widthI don’t have to walk around the bush for a long time. The thought-provoking answer for private investors is: No, negative interest cannot be deducted from the tax. After the European Central Bank switched to negative deposit rates seven years ago, the Federal Ministry of Finance immediately addressed the issue. The conclusion is that negative interest is not interest in the meaning of income tax law. Therefore, these may not be able to offset other capital income, such as positive interest. Therefore, interest is defined as a payment to provide capital. But the depositor did not leave any capital, which is why his payment is not interest, but should be understood as custody or deposit fees.
The legislature provides something for this investment cost: a lump sum payment for savings, which has remained the same for twelve years, at 801 euros. In the view of legislators, it has fully taken into account the negative interest rates that more and more depositors must pay. FDP has criticized this approach, but last year it failed its plan to change supervision in the Finance Committee. The government and the Green Party rejected the application. The Social Democratic Party pointed out that there have been cases of negative real interest rates time and time again in the past, without considering tax considerations, and also reviewed the possibility of changing banks to avoid negative interest rates.
For the company, it looks better. You can treat negative interest as a completely tax-free business expense and register it as a “ancillary cost of currency transactions” as other business expenses. So: follow SPD’s advice, find another bank or become an entrepreneur.
Do you have any questions about money? Please contact Daniel Mohr at fragdenmohr@faz.de
