# Payotte Germany

> Independent guide to buying, renting and owning a home in Germany, for foreign buyers, expatriates and English-speaking residents, from official sources (federal law on gesetze-im-internet.de, the 16 states' tax offices and laws, Deutsche Bundesbank, Destatis and the 2022 census), dated and cited. The same €400,000 home costs €17,980 in transfer tax, notary and land registry fees in Bavaria and €29,980 in North Rhine-Westphalia: in Germany each state sets its own transfer tax, and Payotte computes the bill from the official rates and fee tables. Free, ad-free, commission-free. Data CC BY 4.0: cite Payotte with a link.

Payotte lists no German firm yet: one firm per trade and area will be selected on public data, and each profile will say where the READER checks the permit or registration (DIHK broker register, state architects' chambers, publicly appointed valuers). Payotte lists no notary and never says a professional is "verified".

## Calculators
- [Purchase costs calculator](https://payotte.com/germany/purchase-costs-calculator): Real estate transfer tax runs from 3.5% in Bavaria to 6.5% in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein: on a €400,000 home that is €14,000 or €26,000, plus €3,980 of notary and land registry fees, the same in every state. Buyer's total (transfer tax + notary + land registry) on €400,000: Baden-Württemberg €23,980; Bavaria €17,980; Berlin €27,980; Brandenburg €29,980; Bremen €25,980; Hamburg €25,980; Hesse €27,980; Lower Saxony €23,980; Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania €27,980; North Rhine-Westphalia €29,980; Rhineland-Palatinate €23,980; Saarland €29,980; Saxony €25,980; Saxony-Anhalt €23,980; Schleswig-Holstein €29,980; Thuringia €23,980. Rates read 2026-10-19.
- [Mortgage calculator](https://payotte.com/germany/mortgage-calculator): At 3.81%, the Bundesbank average on new housing loans fixed for over 5 up to 10 years (August 2026), a €300,000 loan repaid over 30 years costs €1,400 a month.

## Rules compared across the states (tables, JSON CC BY 4.0)
- [Transfer tax on a home, by state](https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/purchase-tax) (data: https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/purchase-tax.json)
- [First-time buyer aid on transfer tax, by state](https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/first-buyer-aid) (data: https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/first-buyer-aid.json)
- [Property tax model, by state](https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/property-tax-model) (data: https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/property-tax-model.json)
- [Rents and home ownership, by state](https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/rents-and-ownership) (data: https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/rents-and-ownership.json)
- [Land value data and its reuse terms, by state](https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/land-value-data) (data: https://payotte.com/germany/by-state/land-value-data.json)

## States and cities
- [Baden-Württemberg](https://payotte.com/germany/states/baden-wurttemberg): transfer tax 5%, net cold rent 8.13 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bavaria](https://payotte.com/germany/states/bavaria): transfer tax 3.5%, net cold rent 8.74 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Berlin](https://payotte.com/germany/states/berlin): transfer tax 6%, net cold rent 7.67 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Brandenburg](https://payotte.com/germany/states/brandenburg): transfer tax 6.5%, net cold rent 6.21 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bremen](https://payotte.com/germany/states/bremen): transfer tax 5.5%, net cold rent 7.34 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Hamburg](https://payotte.com/germany/states/hamburg): transfer tax 5.5%, net cold rent 9.16 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Hesse](https://payotte.com/germany/states/hesse): transfer tax 6%, net cold rent 8.21 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Lower Saxony](https://payotte.com/germany/states/lower-saxony): transfer tax 5%, net cold rent 6.56 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania](https://payotte.com/germany/states/mecklenburg-western-pomerania): transfer tax 6%, net cold rent 5.91 €/m² (2022 census)
- [North Rhine-Westphalia](https://payotte.com/germany/states/north-rhine-westphalia): transfer tax 6.5%, net cold rent 6.82 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Rhineland-Palatinate](https://payotte.com/germany/states/rhineland-palatinate): transfer tax 5%, net cold rent 6.75 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Saarland](https://payotte.com/germany/states/saarland): transfer tax 6.5%, net cold rent 6.12 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Saxony](https://payotte.com/germany/states/saxony): transfer tax 5.5%, net cold rent 5.72 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Saxony-Anhalt](https://payotte.com/germany/states/saxony-anhalt): transfer tax 5%, net cold rent 5.38 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Schleswig-Holstein](https://payotte.com/germany/states/schleswig-holstein): transfer tax 6.5%, net cold rent 7.41 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Thuringia](https://payotte.com/germany/states/thuringia): transfer tax 5%, net cold rent 5.65 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bielefeld](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/bielefeld), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 7.12 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bochum](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/bochum), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 6.25 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bonn](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/bonn), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 9.09 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Bremen (city)](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/bremen-city), Bremen, net cold rent 7.75 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Cologne](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/cologne), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 9.39 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Dortmund](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/dortmund), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 6.45 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Dresden](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/dresden), Saxony, net cold rent 6.92 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Duisburg](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/duisburg), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 5.84 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Düsseldorf](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/dusseldorf), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 9.24 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Essen](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/essen), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 6.72 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Frankfurt](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/frankfurt), Hesse, net cold rent 10.58 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Hanover](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/hanover), Lower Saxony, net cold rent 7.61 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Karlsruhe](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/karlsruhe), Baden-Württemberg, net cold rent 8.46 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Leipzig](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/leipzig), Saxony, net cold rent 6.44 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Mannheim](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/mannheim), Baden-Württemberg, net cold rent 8.39 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Munich](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/munich), Bavaria, net cold rent 12.89 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Münster](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/munster), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 8.71 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Nuremberg](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/nuremberg), Bavaria, net cold rent 8.21 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Stuttgart](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/stuttgart), Baden-Württemberg, net cold rent 10.39 €/m² (2022 census)
- [Wuppertal](https://payotte.com/germany/cities/wuppertal), North Rhine-Westphalia, net cold rent 6.10 €/m² (2022 census)

