030 555 721 370
anfrage@guhr-steuerberatung.de
Auerstr. 14, 10249 Berlin
Industry · Hospitality
Tax advisory for hospitality that makes every room profitable.
We are the tax advisory for owners and operators of city and business hotels, holiday hotels, resorts, boutique properties, guesthouses and aparthotels. Bookkeeping and annual accounts run reliably – on top of that we cleanly separate the reduced 7% VAT on accommodation from the 19% on breakfast, wellness and parking, unlock the depreciation buried in your building and furnishings, and give you figures that finally let you steer RevPAR and GOP – nationwide, digital and personal.
Nationwide · 100% digital- Specialised in hospitality
- A dedicated point of contact
Does this sound familiar?
Problems hoteliers know all too well.
We speak daily with operators of hotels, resorts and guesthouses. This is what we hear again and again:
The 7/19% VAT split is a constant headache.
Accommodation at 7%, breakfast and wellness at 19% – every tax audit zeroes in on the split obligation. Get the allocation wrong and you pay back VAT you never actually collected.
OTA commissions eat your margin – and the VAT is unclear.
Booking.com and Expedia invoice from abroad. The reverse-charge mechanism under § 13b of the German VAT Act is often overlooked – and the unpaid tax comes back with interest in the audit.
Your figures arrive too late to steer by.
The monthly report lands two months behind, and you calculate RevPAR and GOP in your head. Come the off-season, the liquidity view is missing just when you need it most.
Millions in the building – and the depreciation lies idle.
Building, room furnishings, FF&E, kitchen, wellness: without a clean split and useful-life assessment, you give away depreciation volume – and real money – every year.
Bed tax and visitor's tax distort your numbers.
Pass-through items nobody records cleanly – sometimes they land in revenue, sometimes they're missing from the return. Either way they cost you time and nerves at audit.
Your tax advisor has never seen a hotel from the inside.
Lease and property models, half-board, package rates, staff intensity, maintenance provisions – you end up explaining every detail instead of being advised.
What changes for you
More GOP. Less tax. Clarity per room at last.
We are not a traditional tax firm. We deliver what you as an operator really need – results, not just ring binders.
Crystal-clear figures – every month.
Live reporting, a liquidity view across the season and the right metrics: RevPAR, GOP and EBITDA. You always know whether the next investment will pay off.
VAT split correctly – audit-proof.
7% on accommodation, 19% on ancillary services, § 13b on OTA commissions: we set the allocation up so the tax audit finds nothing to challenge.
Depreciation fully unlocked.
Building, furnishings and FF&E cleanly separated, investment deduction (IAB) and special depreciation under § 7g used – we pull out every permissible bit of depreciation volume for you.
No surprises from the tax office.
We plan your tax ahead and flag prepayments in good time. You know months earlier what the off-season holds for you.
Time that flows back to the front desk.
Receipts via app, PMS and point-of-sale connected, commission statements booked automatically. You run your property, not your bookkeeping.
Structures that protect your wealth.
Operating and property companies, maintenance provisions, financing and succession – we build the structure that fits ownership or lease.
Personally from Karsten Guhr
A hotel rarely fails on occupancy. It fails on a VAT split that collapses in the audit, on OTA commissions nobody books correctly, and on depreciation that lies idle while the property is worth millions. That is exactly where we come in: we give you audit-proof figures and the structure that turns RevPAR into real GOP in the end – not just a good occupancy rate.
We know your business
We speak the language of hospitality.
RevPAR, GOP, ADR, occupancy, the VAT split obligation, bed tax, FF&E, reverse-charge, lease vs. property model – we know how a hotel works commercially. So you waste no time explaining your business model.
- 01
7% vs. 19% VAT split
Accommodation at 7%, breakfast, wellness, parking and half-board at 19%: we implement the split obligation cleanly – against the classic "breakfast trap" in the audit.
- 02
OTA commissions & § 13b VAT
Booking.com, Expedia and HRS invoice from abroad. We declare the reverse charge correctly and reclaim the input VAT – with no nasty surprises.
- 03
Building depreciation & useful life
Splitting land from building in the purchase price and setting the economic useful life via appraisal – we pull building depreciation significantly forward.
- 04
FF&E, IAB & § 7g
Furnishings, fixtures and technology brought forward as profit-reducing items via the investment deduction (IAB) and special depreciation under § 7g – ideal during renovation.
- 05
Bed tax & visitor's tax
Municipal accommodation tax and visitor's tax recorded cleanly as pass-through items – kept out of revenue and correct in the return.
- 06
Maintenance provisions
Preparing major renovation cycles for roof, façade and building services for tax – provisions that stand up to the audit.
- 07
Lease, property & operator models
Property company (BesitzGmbH) and operating company (PachtGmbH), business splitting, the property held privately or in the corporation – we structure liability and tax intelligently.
- 08
Staff & tips
Seasonal staff, casuals, mini-jobs, tips and benefits in kind (board and lodging) – we set up the wage-tax processes on a sound legal footing.
Industry benchmarks
We know the margins in your industry. And we secure more for you.
