> 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/10089300-miete-fuer-unbewegliche-wirtschaftsgueter.md). # Rent for immovable assets Help on the Immodio entry item Rent for immovable assets.
You use this category for **rent payments for land, buildings, rooms or other immovable assets** that you have rented yourself and whose use is **economically connected with your letting activity**. What is meant in particular is an **ordinary contractual grant of use in return for payment of rent**. Under Section 535 BGB, in a rental agreement the landlord undertakes to grant the tenant the use of the rented item for the term of the tenancy. In return the tenant owes the agreed rent. For Immodio the following is particularly important: **Ordinary rent → "Rent for immovable assets"** **Leasing → "Leasing immovable assets"** These two categories may not be confused with one another. #### **What are immovable assets?** This category is concerned in particular with property-related assets. Typical rented items in this category can therefore be, for example: * a **rented plot of land** * a **rented building** * a **rented part of a building** * a storage or utility room * a hall * a cellar or archive room * a parking or land area * other rooms or areas, where the rental in question actually serves your letting activity and no more specific Immodio category applies. #### **When can this category be relevant for a landlord?** A landlord does not necessarily have to own every asset used for the letting activity. You can, for example, rent additional rooms or land areas that you need for your existing rented properties. The following are conceivable in particular: * a rented storeroom for letting-related records or items, * an additional area of land that serves your letting activity, * a building or part of a building that you rent yourself and then, as far as contractually permitted, sublet, * other third-party rooms or areas needed directly for your letting activity. For the rent payments to be attributable to income from letting and leasing for tax purposes, there has to be an economic connection with your income. Section 9 EStG defines income-related expenditure as expenditure to **acquire, secure and maintain income**. The costs are to be deducted from the type of income in respect of which they arise. #### **Example: an additional storeroom for the letting activity** You own several let apartment buildings and additionally rent a storeroom. There you store exclusively items and records belonging to your property administration, for example: * spare keys, * property records, * handover equipment, * smaller spare parts, * consumables, * and archive records of the rented properties. The monthly rent is: **€250** The room is used exclusively for your letting activity. The annual cost is: **€250 × 12 months = €3,000** The **€3,000** can in principle be posted to the **"Rent for immovable assets"** category as letting-related expenditure, provided no more specific category applies. The basis for deducting income-related expenditure is the economic connection with the rental income under Section 9 EStG. #### **Important: a landlord's office used by yourself has its own category** Where you expressly rent an office that you use yourself to administer your properties, **this general category** should not be used for it. Immodio has a more specific category for that: **"Rent for a rented office you use yourself"** #### **The decisive difference from "Leasing immovable assets"** Rent and leasing can look very similar at first sight. In both cases you pay regularly to use an item that does not belong to you in civil law. Nevertheless both types of contract should be recorded separately in Immodio. **a) Rent** With an ordinary rental agreement the **grant of use** is central. Under Section 535 BGB the rented item is made available to you for use for the agreed term of the tenancy and you pay the agreed rent for it. The following are typical, for example: * a monthly rent, * ordinary termination provisions, * no financing of the acquisition by the tenant, * no contractual structure directed at acquiring ownership, * no unusual purchase or residual value provisions. Payments of this kind in principle belong in the **"Rent for immovable assets"** category. **b) Leasing** Leasing, by contrast, can have a distinct **financing character** in particular. With finance leasing of immovable assets the tax authorities take into account, among other things: * a contractually fixed **basic term**, * the amortisation of the lessor's acquisition or production costs, * purchase options, * extension options, * the amount of later purchase or follow-on payments, * and the question of to whom the asset is attributable for tax purposes. With property leasing the attribution for tax purposes even has to be examined **separately for the building and for the land**. Payments for leasing contracts of this kind belong in the **"Leasing immovable assets"** category. #### **Examine hire purchase and purchase-like contracts particularly carefully** Particular care is required where a contract uses terms such as "rent" but is economically directed at a later acquisition of the land or building. That can be the case, for example, where: * the rent payments are set off in full or in part against a later purchase price, * a transfer of ownership is envisaged from the outset, * an unusually favourable purchase option has been agreed, * or the contractual structure comes economically very close to a financed acquisition. #### **Distinguish rent and a lease as well** Besides rent and leasing there is another important type of contract: **a lease** With an ordinary rental agreement you are granted in particular the **use of an item**. With a lease