At the turn of the year it will be easier for operators of small photovoltaic systems. You no longer have to pay taxes on the income generated by the investments - up to a certain amount.
Generating electricity with photovoltaic systems on your own roof is popular in Germany - in some federal states it is even mandatory for new buildings. However, operators of such systems have had to pay tax on any profits they made from feeding the electricity into the grid.
Exception: You have submitted an application for tax hobbyism to the responsible tax office for your system with a maximum output of 10 kilowatts (kW). This rule is now significantly simplified.
Because the income from photovoltaic systems on or on single-family houses or buildings that are not used for residential purposes will be tax-exempt retrospectively from January 1, 2022, according to the taxpayers' association. This applies to installed systems with a gross output of up to 30 kW. Systems that are installed on or on another building that is mainly used for residential purposes are tax-free up to an output of 15 kW per residential or commercial unit.
The tax exemption applies regardless of the date the system was commissioned and the use of the generated electricity. According to the taxpayers' association, it doesn't matter whether all of the electricity is fed into the public grid, used to charge an e-car or used by tenants.
In addition, sales tax will no longer be charged for the purchase of a photovoltaic system from January 1, 2023, making the systems 19 percent cheaper for consumers.
This not only favors the operation of photovoltaic systems by private property owners, but also by private landlords, homeowners' associations, cooperatives and rental companies. "If a company only generates tax-free income from the operation of preferential photovoltaic systems, there is no longer any need to determine a profit and therefore, for example, no system EÜR has to be submitted," says Daniela Karbe-Gessler.
(This article was first published on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.)
