Christmas tree cultivations are exempt from land transfer tax

Fitting to the upcoming holiday season, the fiscal court in Muenster has recently decided that only the part of the purchase contract relating to the land is subject to land transfer tax if Christmas tree cultivations are acquired together with the land. Therefore, the purchase of Christmas trees is exempt from land transfer tax because the Christmas trees are not regarded as a substantial component of the land, but as so-called sham component (FG Münster, judgement v. 14.11.2019 – Az. 8 K 168/19 GrE; revision granted). Only a rogue would suspect “Christmas bonus” in this case …