Changes to the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act

On June 11 and 12, 2026, the German Bundestag and Federal Council passed the “Ninth Act Amending Provisions of Tax Consulting Act and Tax Law”. The act entered into force upon its promulgation in the Federal Law Gazette on July 2, 2026. For real estate transfer tax purposes, the key changes concern share deals, tax debtor status, notification obligations and deadlines, which apply to legal transactions concluded after the date of promulgation. In addition, amendments were made to Section 24 GrEStG.

Avoidance of Double Taxation in Share Deals

When at least 90 % of the shares in a property-owning company are acquired, the same transaction may currently be subject to real estate transfer tax twice. This may occur in particular if signing and closing take place at different times and the transactions are not notified completely or on time.

Now, taxation at signing should generally be sufficient. For this purpose, the existing order of taxation was also extended to transfers of shares in property-owning companies: the contractual transaction is taxed with priority, while the closing transaction takes a subordinate role. The previously required complex correction rules were therefore repealed.

Changes to Tax Debtor Status and Consequential Changes to Notification Obligations

The rules on tax debtor status were also amended. In the case of a consolidation of shares, the property-owning company is now a tax debtor in addition to the acquirer. Both parties must notify the transaction under Section 19 GrEStG. If already consolidated shares are transferred, the seller, the acquirer and the property-owning company are tax debtors and are therefore also subject to the notification obligation.

Extension of Notification Periods

The notification period for domestic transactions was extended from two weeks to one month (Section 19 GrEStG). This now creates more uniform deadlines.

Removal of the Time Limit for Section 24 GrEStG

Section 24 GrEStG was made permanent. As a result, partnerships continue to be treated as joint ownership structures for real estate transfer tax purposes. This is important so that certain tax reliefs for partnerships can continue to apply.