A reserve pursuant to § 6b EStG enables the initially tax-free realization of operational capital gains. However, the prerequisite is that the entrepreneur transfers the § 6b reserve in a timely manner to a newly acquired or manufactured economic good. It does not matter in which sale operation the reserve was created. A § 6b reserve can therefore also be formed in the event of abandonment or sale of business.

1. principles of § 6b reserve

When sole proprietors, partnerships or corporations sell an asset of fixed assets (for example, a property), the difference between the selling price and the book value is taxable as profit. The tax liability occurs in the year of the sale.

For certain assets, however, entrepreneurs can avoid this taxation. The profit thus continues to be generated in the marketing year of the sale, but is entered here in a reserve according to § 6b EStG (the so-called § 6b reserve). The contribution to the reserve creates an operating expense equal to the profit, as a result of which the capital gain is ultimately not taxable.

The formation of a § 6b reserve is possible, among other things, in the sale of land, buildings and shares in corporations. The decisive factor is that these assets have been part of the company’s fixed assets for at least 6 years. For working capital an entrepreneur can therefore not form a reserve according to § 6b EStG.

The only decisive factor is the sale of a beneficiary asset. The entrepreneur can therefore also form the § 6b reserve in case of cessation of operation or sale of business if the other requirements of the standard are met.

Formation of a § 6b reserve in case of cessation of operation

An operational task within the meaning of § 16 (3) EStG exists when a sole proprietor or partnership ceases the operational activity. In this process, the essential operating bases, i.e. the “decisive assets” of the operating assets, are