> 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/10100600-pkw-auto-kfz.md). # Car / motor vehicle Help on the Immodio entry item Car / vehicle.
You use this category for the **purchase of a car** that you use for your **letting activity** and whose acquisition costs are above the limit of **€952 including VAT** provided for this category. Typical letting-related uses of a vehicle can be, for example, journeys: * to your let properties, * to handovers or hand-backs of apartments, * to viewings, * to appointments with tenants, * to tradesmen or property managers, * to owners' meetings, * to inspect damage or repairs, * to transport letting-related records or items, * or to other appointments directly connected with your letting activity. What matters is that the vehicle actually serves to **acquire, secure or maintain your rental income**. #### **This category is for the purchase of the vehicle** Post here the **acquisition of a car or motor vehicle you have bought**. {% hint style="warning" %} What is **not** meant are the vehicle costs arising on an ongoing basis later. You post those to the category "[Running operating costs for a vehicle / car](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10085600-laufende-betriebskosten-fuer-fahrzeug-auto-kfz.md)". {% endhint %} Where you buy, for example, a car for **€30,000** and use it for your letting activity, the vehicle purchase is posted to this category **"**[**Car / vehicle**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10100600-pkw-auto-kfz.md)**"**. The **€30,000** is not deducted in full as income-related expenditure in the year of purchase; instead the vehicle is depreciated over its useful life. {% hint style="info" %} Section 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 7 EStG expressly takes deductions for wear and tear into account as income-related expenditure. Assets used for more than one year to generate income are in principle depreciated under Section 7 EStG spread over their useful life. {% endhint %} #### **Why is the limit €952 including VAT?** For independently usable movable assets there is a simplification rule for tax purposes for low-value assets. For income-related expenditure cases, Section 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 7 EStG refers correspondingly to the rule in Section 6 (2) EStG. The relevant limit there is in principle **€800 of acquisition or production costs without a deductible input VAT amount**. At a VAT rate of 19% the following applies: **€800 net = €952 including VAT** In practice a car is regularly well above this limit and therefore in principle has to be depreciated over its useful life. #### **The vehicle actually has to serve your letting activity** Buying a car does not become income-related expenditure merely because you are a landlord. What matters is the actual use. **Example: a vehicle used exclusively for the letting activity** You own a larger property portfolio and buy a car used exclusively for: * property viewings, * appointments with tenants, * appointments with tradesmen, * handovers of apartments, * journeys to the property manager, * and other landlord journeys. Private journeys are **not** made with this vehicle. There is then in principle a complete economic connection between the use of the vehicle and your letting activity. #### **Mixed private and letting-related use** In practice a car is frequently not used exclusively for the letting activity. For example, you use the vehicle: * **20% for your letting activity** * **80% privately** The full vehicle costs may then **not** be posted to the category "[Car / vehicle](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10100600-pkw-auto-kfz.md)" and thereby attributed to income from letting and leasing; only the **20% of the costs relating to the letting activity** may be. Under the general principle for income-related expenditure, only the part economically connected with your letting activity is deductible. #### **The use should be documented comprehensibly** The greater the private use as well, the more important comprehensible documentation is. The following can be suitable, for example: * records of journeys, * odometer readings, * a schedule of the landlord journeys, * the date and destination of a journey, * the let property concerned, * the reason for the trip, * where applicable, a properly kept logbook. The documentation should in particular make it comprehensible what share of the total vehicle use actually relates to your letting activity. #### **Cars are in principle depreciated over six years** The official depreciation table for generally usable fixed assets provides a customary operational useful life of **6 years** for **passenger cars and estate cars**. With a new car the result is therefore in principle straight-line annual depreciation of: **1/6 of the acquisition costs**, that is around **16.67% a year** **Example: a vehicle bought for €30,000** You buy a car for your letting activity for **€30,000** With a useful life of six years the result is in principle: **€30,000 ÷ 6 years = €5,000 of depreciation per full year** The **€30,000** is therefore not taken into account in full as expenditure in the year of purchase. Instead the loss in value is in principle spread over the vehicle's useful life. #### **Running vehicle costs are not part of the vehicle purchase** The costs arising on an ongoing basis later have to be distinguished from the acquisition of the car. The following, for example, do not belong in this purchase category: * fuel, * charging electricity, * vehicle insurance, * maintenance, * an inspection, * an oil change, * tyres, * repairs, * the roadworthiness test, * washing the vehicle, * parking charges, * tolls, * other running vehicle costs. {% hint style="warning" %} Such expenditure is to be posted to the category provided for it, "[Running operating costs for a vehicle / car](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10085600-laufende-betriebskosten-fuer-fahrzeug-auto-kfz.md)", with vehicle tax being posted separately to the category "[Vehicle tax](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10082600-kfz-steuer.md)". {% endhint %} #### **A repair is not a new vehicle purchase** You buy, for example, a car for: **€30,000** A year later a repair invoice arises of: **€1,500** * The **€30,000** concerns the acquisition of the vehicle. * The **€1,500 repair**, by contrast, is not a further purchase price for the car and does not belong in **"**[Car / vehicle](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10100600-pkw-auto-kfz.md)**"**; it is posted to the category "[Vehicle repairs](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10050900-fahrzeug-reparaturen.md)" instead. #### **A car already owned that is later used for the letting activity** You do not necessarily have to have bought a vehicle exclusively for your letting activity right at the time of purchase. A car used privately at first can later be used more heavily to generate income. In such cases the original full purchase price is not simply recognised again as new expenditure. Where an asset already owned is later repurposed, the tax authorities look at the original acquisition costs and the useful life that has already elapsed. The loss in value attributable to the previous use counts as already used up. #### **Assignment in Immodio** With this category the assignment is to the **owner.** Select the owner who acquired the car and whose letting activity the vehicle actually serves. #### **Do not recover from the tenant** Acquiring a car is a cost item of the landlord and **not a recoverable operating cost item of a let property**. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has to stay disabled. #### **What does not belong in this category** The following in particular do not belong here: * fuel or charging electricity, * vehicle tax, * vehicle insurance, * repairs, * maintenance and inspections, * tyres, * tolls, * parking charges, * washing the vehicle, * leasing instalments, * vehicle rental, * loan interest, * hire car costs, * private vehicle purchases without a sufficient connection with the letting activity, * mere mileage claims for individual landlord journeys. **Keep in particular the following records:** * the purchase contract or vehicle invoice * evidence of payment * registration documents * details of the acquisition date * records on incidental acquisition costs * records of journeys or use * odometer readings * and, with mixed use, documentation of the share relating to the letting activity permanently. With a car in particular it should remain comprehensible **why the vehicle purchase was attributed to your letting activity and to what extent the vehicle is actually used to generate your rental income**.