Property, ETF, solar or savings — what is left after tax?
Four asset classes, the same capital committed, one figure at the end. We run all four on your numbers — including Abgeltungsteuer, depreciation and the ten-year rule that often decides the answer.
- Let property
- Equity fund
- Solar direct investment
- Savings account
This is a worked example: € 80,000 of equity, € 70,000 of annual income and a 10-year hold in North Rhine-Westphalia. The full result for it is on the right — the fields become editable once unlocked.
In this scenario the equity fund ends €35,514 ahead.
After 10 years, with identical capital of €99,594 committed to all four paths.
Now run it on your own numbers
Above is a worked example — and even there, €65,380 separates the best path from the weakest. With your capital, your income and your horizon the answer comes out differently.
- Your capital, your income, your federal state and your holding period
- Pick the depreciation regime — standard, new-build under § 7b or listed under § 7i
- Every assumption editable: rental yield, appreciation, loan rate, fund return, solar tariff
- Then 4 short analyses on capital investments — unsubscribe with one click
Sale after the ten-year window
The gain stays tax-free under § 23 EStG. In this scenario that exemption is worth €33,583 — selling one day earlier would have cost exactly that.
How the property is built in this scenario
- Reachable purchase price
- €249,454
- Transaction costs (12.1 %)
- €30,109
- Loan
- €199,563
- Outstanding at the end
- €152,086
- Sale value
- €289,502
- Total contributions(the same amounts go into the other paths)
- €19,594
How the solar system is built in this scenario
In year one the system distributes 5.2 % of the capital invested — across the full term and after tax, 0.8 % p.a. remains. The gap is not an error: a solar system is a wasting asset with no meaningful residual value, so much of every distribution is your own capital coming back.
- System size
- 88.9 kWp
- Depreciation over the period
- €67,472
- Book value at the end
- €12,528
- Assumed sale value
- €48,000
- Tax on the sale
- €14,898
The accelerated depreciation costs €853 in this scenario compared with plain linear depreciation. That is progression, not an error: a very large deduction in year one is only relieved at the low rates it pushes the income down through, while the recapture at the sale lands as a single lump and is taxed at the full marginal rate.
Unlike the property, there is no ten-year clock here. The system is business property, so the gain on sale is always taxable. Whatever the accelerated depreciation saves early comes back at the sale as the gap between book value and market value.
For comparison: consuming the electricity yourself instead of feeding it in saves 31.10 ct/kWh of purchase price rather than earning 6.19 ct/kWh of tariff. Up to 30 kWp per unit that income is tax-free under § 3 Nr. 72 EStG — and precisely because it is tax-free, § 3c Abs. 1 EStG allows no deduction at all there: no depreciation, no special depreciation, not even the interest. That is a different calculation from the one above, not a better version of it.
Model a solar system properly — own roof or direct investment →Where does the answer flip?
The property draws level once appreciation reaches 2.7 % p.a. — currently assumed at 1.5 %. Below that the other path stays ahead.
The scenario does not favour property here. A specific property can be considerably better than the model one — checking costs nothing.
In year ten the property's net wealth jumps by €39,971 — not from appreciation, but because the tax on the sale gain disappears. The track shows exactly where that happens.
Within 10 years the property does not overtake. A longer horizon or higher appreciation changes that — try it above.
| Year | Property | Equity fund | Solar | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €54,376 | €86,943 | €79,848 | €83,457 |
| 2 | €59,046 | €94,317 | €82,682 | €86,954 |
| 3 | €63,906 | €102,153 | €85,584 | €90,494 |
| 4 | €68,962 | €110,483 | €88,549 | €94,078 |
| 5 | €74,223 | €119,341 | €91,577 | €97,709 |
| 6 | €79,694 | €128,763 | €94,664 | €101,391 |
| 7 | €85,383 | €138,790 | €97,802 | €105,124 |
| 8 | €91,297 | €149,463 | €100,994 | €108,913 |
| 9 | €97,445 | €160,827 | €104,242 | €112,760 |
| 10§ 23 | €137,416 | €172,930 | €107,550 | €116,669 |
Each row shows what would be left after a sale at the end of that year — including the tax such a sale would trigger at that point.
A scenario calculation — not investment advice and not a product recommendation. Asset classes are compared; no specific financial instrument is named. Not modelled: selling costs, renovations, vacancy beyond the assumed rate, church tax, the solidarity surcharge on income tax, and Gewerbesteuer on the solar system — below the § 11 GewStG allowance of 24,500 € none is due, and above it § 35 EStG credits it against income tax up to a 400 % municipal rate. The solar system is calculated unleveraged; decommissioning costs and repowering are left out.
Comparing gross yields is misleading: € 50,000 of equity buys € 50,000 of fund units but roughly € 300,000 of property. Only end wealth in euros is comparable. Three differences decide it: leverage, the 10–12 % transaction costs on day one, and the exit — after a ten-year holding period the gain on a let property is tax-free under § 23 EStG, while fund gains attract Abgeltungsteuer, softened by the 30 % Teilfreistellung on equity funds. The fourth path is a commercial solar direct investment: there the § 7g investment deduction and special depreciation apply, but there is no ten-year clock — the gain on business property is always taxable. This calculator also accounts for the Vorabpauschale, the Sparer-Pauschbetrag, depreciation and the progressive income tax tariff of § 32a EStG.
More calculators
Frequently asked questions
Why not simply compare yield against yield?
Because the capital bases differ. € 80,000 of equity buys € 80,000 of fund units but, through leverage, roughly € 250,000 of property. Percentages on different bases are not comparable — only end wealth in euros is.
What does "identical capital committed" mean?
A financed property usually runs a negative cash flow: you feed it every month. A fund investor who pays in once would be flattered by that. So the fund, savings and solar paths receive exactly the same contributions at exactly the same times. Where the property throws off a surplus instead, it goes into a side account at the savings rate.
How is tax on rental income calculated?
As the difference between two tariff evaluations under § 32a EStG: tax on your income with and without the rental result. That stays correct when the rental result is negative in the early years — it then produces a genuine tax saving rather than an invented marginal rate.
What is the Vorabpauschale?
An annual advance taxation of accumulating funds under § 18 InvStG. Basisertrag = value at the start of the year × Basiszins (3.20 % for 2026) × 70 %, capped at the actual gain. In a losing year it does not arise. Amounts already taxed are credited on sale, so nothing is taxed twice.
Why does the ten-year point matter so much?
Because tax on the sale gain disappears entirely at that point (§ 23 EStG). Sell before it and the gain is fully taxable, with the depreciation already claimed added back. The difference is often larger than the entire yield gap between the asset classes.
Why is the solar return so much lower than the one in the offers?
Because the figure quoted there is usually the first year's distribution, not the return. A solar system is a wasting asset with no meaningful residual value: much of what it pays out each year is your own capital coming back, not income. Discount every payment across the full term and take off the tax, and what typically remains is a third to a half of the advertised number. Both figures are printed side by side here.
Can I write a solar system off against tax?
That depends entirely on its size. Up to 30 kWp per unit the income is tax-free under § 3 Nr. 72 EStG — and because it is tax-free, § 3c Abs. 1 EStG allows no deduction there at all: no depreciation, no special depreciation, not even the financing interest. The relief is instead the zero VAT rate on purchase under § 12 Abs. 3 UStG. Only above that threshold — commercial systems and direct investments — do the § 7g investment deduction and special depreciation apply. That second case is what this calculator models.
Is this investment advice?
No. The calculator compares asset classes under your own assumptions and names no specific financial instrument, fund or provider. It tells you which path leaves more on the table in your scenario — not what you should do.