agreement, by contrast, the lessee additionally receives in principle the right, for example, to **enjoy the fruits or proceeds** of the leased item. This additional possibility of use is expressly governed by Section 581 BGB. A typical lease case can be, for example, a fully equipped business or another item whose economic proceeds are made available to the lessee. Where there is actually a **lease agreement**, use the "**Lease of immovable assets (for example arable land, a garden)**" category for it. As a basic rule: * **a rental agreement** → rent * **a lease agreement** → a lease * **a leasing contract** → leasing What matters is the specific contract and not merely the fact that money is paid regularly each month. #### **A rented building is sublet** A particularly direct use of this category can arise where you are yourself the tenant of a property and, with the necessary legal basis, sublet it. **Example** You rent a building for **€3,000 a month** and sublet the units in it. The annual rent you pay is: **€3,000 × 12 = €36,000** Where the **€36,000** is connected directly with the rental income you generate, it can in principle constitute income-related expenditure of that letting activity. The basis is Section 9 EStG. The rent paid is then posted to the **"Rent for immovable assets"** category. #### **Private use has to be excluded** Where the rented land, building or room is not used exclusively for the letting activity, the entire rent may not automatically be attributed to the letting activity. **Example: a storeroom used partly privately** You rent a storeroom for **€400 a month.** The actual use is comprehensibly: * **75% for your letting activity** * **25% private** In principle the following then applies: **€400 × 75% = €300** is attributable to your letting activity. The remaining **€100** is privately occasioned and does **not** belong to the income-related expenditure of your letting activity. {% hint style="info" %} Section 9 EStG requires the expenditure to be economically connected with generating the income concerned. The split used should be appropriate and permanently verifiable. {% endhint %} #### **Long-term advance rent payments over more than five years** Take care where rent is paid unusually far in advance. Where expenditure for a **grant of use of more than five years** is paid in advance, it has under Section 11 (2) EStG in principle to be spread evenly over the period for which the advance payment was made. **Example: ten years' rent in advance** You rent an area for, say, **10 years** and at the start of the contract pay **€120,000** once in advance for the entire ten-year period. The **€120,000** may in principle **not** be taken into account in full in the first year. Instead the result is in principle: **€120,000 ÷ 10 years = €12,000 a year** This special feature concerns unusual long-term advance payments and not the ordinary monthly or annual rent payment. #### **Assignment in Immodio** Select the "**Owner**" who bears the rent concerned economically. #### **What does not belong in this category** The following in particular do not belong here: * **leasing instalments for immovable assets** → **"Leasing immovable assets"** * **rent for your own external administrative office** → **"Rent for a rented office you use yourself"** * **rent for smoke alarms** → **"Rent for smoke alarms"** * the rental or leasing of vehicles, machinery, computers or other movable assets * lease payments where there is actually a lease agreement * ground rent, where there is a more specific category for it * refundable rent deposits * repair invoices * repair and maintenance measures * conversions and installations you pay for yourself * incidental costs for which there is a more specific cost category * private rent payments * notional rent for your own land or your own rooms. #### **Do not recover from the tenant** The general rent that you yourself pay to a third-party owner cannot be taken over into the operating cost statement across the board. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has in principle to stay disabled for this owner category. #### **In short** Use **"Rent for immovable assets"** where: * you are yourself the **tenant** of third-party land, a building, a room or another property-related area, * there is an ordinary **rental agreement** or an ordinary contractual grant of use, * the use is economically connected with your **letting activity**, * and there is no more specific Immodio category. The distinction is particularly important: * **ordinary rent** → **"Rent for immovable assets"** * **an administrative office rented by yourself** → **"Rent for a rented office you use yourself"** * **rent for smoke alarms** → **"Rent for smoke alarms"** * **actual property leasing** → **"Leasing immovable assets"** * **a lease** → **"Lease of immovable assets (for example arable land, a garden)"** A long contractual term alone does **not turn rent into leasing**. With leasing, however, fixed basic terms, a financing character, purchase or extension options and the attribution of the asset for tax purposes can become decisive. With property leasing the tax authorities require an examination of the individual case and even a separate assessment of the building and the land. For this reason keep in particular: * **the rental agreement** * rent invoices or evidence of payment * statements of incidental costs * evidence of the actual use * where applicable, records on the split with mixed use permanently. With contracts in particular that combine terms such as **rent, leasing, hire purchase, a purchase option or full service**, the records should make clear **which type of contract is actually present economically** before the entry is assigned to one of these categories.