If you purchase an undeveloped property and then have it cultivated, it may happen that the tax office calculates the basic income tax not only on the pure land value, but also on the farming costs. This is attributable to the case-law, which also allows for the calculation of land-purchase costs in the assessment basis of the land purchase tax if there is a legal or factual relationship between land purchase contract and construction contract (so-called uniform object of acquisition).

The inclusion of the construction costs often increases the basic purchase tax by several thousand dollars – these unplanned expenses can bring builders into serious financial hardship.

If the farming contract is only closed after the sale of the land has been completed and the tax office has set the land purchase tax (taking the land value into account), the office may be entitled to change the original tax assessment and retroactively incorporate the farm building costs into the tax calculation. The court evaluates the conclusion of the rural development contract as a retroactive event which increases the assessment basis of the basic income tax to the point of land acquisition (by the farmers’ costs).