## Guides
### Foreign buyers
- [Buying property in Germany as a foreigner](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/buying-property-in-germany-as-a-foreigner): A foreigner buys a home in Germany through the same procedure as anyone else: a notarial purchase deed, payment, and an entry in the land register (Grundbuch).
- [Registering your address in Germany (Anmeldung)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/registering-your-address-anmeldung): Anyone who moves into a dwelling in Germany must register at the local registration office (Meldebehörde) within two weeks of moving in (§ 17(1) of the Federal Registration Act, BMG).
- [German tax ID (Steuer-ID) for property buyers](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/tax-id-for-property-buyers): The German tax identification number (steuerliche Identifikationsnummer, IdNr) is an eleven-digit number that stays with a person for life.
- [Buying a German home with a power of attorney](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/buying-with-a-power-of-attorney): A buyer who cannot travel to the signing can be represented by an agent holding a power of attorney (Vollmacht).
- [A German property deed in English or another language](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/notary-deed-in-a-foreign-language): German notarial deeds are drawn up in German (§ 5(1) BeurkG).
- [Getting a German mortgage as a non-resident](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/mortgage-for-non-residents-germany): A bank lending against a German home must assess the borrower's creditworthiness and may lend only if repayment is probable (§ 505a BGB; § 18a KWG).
- [Renting out a German home while living abroad](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/renting-out-as-a-non-resident-germany): If you own a home in Germany and live elsewhere, rent from it is German-source income and is taxed in Germany.
- [Selling a German property from abroad](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/selling-as-a-non-resident-germany): Living abroad does not take a German property out of the German tax net.
- [Cash ban on German property purchases](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/cash-payment-ban-property-purchases): In Germany the price of a home cannot be paid in cash, crypto-assets, gold, platinum or gemstones (§ 16a(1) of the Money Laundering Act, GwG).
- [UK-Germany tax treaty: owning property in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/germany-uk-tax-treaty-property): If you live in the United Kingdom and own a home in Germany, the 2010 UK-Germany convention lets Germany tax the rent and any gain on a sale, because the property is there (Articles 6 and 13), and requires the UK to give a credit for the German tax against UK tax on the same income or gain (Article 23).
- [US-Germany tax treaty: property, rent and gains](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/germany-us-tax-treaty-property): A US citizen or resident who owns a home in Germany is taxed by two countries, and the treaty decides who goes first.
- [Canada-Germany tax agreement: owning German property](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/germany-canada-tax-treaty-property): For a resident of Canada who owns a home in Germany, the 2001 Canada-Germany tax agreement says the property state may tax: Germany can tax the rent and the gain on a sale (Articles 6 and 13), and Canada deducts the German tax from its own tax on the same income or gain (Article 23).

