The Bundesrat, the upper house of the German Parliament, on Friday approved a law curbing real estate arrangements that allow investors to avoid taxes.
The measure would reduce from 95% to 90% of the property value that is allowed to be transferred into shares. The new law also extends the holding period to 10 years from five.
- The transfer tax, normally levied when a property is sold, is avoided when the property value is converted into shares.
- The Bundesrat said in a release that such practices resulted in considerable tax losses for the German states. Real estate transfer tax rates ...