Real Estate

Advising on real estate matters has long been one of the main practice areas. Our work ranges for providing advice on structuring transactions in specific cases to long-term support for property portfolios.

We focus on the following points and activities:

• Restructuring existing real estate portfolios to mitigate inheritance and gift tax liabilities
• Structuring the acquisition of real estate, e.g. selecting the optimal legal form and favourable financing from a tax perspective
• Exploiting the scope for writing assets down and up, e.g. so-called “Einbringungsmodelle”, listed buildings, investments in redevelopment areas
• Exploiting value added tax potential
• Advising on how to avoid (or deliberately bring about) commercial dealing in real estate
• Sale and lease back
• Advising on how to avoid so-called “speculation transactions”

• Real estate as a tool to lower inheritance and gift tax
• Arrangements designed to take account of the older generation's need for liquidity, e.g. by means of usufruct, permanent charges or annuities

• Special tax valuation (Einheitsbewertung)
• Estimating valuations (Bedarfswerte) for inheritance and gift tax purposes
• Estimating fair market values in the case of transfers of real estate and the like

Naturally, we also prepare tax returns and VAT returns as well as annual financial statements and income statements in connection with real estate. In this way, we can guarantee that tax planning measures are correctly taken into account in the tax returns in a favourable manner for tax purposes.

• Preparing financial, earnings and liquidity plans according to management principles
• Advising in connection with Section18 of the Banking Act (KWG) (capital backing requirements for banks) and ratings/Basel II
• Establishing ratio systems and comparing ratios
• Due diligence for real estate companies
• Advising on financing issues

• Providing tax advice to fund companies
• Prospectus audits
• Advising on investments in real estate funds and ship funds

Real estate advice

Real estate law