Altersvorsorgedepot for your own home
Buying a home with your Altersvorsorgedepot. Calculate how a withdrawal affects your investment account and your later tax.
Withdrawal phase
Only if your contract provides for it. From 2027, providers no longer have to offer withdrawals for home ownership.
Schedule
That is 2057. For the housing subsidy account, you can agree a start age between 60 and 68 with your provider. Without an agreement, 67 applies.
27 years before the payout phase starts. Apply to the ZfA no later than ten months before it starts.
Tax & investment account
Per year, for example the taxable part of your pension and other payouts. If you are married, enter your joint income.
Married here means joint assessment with income-splitting rates (Splittingtarif).
Only for comparing what the amount could have earned in the investment account.
Result
- Housing subsidy account
- €25,000Stays unchanged until taxation starts in 2058.
No tax is due at the time of withdrawal. The housing subsidy account (Wohnförderkonto) is not a loan, so you do not have to pay anything back. It only records the amount that will later be taxed as income.
- Taxable per year
€5,000
2058 to 2062, in five equal parts
- Estimated additional tax
≈ €6,745
in total, on average 27.0% of the account
What happens next
- 2030Withdrawal for your home€25,000 goes into the project with no tax deducted and is recorded in the housing subsidy account.
- For 27 yearsThe account stays at €25,000No interest, no tax. You can choose to reduce it by paying into a certified retirement savings contract.
- 2057Payout phase starts at age 67The balance on January 1, 2058 is spread over the next five years.
- 2058–2062Five tax yearsEach year, €5,000 counts as income (§ 22 Nr. 5 EStG). How much tax is due depends on your other income.
Taxation of the housing subsidy account by year Year Taxable amount Balance afterward Additional tax 2058 at 68 €5,000 €20,000 ≈ €1,349 2059 at 69 €5,000 €15,000 ≈ €1,349 2060 at 70 €5,000 €10,000 ≈ €1,349 2061 at 71 €5,000 €5,000 ≈ €1,349 2062 at 72 €5,000 €0 ≈ €1,349 Total €25,000 ≈ €6,745 - 2063Housing subsidy account settledAfter that, selling, renting out or moving out no longer has any consequences for your government support.
Five years instead of all at once
- Spread over five years
- ≈ €6,745
- All at once in one year
- ≈ €7,611
Spreading softens the effect of progressive tax rates, by about €866 in your example.
The remaining amount is taxed all at once only if you stop living in the home yourself before the five years are over. What applies then
What is missing from your investment account
- Forgone investment account value by 2057
- ≈ €120,559
What €25,000 would have grown to in the investment account at a 6% annual return over 27 years, before tax.
Only the withdrawn amount is taxed through the housing subsidy account, not these forgone returns. Against this, you have the benefit of the home, such as loan interest or rent you save.
Assumptions behind this calculation
- This reflects the law for withdrawals from January 1, 2028 under § 92a EStG as amended by the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (retirement savings reform act). The previous rules apply to earlier withdrawals.
- Tax is based on the 2026 income tax rates (§ 32a EStG) applied to your other income plus the annual amount, without the solidarity surcharge and church tax. Future tax rates and personal deductions are not taken into account.
- Your other income stays the same in all five years. The additional tax is the difference with and without the annual amount.
- The housing subsidy account is a fixed euro amount, so inflation reduces its real value. Because tax bracket limits usually rise, the tax estimate tends to err on the side of caution.
- Whole calendar years are used. The payout phase starts in the year in which you reach the chosen age. Voluntary repayments, loan repayment support (Tilgungsförderung) and unsubsidized capital are not taken into account.
- The forgone investment account value assumes a constant return. All values are estimates, not a forecast and not tax or legal advice.
Non-qualifying use and moving out
Subsidized capital is intended for retirement. If you use it for something else or give up the subsidized home, you should expect consequences, but not every situation has the same consequences.
Non-qualifying use (schädliche Verwendung)
If you have subsidized capital paid out without using it for an eligible home or as an intended retirement benefit, this is a non-qualifying use (§ 93 EStG). You must then repay the allowances and tax benefits attributable to it, and the returns are taxed.
Selling, renting out or moving out
If you stop living in the home yourself on more than a temporary basis, for example after selling or renting it out, and the housing subsidy account has not yet been settled, the remaining amount is closed out and taxed as income all at once in the same year. This is not a non-qualifying use, so you do not repay any allowances for it. You must notify the ZfA that you have stopped living in the home yourself.
In your example, with a move-out before the first tax year and the same other income, the additional tax is about €7,611 all at once instead of about €6,745 spread over five years.
Exceptions where the account is not closed out
In these cases set out by law, no longer living in the home yourself does not trigger immediate taxation.
- New homeYou use an amount equal to the remaining balance for another home you live in yourself, between two years before and five years after the year you move out.
- Payment into a contractYou pay the remaining amount into a certified retirement savings contract by the end of the year following the year you move out.
- Separation or divorceThe marital home is left to the other spouse under a separation or divorce settlement or is allocated to them by a court.
- Illness or care needsYou move out because of illness or care needs but remain the owner. The home stays available for you to live in and is not used by anyone else apart from your spouse or registered partner.
- Moving backYou live in the home yourself again within five years after the year you moved out.
- Moving for workOn application to the ZfA, if you intend to return and start living in the home yourself again by age 67 at the latest. Any rental until then must be for a limited period.
You must tell the ZfA what you intend to do when you report moving out. If you give up this intention or the deadline passes, the account is closed out after all.
After the five tax years, it is over
Once the housing subsidy account has been fully taxed, the reporting obligation also ends. A later sale or move is no longer checked for government support purposes.
Frequently asked questions
What can I use my Altersvorsorgedepot for when it comes to owning a home?
For buying or building a home you live in yourself, paying off a loan taken out for it, compulsory shares in a housing cooperative, alterations to reduce barriers and renovations to improve energy efficiency. The home must be your main residence in the EU or the EEA, the project must cost at least €3,000 and your contract must provide for the withdrawal. You can only use subsidized capital, in full or in part. You submit the application to the ZfA no later than ten months before the payout phase starts.
Do I have to pay tax on the withdrawal right away?
No. The amount is recorded in the housing subsidy account and taxed only from the year after the payout phase starts. Until then, the account stays unchanged. The former increase of 2% a year no longer exists for withdrawals from 2028. The account is not a loan that you have to repay.
How is the housing subsidy account taxed from the start of retirement?
The balance on January 1 after the payout phase starts is spread over five years. In each of these years, one fifth counts as income and is taxed at your personal tax rate. The former option of having 70% of the account taxed all at once no longer exists. How much tax you pay depends on your other income in those years.
Do the new rules also apply to earlier withdrawals and Riester contracts?
What matters is when the capital was used, not the type of contract. If you used capital for a home before January 1, 2028, the previous rules continue to apply. These include a 2% annual increase and the option of spreading taxation until age 85 or having 70% of the account balance taxed all at once. The calculator does not model these cases.