### Transfer tax by state
- [Real estate transfer tax in Germany: the rate in each state](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/real-estate-transfer-tax-germany): Almost every purchase of a home in Germany triggers the Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax), and the rate depends on the state (Land) where the property stands, from 3.5% in Bavaria to 6.5% in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland and Schleswig-Holstein.
- [Transfer tax exemptions for family, spouses and heirs](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-exemptions-family): German Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) is not charged on every change of ownership.
- [Tax clearance certificate (Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-clearance-certificate): The Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung is the tax office's certificate that it has no tax objection to the buyer being registered as owner.
- [Hessengeld: the first-home subsidy in Hesse](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/hessengeld-first-home-subsidy-hesse): The Hessengeld is a subsidy from the state of Hesse for people who buy their first home there and move in.
- [Transfer tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-bavaria-and-baden-wurttemberg): In Bavaria the transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) is 3.5%, the lowest rate in Germany; in Baden-Württemberg it is 5.0%. On a €500,000 home that is €17,500 against €25,000, a gap of €7,500 between two neighbouring southern states.
- [Transfer tax in North Rhine-Westphalia (6.5%)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-north-rhine-westphalia): North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) charges 6.5% Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax), the top rate in Germany. Its tax offices state that it applies to every contract notarised from 1 January 2015 for property in NRW.
- [Transfer tax in Berlin and Brandenburg: 6% and 6.5%](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-berlin-and-brandenburg): A home bought in Berlin carries Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) of 6% of the consideration, and a home bought in Brandenburg carries 6.5%.
- [Transfer tax in Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-hamburg-bremen-and-lower-saxony): Buying a home in Hamburg or Bremen attracts Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) of 5.5% of the consideration, while Lower Saxony charges 5%. Bremen's 5.5% applies to transactions realised from 1 July 2025; before that date it was 5%.
- [Transfer tax in Saxony, Thuringia and other eastern states](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/transfer-tax-saxony-and-eastern-states): In the eastern states the Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) is not uniform: Saxony charges 5.5% on transactions after 31 December 2022, Thuringia charges 5.0% since 1 January 2024, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania charges 6.0% since 1 July 2019.

### Buying
- [Buying a home in Germany, step by step](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/buying-a-home-in-germany-step-by-step): A German purchase is a sequence in which the notary carries most of the legal work and ownership passes only when the buyer is entered in the land register.
- [Total buying costs in Germany: tax, notary, agent](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/total-buying-costs-germany): Beyond the price, a German buyer pays three main items: the Grunderwerbsteuer (transfer tax) at 3.5% to 6.5% depending on the state, the notary (VAT included) and the land registry, whose fees are fixed by statute, and an agent's commission only if an agent was used.
- [The notary's role in a German property purchase](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/notary-role-in-a-german-property-purchase): The German Notar is a public officer, not an advisor for one side.
- [Notary and land registry fees in Germany, calculated](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/notary-and-land-registry-fees-germany): German notary and land registry fees are not negotiated: they follow from the Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz (GNotKG), using a table (Tabelle B) valid since 1 June 2025.
- [Reading a German land register extract (Grundbuch)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/land-register-grundbuch-extract): The Grundbuch (land register) is the public record that says who owns a plot, what rights burden it and which mortgages or land charges are secured on it.
- [Priority notice (Auflassungsvormerkung) when buying](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/priority-notice-auflassungsvormerkung): In Germany you become the owner only when you are registered, and registration takes time after the notarised contract.
- [Checks before buying a home in Germany: a due diligence list](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/checks-before-buying-a-home-in-germany): Before you sign the purchase deed in Germany, collect the papers that decide what you really get: the land register sheet, any lease, for a flat the owners' documents, the energy certificate, proof of any access charges, and a view of defects.
- [Buying a flat in Germany: how the WEG system works](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/buying-a-flat-condominium-weg): In Germany a flat is almost never a free-standing title. You buy a co-ownership share in the whole plot and building together with special ownership (Sondereigentum) of one unit, under the Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (WEG, Condominium Act).
- [Ground lease in Germany: buying a home with an Erbbaurecht](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/ground-lease-erbbaurecht): An Erbbaurecht (heritable building right, often called a ground lease) gives you the right to hold a building on someone else's plot. You own the house, not the land, and you normally pay the landowner a yearly ground rent (Erbbauzins).
- [Energy certificate when buying a home in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/energy-certificate-when-buying): When a German home is sold, an energy certificate (Energieausweis) must exist, the seller or agent must show it at the latest at the viewing, and the buyer must receive it promptly after the contract is signed.
- [Municipal pre-emption right (Vorkaufsrecht) in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/municipal-pre-emption-right): A German municipality has a statutory right to step into a property purchase in certain areas, at the price you agreed. It must act by an administrative decision within three months of being told of the contract (§ 28(2) BauGB).
- [Buying a new-build from a developer in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/buying-a-new-build-from-a-developer): If you buy a home that the seller is still going to build, you sign a developer contract (Bauträgervertrag) at the notary. It combines a sale of the plot with a promise to build.
- [Foreclosure auctions in Germany (Zwangsversteigerung)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/foreclosure-auctions-zwangsversteigerung): In a German forced auction (Zwangsversteigerung) the district court sells a property to satisfy creditors.
- [Estate agent commission when buying in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/agent-commission-when-buying): In Germany no law sets the percentage an estate agent may charge when you buy.
- [Land values in Germany: Bodenrichtwert and BORIS](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/land-values-bodenrichtwert-boris): A Bodenrichtwert (standard land value) is an average value per square metre of land for a zone, worked out from recorded sales by an independent expert committee.

