The roof tax was a special property tax. It was especially widespread under the Habsburg Monarchy. But even in the Roman Empire such a levy was known. Nevertheless, it still has an impact, especially in Austria, because at the time of the collection of the roof tax, many buildings, which were used occasionally, were abandoned, the roof being removed for tax avoidance. As a result, you can still find many castles and castles in Austria today, but also simple houses without roofs. These architectural ruins are thus the result of tax avoidance practices that legislators should always consider before introducing tax laws.

1st roof tax – introduction

Most people today live in a house with a solid roof. At least in Europe, this was also the case in previous centuries. So the roof has been protecting us from the rigors of nature for a long time. Especially in rain, snow and cold, you are happy to have a solid roof over your head. Thus, the roof has become a symbol of security, more generally of security. Who would ever think that a roof could also be an object of taxation, since it is so important to us in our everyday lives, even indispensable?

But it is precisely these characteristics that actually led to a roof tax. Because roofs are ubiquitous and indispensable, thus a solid basis to tax them. In addition, their size can be used very easily as a design basis. For this you only have to determine their area, which is usually also very easy. So let us take a historical look at the roof tax today.

2nd roof tax in the Roman Empire

The first roof tax is said to have existed in ancient Rome 2,000 years ago. This is hardly surprising insofar as the first pure residential rental barracks emerged during this time. No wonder you would think that you wanted to tax the rental income of these properties via a roof tax. In fact, it was a property levy.

3rd roof tax in the Habsburg Empire

The same umbrella tax in Rome eons later referred to the Habsburg Joseph II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He also wanted to introduce a property tax on real estate and referred to the old Roman model of the roof tax.

So it came at the end of the 18th. It was a century of taxation that had unprecedented effects that still have an impact today. Because the owners of castles and castles, who used many of these buildings at the time, at best occasionally, were inventive. Since the military value of their castles had long since died out, so that no one had to worry about losing their fortitude, they made sure that the roofs were simply removed to avoid the roof tax. This procedure can also be easily understood insofar as castles and locks have relatively large roof areas, which therefore had to lead to a correspondingly high roof tax.

In any case, many castle ruins today are due to this tax avoidance. Examples are the castles Altschielleiten, Baden, Bolzano, Glanegg, Rauhenstein and the castle Zagging. The copper roof of Gallenstein Castle was even sold to a coppersmith. Without the roof tax you would probably have left the roofs, so that the buildings would have been better protected from decay. So today they are present to us both as castle ruins and as a memorial for misguided taxation measures.

4th roof tax in Ireland

A roof tax is said to have also existed in Ireland some time ago. There, too, this led to a covering of the roofs of buildings that were not subject to regular use. In particular, rural buildings abandoned by their residents because they moved to the cities or emigrated immediately were affected by this tax arrangement to avoid the roof tax.

5. A kind of umbrella tax in Italy

A similar, but in principle different case can be reported from Puglia (Italy). The town of Alberobello may be mentioned in particular. About a century before the imposition of the roof tax by Joseph II. in Austria ruled in this area Giangirolamo II. Acquaviva, Count of Conversano.

At that time, he would have had to pay considerable taxes to the Kingdom of Naples to establish a new village. But even without his own help, more and more people settled in the area around today's Alberobello. Therefore, the Count obliged the new settlers to build Trulli instead of normal houses. Trulli are small single-storey cottages with cone roofs, built without mortar and of size and design rather resemble the huts of shepherds. The Count’s order was related to the fact that during an announced inspection trip through the Kingdom of Naples, the inhabitants were to remove the roofs in flight, so that it could be argued that no settlement had been built here. After all, the roofless trulli are not dwellings. After the inspection, the trulli were easily and quickly restored. In this way, the Count was able to avoid the dreaded duties to the Kingdom of Naples.

Nowadays the typical design of the trulli in Alberobello is world famous and a destination for countless tourists. They are also under the protection of the UNESCO World Heritage as well as the pilgrimage church Sant’Antonio di Padova built there in the manner of the Trulli. In this case, one can be grateful for tax avoidance.

6. roof tax as an example of incentives for tax avoidance

Although there is no more roof tax nowadays, this is less due to the tendency of legislators to exempt real estate from taxation. Rather, more appropriate tax bases have been defined, which can be more difficult to avoid tax avoidance. Finally, other legislators have also drawn their conclusions from tax avoidance within the framework of the um tax.

Nevertheless, the roof tax is a good example that you can avoid taxation with suitable arrangements. Certainly, this always depends on the circumstances that the tax laws dictate. But every now and then it takes more than a little ingenuity to legally escape taxation. Tax expertise is also necessary for the success of tax avoidance strategies. This applies in particular with regard to the provisions of § 42 AO, which defines misuse of design.