Austrian Court Denies Input VAT Deductions for Unproven Rental Intent in Renovation Case

The Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance posted a Federal Finance Court decision on input VAT deductions for renovation expenses.
The taxpayer claimed deductions for renovation work, debt financing, advertising, and depreciation for a rental property.
The Tax Agency denied these deductions.
The taxpayer argued the expenses were preparatory for generating rental income.
The Federal Finance Court ruled that income generation intent must be proven with binding agreements or circumstances.
The property was not rentable for many years, with no significant efforts to make it rentable.
An input tax adjustment was justified due to lack of entrepreneurial activity and unchanged situation.

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.