> 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/10103500-reparaturen-bei-vermietungsobjekten-nicht-umgelegt-auf-mieter.md). # Repairs to rental properties (not recoverable from tenant) Help on the Immodio entry item Repairs at let properties (not recoverable from tenant).
You use this category for **repair, maintenance and refurbishment costs at your let property** that are treated for tax as **immediately deductible maintenance expenditure** and may not be recovered from the tenant. Typical cases are measures by which an existing condition is **maintained or restored**, for example because something is damaged, worn out or defective. The tax authorities make the basic rule clear: expenditure on refurbishment and modernisation measures at a building is as a rule **maintenance expenditure and immediately deductible as income-related expenditure**. Under certain conditions, however, it can also be acquisition costs, production costs or production costs close to acquisition. **Typical repairs** Costs can be posted here, for example, for: * repairing a defective window, * repairing a heating system, * dealing with a burst pipe, * repairing sanitary installations, * replacing a defective tap, * repairing doors or locks, * repairing an existing electrical installation, * making good damaged walls or ceilings, * repairing a roof, * dealing with damp damage, * repairs to an existing fitted kitchen, * other tradesmen's services by which the existing condition is merely maintained or restored. What is decisive is not only **which component is replaced** but what is achieved economically by the measure. **Example: a defective window** An existing window is damaged and has to be replaced. The tradesman installs a modern window that performs the same function as the previous window and charges **€1,785 including VAT** for the work. The mere fact that a more modern window is installed today does not automatically lead to production costs. The Federal Ministry of Finance made it expressly clear in the past, for example, that merely replacing existing insulating glass windows with more modern triple or quadruple glazed windows does **not** yet constitute an upgrade in standard. Where there is no extension, no substantial improvement and no other obligation to capitalise, such measures are in principle **maintenance expenditure**. The invoice can then be posted to the **"**[**Repairs at let properties (not recoverable from tenant)**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10103500-reparaturen-bei-vermietungsobjekten-nicht-umgelegt-auf-mieter.md)**"** category. **Example: a defective heating system** The existing heating system fails and has to be repaired. The heating engineer replaces defective components and restores the functioning of the existing system, charging **€2,500** for the work. The measure merely serves to restore the previous functioning condition. The costs therefore constitute immediately deductible **maintenance expenditure** and can be posted to this **"**[**Repairs at let properties (not recoverable from tenant)**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10103500-reparaturen-bei-vermietungsobjekten-nicht-umgelegt-auf-mieter.md)**"** category. #### **Not every building measure is an immediately deductible repair** A large invoice is not automatically subject to capitalisation as production costs, but conversely not every tradesman's invoice is immediately deductible as income-related expenditure either. Measures that for tax purposes lead to the following do not belong in this category: * **acquisition costs**, * **production costs** * or **production costs close to acquisition** . Such costs are not taken into account in full immediately as income-related expenditure but are in principle spread through building depreciation and posted to the category "[Maintenance, maintenance expenditure, tradesmen, repairs (subject to capitalisation, production costs close to acquisition)](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10078600-instandhaltung-erhaltungsaufwand-handwerker-reparaturen-aktivierungspflichtig.md)". #### **Extending the building** There is no repair, for example, where something **new is actually created or the building is extended**. Typical examples can be: * converting a loft that was not previously converted for the first time, * adding additional rooms, * increasing the usable floor area of the building, * installing additional parts of the building for the first time. #### **A substantial improvement or an upgrade in standard** Extensive modernisation can also lead to production costs where the building's value in use is significantly increased compared with its original condition. With residential buildings four central areas in particular are considered here: * **the heating installation** * **the sanitary installation** * **the electrical installation** * **the windows** A substantial upgrade in standard can exist in particular where a bundle of building measures **significantly raises at least three of these four areas to a higher standard**. A single ordinary repair or the usual replacement of a worn-out component therefore does not yet automatically lead to