### Financing
- [How a German home loan works: contract, credit check, lien](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/mortgage-in-germany-how-it-works): A home loan in Germany is, in the law's own terms, an Immobiliar-Verbraucherdarlehen (real-estate consumer loan): a paid loan from a business to a consumer that is secured by a land charge or used to buy or keep a property.
- [Fixed-rate period (Sollzinsbindung) on a German mortgage](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/fixed-rate-periods-sollzinsbindung): The Sollzinsbindung (fixed-rate period) is the stretch of time during which a German lender may not change the nominal interest rate of your loan.
- [German mortgage rates: reading the Bundesbank statistics](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/mortgage-rates-germany-bundesbank): The Deutsche Bundesbank publishes, month by month, the average effective interest rate that German banks charged on newly agreed housing loans to private households.
- [Early repayment penalty and the 10-year right in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/early-repayment-penalty-and-the-10-year-right): Paying off a German fixed-rate mortgage ahead of schedule is not always free.
- [Land charge (Grundschuld) on a German home: creation, cost](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/land-charge-grundschuld): A Grundschuld (land charge) is the right, entered in the Grundbuch (land register), that lets a lender have a fixed sum paid out of your property. It is the normal security for a German home loan.
- [KfW home-ownership loans: programmes 124 and 300 explained](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/kfw-home-ownership-loans): The KfW, the federal development bank, offers two loans for people who buy or build a home they will live in themselves. Programme 124 lends up to €100,000 per project to private individuals.
- [Building savings contract (Bausparvertrag) in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/building-savings-bausparvertrag): A Bausparvertrag is a contract with a Bausparkasse (building society): you pay in savings, and once the contract's conditions are met you have a legal claim to a Bauspardarlehen (building-society loan) for housing purposes.

### Selling
- [Selling a home in Germany: the costs a seller meets](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/selling-a-home-in-germany-costs): German law puts most of the transaction costs of a home sale on the buyer: by default the buyer bears the notary, the deed and the land-register entry (section 448(2) of the Civil Code, BGB).
- [German capital gains tax on property: the ten-year rule](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/capital-gains-tax-ten-year-rule): Germany taxes the profit on a private property sale only if the time between purchase and sale is ten years or less (section 23 of the Income Tax Act, EStG).
- [Selling an inherited home in Germany: heirs, register, tax](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/selling-an-inherited-home-germany): An heir who wants to sell a German property must first be able to prove the inheritance to the land registry, usually with an Erbschein (certificate of inheritance) or a European Certificate of Succession, or with a notarial will plus the record of its opening.

