> 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/10024000-buchfuehrungskosten-z-b-steuerberater.md).

# Bookkeeping costs (e.g. tax advisor)

Help on the Immodio entry item Bookkeeping costs (for example a tax adviser).

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Use this category for **running bookkeeping and record-keeping costs** directly connected with your letting activity.

A typical case of application is the costs of a tax adviser or bookkeeping service provider for the running recording, allocation, checking or preparation of your income and expenditure relating to the letting.

### What can be entered here?

Typical bookkeeping costs can be, for example:

* running financial bookkeeping by the tax adviser,
* allocating and recording receipts,
* checking and preparing your entry documents,
* running recording of rental income and expenditure relating to the letting,
* monitoring the accounts kept for the letting,
* producing running entry documents and summaries,
* correcting or reconciling running entries,
* running records for tax, as far as they serve your letting.

The Federal Ministry of Finance expressly counts among the determination of income for tax the costs of bookkeeping work and its monitoring, the determination of income and expenditure and the preparation of corresponding summaries. As far as this work concerns the letting, the costs can in principle be income-related expenditure.

### Example: running bookkeeping by the tax adviser

You own several let apartments.

Each month your tax adviser handles:

* recording your receipts,
* allocating the income and expenditure,
* checking the entries,
* reconciling the accounts relating to the letting.

For this they invoice you €100 net plus VAT each month.

These costs can in principle be recorded under **"Bookkeeping costs"**, as far as they are entirely connected with your letting activity.

The German Tax Advisers' Remuneration Ordinance expressly recognises running bookkeeping as a separate activity. Section 33 of that ordinance distinguishes, among other things, between complete bookkeeping including allocation, mere allocation and bookkeeping on the basis of documents already allocated by the client.

### Split the tax adviser's invoice by individual services

A tax adviser's invoice can contain several completely different services.

#### Example

Your tax adviser charges:

**€600 – running bookkeeping for the letting**

**€300 – annual closing work**

**€200 – the general income tax return**

These amounts should then not automatically be recorded together under "bookkeeping costs" for tax and accounting purposes.

The €600 for the running bookkeeping in principle fits in this category and the €300 for the annual accounts could partly be counted.

For the share for the general income tax return it also has to be checked whether there is deductible income-related expenditure at all.

{% hint style="info" %}
Where tax advice costs are occasioned differently, the Federal Ministry of Finance generally requires an attribution according to the activity concerned. The tax adviser's fee invoice in particular is to be used as the basis for the split.
{% endhint %}

### Tax advice costs are not automatically fully deductible

For private landlords this distinction is particularly important.

In the view of the tax authorities, tax advice costs are deductible as income-related expenditure **if and as far as they arise in determining the income**.

These include, for example:

* bookkeeping work,
* determining income,
* determining expenditure,
* summarising the income and income-related expenditure,
* monitoring the bookkeeping,
* tax questions connected with determining the income.

Costs concerning the **private income tax assessment as such**, on the other hand, are not automatically income-related expenditure.

### Do not enter here

Do not use this category in particular for:

* general private income tax advice,
* private parts of a tax adviser's invoice,
* merely preparing the personal income tax return with no connection to determining the income,
* the costs of annual accounts and audits where the separate Immodio category applies,
* purely legal or structuring advice,
* advice costs directly connected with acquiring a property where these are part of the acquisition or production costs,
* the costs of a property management,
* accounting software or SaaS,
* specialist tax literature,
* costs with no connection to your letting.

### Which documents should you keep?

Keep in particular the complete tax adviser's invoice, the description of the services, proof of payment and, where applicable, a split between the letting, other types of income and private services.

With mixed invoices in particular, a detailed list of services is important, because under the Federal Ministry of Finance's requirements the tax adviser's fee invoice is in principle to serve as the basis for the attribution for tax.