We spent €30,000 on a website overhaul — over how many years is this depreciated in Germany?

Auditors absolutely love this line item during tax audits (Betriebsprüfung). If 30.000 EUR goes on the books as a single invoice labeled "website expense", they will demand a retroactive balance sheet correction with interest at the very first audit. Your consultant is completely right; the agency needs to break that invoice down into at least 4-5 separate line items.

Pursuant to Section 248, Paragraph 2 of the German Commercial Code (HGB), while internally generated intangible assets may be capitalized optionally, capitalization is mandatory for assets acquired from third parties (derivate immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände). Since it functions as a B2B portal, the external agency's invoice must be capitalized directly.

We spent 42.000 EUR on a similar B2B shop in 2022. Our consultant had the invoice split into 16.000 EUR for content/design consulting (expensed immediately) and 26.000 EUR for core software (depreciated over 3 years via AfA). We wrote off around 8.666 EUR per year in depreciation, and it cleared last year's tax audit without a single question raised.

agencies usually love issuing single-line invoices just to be done with it cause breaking it down is a hassle for them. call them right away and ask for an itemized breakdown, have them separate project management hours and copywriting it makes a huge difference on taxes.

Are license fees included in this 30.000 EUR? Is the CMS or portal infrastructure open source, or do you pay an annual recurring commercial license fee? Recurring licenses are not subject to depreciation; they are written off directly as operating expenses for the period.

Some colleagues apply a 1-year depreciation period (fiktive Sofortabschreibung) to software based on the BMF's 2021 and 2022 digital assets decrees, but this rule remains highly controversial for websites. If the Finanzamt treats the portal as a web medium rather than pure software, you will run into trouble; spreading it over 3 years is much safer.

Try sitting down with your agency and having the invoice revised along these lines: 1) 30 percent content, SEO, and design consulting (direct expense). 2) 50 percent technical infrastructure and ERP integration (3-year depreciation). 3) 20 percent testing, training, and deployment support (direct expense).

Dear colleague, your tax advisor's concern is entirely justified. When corporate websites move beyond purely advertising purposes to include order processing capabilities, their classification as Anlagevermögen is indisputable. I strongly recommend itemizing the invoice contents to prevent future tax penalties.

Noted, thanks.

Don't miss this: Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

That's all, sorry if I went on too long.

This approach has a cost which isn't discussed. When we decide without measuring, we always end up in the same place.

I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

This approach has a cost, which isn't discussed. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

Start with a small trial; don't commit to everything at once. Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

I agree. Trying to do this alone is the most expensive way.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. Just because everyone does it doesn't mean it's right.

Don't hesitate to ask; those who don't ask always pay more. Of course it varies if your situation is different.

we need to take it step by step. measure first, then divide. when the order is right, the debate ends.

hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later and like if I were you I'd go this route.

I partly agree, partly disagree. Mistakes made on the website redesign depreciation side are usually reversible but expensive.

If you post the result here it will help others too.

Quick summary for newcomers: Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Splitting your budget without knowing where you're losing users is just throwing money in the dark. If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

i went through the same thing.