### Renting
- [Tenant rights in Germany: what the Civil Code gives you](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/tenant-rights-germany): A residential tenant in Germany is protected mainly by the Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB), which applies in all 16 states.
- [Rent brake (Mietpreisbremse): the 10% cap on new rents](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/rent-brake-mietpreisbremse): Germany's rent brake (Mietpreisbremse) limits the rent in a new tenancy to the local comparative rent plus 10%, but only in areas that a state government has designated as tight housing markets.
- [Rent increase caps in Germany: the 20% and 15% limits](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/rent-increase-caps-kappungsgrenze): During a German residential tenancy, a landlord may demand consent to a rent rise up to the local comparative rent, but the rent may rise by at most 20% within three years.
- [Rental deposit in Germany (Kaution): cap, instalments, return](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/rental-deposit-kaution): The tenancy deposit (Mietkaution, also Mietsicherheit) in Germany may not exceed three times the monthly rent excluding service charges that are shown as a lump sum or prepayment. The tenant may pay a cash deposit in three equal monthly instalments.
- [Letting agent fees in Germany: who pays the agent?](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/letting-agent-fees-who-pays): In Germany a letting agent (Wohnungsvermittler) generally cannot charge the person looking for a home. The Bestellerprinzip (the person who orders, pays) is written into the Residential Lettings Intermediation Act (Gesetz zur Regelung der Wohnungsvermittlung, WoVermRG).
- [Local rent index in Germany (Mietspiegel): how to use it](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/local-rent-index-mietspiegel): A Mietspiegel (rent index, literally "rent mirror") is an overview of the usual rents in a municipality or part of one, drawn up or recognised by the competent authority or jointly by landlord and tenant representatives.
- [Index and graduated rents in Germany (Indexmiete, Staffelmiete)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/index-and-graduated-rents): A German lease can fix future rent changes in advance in one of two ways.
- [Service charges in Germany (Betriebskosten): what you pay](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/service-charges-betriebskosten): German tenants pay service charges (Betriebskosten, often called Nebenkosten) on top of the net rent only if the lease says so.
- [Notice periods for a German residential tenancy](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/notice-periods-tenancy-germany): For an open-ended residential lease in Germany, notice must be received by the third working day of a month to end at the end of the month after next, which gives the tenant a three-month period.
- [Owner-occupation notice in Germany (Eigenbedarf)](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/owner-occupation-notice-eigenbedarf): Eigenbedarf (own-use need) is one of the legitimate reasons a landlord can give for ending a German residential lease. Section 573 (2) No.
- [Wohngeld: housing benefit for tenants and owners in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/housing-benefit-wohngeld): Wohngeld (housing benefit) is a means-tested allowance towards housing costs for people on a low income who do not already receive a benefit that covers their rent.
- [WBS: the certificate for subsidised flats in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/housing-entitlement-certificate-wbs): A Wohnberechtigungsschein (WBS, housing entitlement certificate) is the document a landlord must see before letting you a publicly subsidised flat. It is issued for one year by the office the state designates, if your household stays under an income limit.

### Owning
- [Grundsteuer reform 2025: how German property tax works](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/property-tax-grundsteuer-reform-2025): Grundsteuer (property tax) is paid by the owner of a plot or building to the municipality.
- [Hausgeld: monthly fees in a German condominium](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/owners-association-fees-hausgeld): If you own a flat in a German block, you pay a monthly sum to the owners' association, commonly called Hausgeld (house money).
- [Germany's Building Modernisation Act: heating rules](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/building-modernisation-act-heating-rules): On 29 July 2026 the Gebäudemodernisierungsgesetz (GModG, Building Modernisation Act) took over from the Gebäudeenergiegesetz (GEG, Buildings Energy Act) as Germany's federal heating and building-energy law.
- [Rental income tax in Germany: costs and depreciation](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/rental-income-tax-and-depreciation): Rent you collect from a property in Germany is income from letting and leasing (Einkünfte aus Vermietung und Verpachtung, section 21 of the Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG, the Income Tax Act).
- [Inheritance tax on property in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/inheritance-tax-on-property-germany): Inheriting a home in Germany can trigger Erbschaftsteuer (inheritance tax), which the Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz (ErbStG) sets at federal level, so the rules do not change from state to state.
- [Gift tax on property in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/gift-tax-on-property-germany): Gift tax (Schenkungsteuer) uses the same federal law as inheritance tax, the Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz (ErbStG), so it is identical in every state.
- [Zweitwohnungsteuer: the second-home tax in Germany](https://payotte.com/germany/guides/second-home-tax-zweitwohnungsteuer): A Zweitwohnungsteuer (second-home tax) is a municipal tax on keeping a second home in a town, charged to someone whose main home is elsewhere.

## The trades
- [Architects in Germany: the chamber list and title](https://payotte.com/germany/professions/architect): In Germany, the professional titles Architekt (architect), interior architect, landscape architect and urban planner are protected.
- [Mortgage brokers in Germany: the § 34i permit](https://payotte.com/germany/professions/mortgage-broker): In Germany, anyone who professionally brokers or advises on consumer loans secured on residential property needs a permit under § 34i of the Trade Regulation Code (Gewerbeordnung, GewO) and must be entered in the intermediaries register (Vermittlerregister) kept by the chambers of industry and commerce through the DIHK.
- [Notaries in Germany: public office and fees by law](https://payotte.com/germany/professions/notary): In Germany, a contract to buy or sell land is valid only if a notary certifies it (§ 311b paragraph 1 BGB).
- [Property valuers in Germany: sworn experts and committees](https://payotte.com/germany/professions/property-valuer): In Germany, there is no single "valuer" licence. Two kinds of source give a market-value opinion.
- [Estate agents in Germany: the § 34c permit](https://payotte.com/germany/professions/real-estate-agent): In Germany, anyone who professionally brokers or introduces contracts on land, homes or commercial premises needs a permit from the competent authority under § 34c of the Trade Regulation Code (Gewerbeordnung, GewO).

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