The BFH had decided on the Allocation of a total purchase price for a listed building into land and building values for the purpose of depreciation. It was doubtful whether the general or the simplified income capitalization approach should be used to determine the value. The Federal Fiscal Court followed the tax court and the expert opinion of an appraiser. The BFH ruled that this method is suitable for apportioning the acquisition costs. The allocation of the acquisition costs of buildings and land was therefore correctly applied.
The plaintiff's arguments that the building had an „infinite useful life“ and that the land value should therefore be set at €0 were rejected. The BFH confirmed that even listed buildings are subject to a limited economic life and that the land value must be calculated independently. In addition, the BFH determined that the actual useful life of the building, as estimated by an expert at 30 years, was the correct assessment basis for depreciation. As a result, the depreciation rate initially applied was corrected and set at 3.3 % instead of 2.5 %.
Conclusion: In summary, the BFH essentially confirmed the view of the tax court and only partially agreed with the taxpayers by applying a higher depreciation rate of 3.3%.