} ### What can be entered here? For landlords the following expenditure, for example, can come into consideration: * rights of use for photographs granted for a limited time, * rights of use for graphics or visualisations granted for a limited time, * rights of use for floor plans or plans, * rights of use for maps or other protected data, * copyrights limited in time, * trade mark or sign rights limited in time, * concessions granted by contract, * other rights limited in time that are needed directly for the letting activity. What is always decisive is that payment is made for the **use of someone else's right** and that this right is granted only for a limited time. {% hint style="info" %} Section 50a EStG names as examples of rights in particular copyrights, industrial property rights, plans, designs, processes and commercial, technical or scientific experience and knowledge. {% endhint %} #### Examples **Rights of use for property photos:** you have professional photos taken of a rental property. In addition to producing the pictures, the photographer charges €250, for example, for the right to use the pictures for three years on your own website and in letting documents. Where the right of use is shown as a separate service or as a separate licence component and no more specific Immodio category applies, this amount can in principle be recorded under this category. Where, on the other hand, only an ordinary photographer's invoice is issued for producing letting photos and the right of use is merely part of the overall service, it should be checked whether a more specific category for advertising, advertisements or other services fits better. **Time-limited use of a floor plan or a visualisation:** for a fee you receive from an architect, plan creator or rights holder the right to use a protected floor plan or a visualisation in letting documents for a particular period. Where you expressly pay for this time-limited right of use, the payment can fall under this category. Producing a new floor plan or a new visualisation as a service has to be distinguished from this. What is decisive, therefore, is whether you are paying for the **production of a service** or for the **granting of a right that already exists**. ### A right limited in time or a permanent acquisition? The distinction between **temporary use** and the **permanent acquisition of a right** is particularly important. #### Use limited in time Examples: * a right of use for two years, * a licence extended annually, * the use of an image for a particular period, * a trade mark licence limited in time, * a concession limited in time. Such expenditure can in principle belong to DATEV account 4964 00. ### The connection with the letting So that the expenditure can be taken into account as income-related expenditure for income from letting and leasing, it has to be economically connected with your letting activity. Under Section 9 EStG, income-related expenditure is expenditure to acquire, secure and maintain income and is to be deducted from the type of income in respect of which it arose. Such a connection can exist, for example, where the right of use is needed in order to: * market a let property, * produce letting documents, * operate a website relating to the letting, * use protected plans or representations of a rental property, * use a protected right necessary for the letting. Private rights of use with no connection to the letting do not belong here. ### Mixed use Where a right is used both for your letting and for other purposes, the whole amount may not automatically be attributed to the letting income. **Example:** you acquire a time-limited right of use for image material that you use both for your let properties and for another self-employed activity. It then has to be checked which share is actually attributable to the letting. Income-related expenditure can only be taken into account to the extent that there is a connection with the type of income concerned. ### Advance payments over several years With longer-term rights of use the payment period is also important. As a rule, expenses are taken into account for surplus income in the calendar year in which they were paid. Where, however, expenditure for a **grant of use of more than five years is paid in advance**, Section 11 (2) EStG generally requires the amount to be spread evenly over the period for which the advance payment was made. **Example:** you pay €12,000 in advance for a right of use with a term of six years. The full amount may then in principle not simply be treated as income-related expenditure of the first year. The advance payment is in principle to be spread over the agreed period of use. With ordinary short-term rights of use or ones extended annually, this special rule regularly plays no part. ### A special feature with rights holders abroad Particular care is needed where you pay licence or right-of-use fees to a **rights holder resident abroad**. With certain payments for the use of rights, a deduction of tax under Section 50a EStG can be necessary in Germany. The Federal Central Tax Office expressly names, among other things: * film rights, * music rights, * personality rights, * copyrights, * trade mark rights, * patent rights, * know-how. In such cases the German payer can be obliged to withhold and declare tax and pay it to the Federal Central Tax Office. Deviations can result from a double taxation agreement or an exemption. For this the Federal Central Tax Office provides a special relief procedure under Section 50c EStG. {% hint style="info" %} For ordinary payments to a German rights holder this special feature is not relevant. {% endhint %} ### VAT The VAT should be checked against the specific invoice and not on the basis of this category alone. With a rights holder resident in Germany, German VAT can be charged, for example. With a rights holder resident abroad, on the other hand, the reverse charge procedure under Section 13b of the German VAT Act can apply under the statutory conditions, under which the recipient of the service owes the VAT. Whether the VAT can then be deducted as input VAT depends in turn on the use for VAT purposes. The classic letting of land is in principle exempt under Section 4 no. 12 of the German VAT Act; an input VAT deduction can therefore be excluded with typical VAT-exempt residential letting. A blanket statement such as **"always 19% input VAT"** should therefore be avoided. ### Assignment in Immodio For the assignment select **"Owner"** and then the owner for whose letting activity the right of use was acquired. Assignment to the owner makes sense in particular where the right is used for several properties of the same owner. Where the right of use relates exclusively to a single property, you can also use "**Property**" or "**Unit**" as the assignment. ### Not recoverable from the tenant Such licence and right-of-use costs are regularly costs of the owner's letting or administrative activity and not running operating costs of the building. They may therefore **not** be recovered from the tenant through the ordinary residential operating cost statement. ### Do not enter here Do not use this category in particular for: * software, * SaaS, * Immodio, * cloud services, * software subscriptions, * software bought permanently, * licences or protective rights acquired permanently, * computers or other hardware, * ordinary services, * photographers' services without separate licence or right-of-use remuneration, * legal and advisory costs, * private licences and rights of use, * the rental or lease of physical items. ### Which documents should you keep? Keep in particular: * the licence or use agreement, * the invoice, * proof of payment, * a precise description of the right granted, * the start and end of the period of use, * the scope of the use permitted, * evidence of the connection with your letting, * the split with mixed use, where applicable, * with foreign rights holders, documents on the contracting party's place of business and on the treatment for tax. The documents should show in particular that you **may only use the right for a limited time** and that you have not acquired it permanently. ## Legally important Deductible as income-related expenditure as far as there is an objective connection with let properties, see [Sections 9 and 21 EStG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__9.html). With transactions subject to VAT, the invoice and input VAT are to be checked under [Sections 14 and 15 of the German VAT Act](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__14.html).