production costs. #### **Particularly important in the first three years after buying the property** With repairs shortly after acquiring a property, the rule on **production costs close to acquisition** additionally has to be examined. Where refurbishment and modernisation measures are carried out within **three years of the acquisition** and their expenditure **excluding VAT exceeds 15% of the building's acquisition costs**, the expenditure concerned becomes production costs close to acquisition. **Example** Acquisition costs of the building: **€300,000** 15% of that: **€45,000** Within the first three years after the acquisition you carry out several renovation and refurbishment measures. Expenditure that can be taken into account, excluding VAT: **€50,000** Since **€50,000 > €45,000**, the 15% limit is exceeded. The measures concerned can then **no longer be treated as immediately deductible repairs in this category**; they become production costs close to acquisition and are therefore posted to the category "[Maintenance, maintenance expenditure, tradesmen, repairs (subject to capitalisation, production costs close to acquisition)](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10078600-instandhaltung-erhaltungsaufwand-handwerker-reparaturen-aktivierungspflichtig.md)". {% hint style="info" %} The examination is not carried out for each individual invoice in isolation. Within the three-year period different refurbishment and modernisation measures can be **added together**. {% endhint %} These can also include cosmetic repairs, for example: * wallpapering, * painting walls and ceilings, * painting radiators, * painting doors or windows . A single invoice for, say, **€5,000** can therefore be unproblematic on its own but, together with further measures within the three-year period, lead to the 15% limit being exceeded. #### **Which work does not count towards production costs close to acquisition?** **Maintenance work that customarily arises each year** in particular does not fall under the 15% rule. This includes, for example: * the running maintenance of lifts, * the running maintenance of heating systems, * clearing blocked and limescaled pipes, * meter reading costs. Damage that demonstrably arose **only after the acquisition** through a third party or, for example, through a natural disaster can also be excluded from the rule on production costs close to acquisition. #### **A repair after damage caused by a tenant** Where a tenant damages a door, a washbasin or another part of the apartment, for example, the repair costs can initially constitute the landlord's repair expenditure. Where the tenant, an insurer or another third party subsequently refunds part of the costs to you, the **refund should be recorded separately and comprehensibly**. **Example:** An invoice for **€2,000** with a later insurance refund of **€1,500** means economically that you ultimately bear only **€500** yourself. Refunds by third parties are likewise to be taken into account when examining the 15% limit; only the expenditure remaining after the refund is relevant in that respect. #### **Split a mixed tradesman's invoice precisely** An invoice can contain both recoverable running services and non-recoverable repairs. **Example** A heating company: * annual maintenance: **€300** * repair of a defective component: **€700** Total amount: **€1,000** The invoice may then not be posted in full to a single type of cost. * The **€700 repair** belongs, as far as there is immediately deductible maintenance expenditure for tax, in the **"**[**Repairs at let properties (not recoverable from tenant)**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10103500-reparaturen-bei-vermietungsobjekten-nicht-umgelegt-auf-mieter.md)**"** category * The maintenance service, by contrast, has to be posted to the category "[**All costs for heating incl. maintenance, no repairs (recoverable from tenant)**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10005900-alle-kosten-fuer-heizung-inkl-wartung-keine-reparaturen-umgelegt-auf-mieter.md)". #### **Assignment in Immodio** With this category the assignment is to the **property** or the **unit.** Select the let property or the unit at which the repair or refurbishment measure was carried out. #### **Do not recover from the tenant** Repair and refurbishment costs **do not belong to the recoverable operating costs**. Section 1 (2) BetrKV expressly excludes costs that arise during the useful life in order to remedy defects caused by: * wear, * ageing, * the effects of the weather . Those costs count as **maintenance and refurbishment costs**. This category is expressly intended for **non-recoverable repair and refurbishment costs**. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has to stay **disabled**. Keep in particular the **tradesman's invoice, the description of the work, evidence of payment and, with larger measures, where applicable photos or records of the condition before and after the measure**. With more extensive renovations in particular it should remain comprehensible later why a measure was treated as an immediately deductible repair and not as a building measure subject to capitalisation.