How High Is the Speculation Tax? Calculator & 10-Year Period

There is no flat "speculation tax rate" — how high it is depends on your personal income tax rate, which lies between 14 % and 45 % depending on total income. The legal basis is § 23 of the Income Tax Act (EStG): if less than a decade lies between the acquisition and disposal of a property, the sale counts as a "private disposal transaction". The gain made is added to the taxable income and taxed at the personal income tax rate.

The calculation is done in two steps: first the disposal gain is determined (see sale profit calculator), then it comes on top of your other taxable income. What falls due is the difference between the income tax with and without the gain (Section 32a EStG), not the gain multiplied by the marginal rate. The calculator below works with a rate you set yourself: do not use the marginal rate on your current income, but the average rate the gain as a whole bears. On five-figure gains it usually sits just under 42 percent.

Even within the ten-year period, a sale remains tax-free in two important cases:

• Owner-occupation: if the property was used continuously for the owner's own residential purposes in the year of sale and the two preceding calendar years, the speculation tax falls away regardless of the holding period.
• Expiry of the period: if more than ten years lie between the notarised purchase and sale contracts, the entire gain is tax-free — regardless of use.

For inherited properties, the testator's holding period is also credited: if the testator already acquired the property more than ten years ago, the sale by the community of heirs can be carried out tax-free.

A condominium was bought in 2017 for €180,000 (incidental purchase costs approx. €9,000 at the 3.5 per cent property transfer tax rate in force in Saxony in 2017) and is to be sold in 2026 for €280,000 (incidental sale costs approx. €10,000):

Since the holding period of 9 years is just under the 10-year period and there is no continuous owner-occupation, this gain would be taxable. With €60,000 of other taxable income alongside, around €33,900 in tax would arise. If the sale were just one year later, the entire gain would be tax-free. What counts is the day of the notarised contract, not the calendar year.

All tax amounts follow the basic income tax tariff (Grundtarif) for the 2026 assessment period, without the solidarity surcharge and church tax. Both may come on top: the solidarity surcharge at 5.5 percent of the income tax above the exemption threshold, and church tax in Saxony at 9 percent of the income tax. Tariff values change every year.