On 25 September 2026, the Bundesrat, the chamber representing the German federal states, issued its opinion on the government draft of the Annual Tax Act 2026 (Jahressteuergesetz 2026). One of its proposals affects every business that acquires fixed assets: the threshold for the immediate write-off of low-value assets (“geringwertige Wirtschaftsgüter”, GWG), known as the GWG threshold, would rise from €800 to €1,200, and the pool account written off over five years (“Sammelposten”) would be abolished. The proposal is set out in the opinion of the Bundesrat (Drucksache 447/26, Beschluss).
Nothing has been adopted yet. The government draft itself does not contain the change, and in its response to the opinion the Federal Government merely stated that it will examine the proposal (Bundestag Drucksache 21/8283, Anlage 4). Whether the higher threshold is introduced will be decided in the Bundestag’s deliberations. The Bundesrat will then consider the act a second time.
The current rules
Under § 6 Abs. 2 EStG, the German Income Tax Act, which also applies to corporations (§ 8 Abs. 1 KStG), movable depreciable fixed assets that can be used independently may be deducted in full as a business expense in the year of acquisition. Their acquisition or production cost excluding input VAT must not exceed €800.
As an alternative, § 6 Abs. 2a EStG allows a pool account for assets costing between €250 and €1,000. It is written off in fifths over the financial year in which it is formed and the following four financial years, even if an asset leaves the business earlier. The choice between the two methods applies uniformly to all assets acquired in a financial year.
| Net cost | Without pool account | With pool account | Proposal 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to €250 | immediate write-off | immediate write-off | immediate write-off |
| over €250 to €800 | immediate write-off | pool account, five years | immediate write-off |
| over €800 to €1,000 | useful life | pool account, five years | immediate write-off |
| over €1,000 to €1,200 | useful life | useful life | immediate write-off |
| over €1,200 | useful life | useful life | useful life |
The two middle columns show the current law. The immediate write-off and the pool account are options; “useful life” means depreciation over the asset’s normal useful life.
What the Bundesrat proposes
In § 6 Abs. 2 Satz 1 EStG, the amount of €800 would be replaced by €1,200, and § 6 Abs. 2a EStG would be deleted. The Bundesrat argues that having two regimes side by side makes tax law unnecessarily complicated, and that the pool account is prone to errors and requires considerable checking and monitoring. The higher threshold is also intended to reflect increased acquisition costs.
The new threshold would apply to assets acquired, produced or contributed to business assets after 31 December 2026. The proposal does not provide for application to acquisitions made in 2026. The recording requirement under § 6 Abs. 2 Satz 4 EStG would remain unchanged: assets costing more than €250 must still be entered in a register unless the information can be taken from the accounting records.
Above the threshold, the proposal changes nothing. For movable assets acquired between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2027, declining-balance depreciation under § 7 Abs. 2 EStG remains available at up to three times the straight-line rate and no more than 30 percent. Details are in our article on the immediate investment programme.
Existing pool accounts continue to run
Under the proposal, the pool account would apply for the last time to assets acquired before 1 January 2027. Pool accounts that still exist on 31 December 2026 would continue to be written off under the previous rules. A pool account formed for 2026 would therefore be written off until 2030 where the financial year matches the calendar year.
Where a company’s financial year differs from the calendar year, for example to match the parent company’s financial year, the date of acquisition is decisive. Two sets of rules would then apply within the same financial year: the previous rules for acquisitions up to 31 December 2026 and the new rules for all later ones.
What the change means for group companies
The tax threshold does not change a group’s capitalisation policy. Where the parent company capitalises fixed assets on the basis of its own thresholds, differences arise between the German tax balance sheet and the reporting package, and these appear in the reconciliation. If the group threshold is below €1,200, the new rule would increase the amount to be explained there.
Abolishing the pool account, on the other hand, simplifies the reconciliation. A pool account cannot be allocated to any individual asset and is not reduced when an asset is disposed of. Where group reporting depreciates each fixed asset individually, it therefore has to be tracked separately for five years.
What companies can prepare now
- Classify year-end purchases: For assets costing between €800 and €1,200, the treatment would depend on the date of acquisition. As long as the act has not been passed, investment decisions should not rest on the proposal alone.
- Make the 2026 choice deliberately: A pool account for acquisitions up to 31 December 2026 would be the last one and would continue to have an effect for five years. Acquisitions in the current year are in any case subject to the previous rules.
- Prepare the fixed asset register: If the change is adopted, the threshold in the accounting system has to be changed as of 1 January 2027, which falls in the middle of the financial year where it differs from the calendar year.
- Align with the group policy: Clarify how the tax threshold relates to the group’s capitalisation threshold and which differences enter the reconciliation.
FRADECO supports you at the turn of the year
Would you like to know how your acquisitions in 2026 and 2027 should be treated? We agree this with you as part of the 2026 annual financial statements and take the status of the legislative process into account in the fixed asset register for 2027. How we take on accounting, annual financial statements and reporting packages is described under German Accounting & Reporting.
Information current as of 15 October 2026, based on the opinion of the Bundesrat of 25 September 2026 (Drucksache 447/26, Beschluss) and the Federal Government’s response (Bundestag Drucksache 21/8283, Anlage 4).