We look after hotels, resorts and guesthouses nationwide and see real financial statements every month – not STR reports. We know the realistic GOP and EBITDA range in your segment, where you should be, and which tax levers lift your after-tax result.
Typical GOP/EBITDA range
- GOP 35 – 45%City & business hotelRevPAR-driven · MICE and corporate business · keep OTA share in check
- GOP 30 – 42%Holiday hotel & resortSeasonality · F&B and wellness share · half-board at 19% VAT
- GOP 28 – 40%Boutique & private hotelHigh ADR · staff intensity · brand and experience as the lever
- GOP 40 – 55%Guesthouse & aparthotelLean cost base · limited F&B depth · high occupancy is decisive
This is how we lift your after-tax result – legally and without balance-sheet acrobatics:
- Purchase-price split & building depreciationCleanly separating land from building and applying the economic useful life via appraisal – often 2 – 4% depreciation instead of flat rates.
- IAB & special depreciation § 7gClaiming up to 50% of planned investments as profit-reducing in advance – ideal for FF&E, kitchen, technology and room renovation.
- Business splitting: property & operating companyProperty in the BesitzGmbH, operations in the PachtGmbH – liability separated, the lease rent made configurable and the property kept clear of operating risk.
- Holding above the operating companyProfits of the operating GmbH flow into the holding at an effective rate of around 1.5% – instead of over 26% at private level – as a reserve for the next renovation.
- Maintenance provisionsRecognising upcoming renovation cycles as a provision early on – profit drops in the year it is formed, while the liquidity stays available for the investment.
- VAT split & input taxConsistent 7/19 separation and full input tax from § 13b commissions and investments – we recover the VAT others leave on the table.
Why GUHR
Tax advisory that finally thinks with you.
We don't want to be the next advisor who writes "receipts by the 10th, please". We want to be the partner who makes your property safer, more profitable and more predictable.
Specialised in hospitality
More than 50 hospitality mandates in recent years – we know the typical VAT traps, depreciation reserves and optimisation levers in a hotel.
Nationwide · digital
Set up entirely digitally. Whether an alpine resort, a North Sea holiday hotel or a city hotel in Berlin – we're as fast as your front desk.
Proactive, not reactive
We get in touch before the tax office does. Tax strategy for the current season – not for the last one.
Personal, not anonymous
A dedicated point of contact who knows your property, your metrics and your investment plans. Answers in hours, not weeks.
More than tax advice
A network of experienced hoteliers. Included.
With GUHR you become part of a client circle you'd otherwise only meet at industry fairs. Operators who speak openly about RevPAR, OTA negotiations, staff costs and succession – because they trust the same advisor.
A selection from our hospitality client base
We only name specific clients with their consent. In the intro call we show you relevant cases from your niche.
What that means for you in practice:
- 01
Operator round-tables
Quarterly small-group meetings – topics such as pricing, OTA strategy, staff retention, renovation and succession. By invitation, under NDA.
- 02
Peer benchmarks
We benchmark your RevPAR, GOP and cost ratios anonymously against comparable properties of your size and segment. So you see where you really stand.
- 03
Warm introductions
Looking for a financier, a buyer for the property next door or a specialist for your PMS integration? We connect you directly – with no commission strings attached.
Head office Berlin · clients from Sylt to Garmisch
Nationwide · 100 % digital
One firm. Available anywhere in Germany.
Whether Berlin, Munich or somewhere in between: we run every mandate fully digital – DATEV-connected, signed PDFs, video meetings. No commuting, no postal delays, no 90s-style bookkeeping.
- 01
DATEV Unternehmen online
Receipts, banking, payroll, reports – you work in the standard interface every German tax advisor speaks. No vendor lock-in.
- 02
Video meetings instead of on-site visits
Quarterly review, tax strategy, holding check – via video with screen sharing. You save half a day every time.
- 03
Signed PDFs & digital powers of attorney
Tax filings, annual accounts, contracts – signed via qualified e-signature. Accepted by the tax office, done in minutes.
How we work with hotels
From the intro call to worry-free bookkeeping.
On average, 14 days from the decision to switch to a running digital operation.
Intro call & status check
30 minutes. We review the VAT split, depreciation reserves, OTA booking and the biggest levers – free of charge.
01
Onboarding in 14 days
We handle the switch from your current advisor, set up DATEV and connect your PMS, point-of-sale and banking – from booking to bookkeeping.
02
Ongoing support
Monthly reporting, RevPAR and GOP at a glance in the dashboard, a dedicated point of contact – plus proactive alerts the moment we spot optimisation potential.
03
Annual review & strategy
Annual accounts, tax optimisation and a clear plan for the next season – including investment, renovation and succession strategy.
04
030 555 721 370FAQ
Answers for hoteliers.
The questions you ask us most often before switching.
Intro call for hospitality
What your property gives away in tax – we'll show you in 30 minutes.
You outline your setup, we name the concrete levers (7/19 split, § 13b on OTA commissions, building depreciation, § 7g, property/lease model) and send a written proposal within 48 hours. Nationwide and free of charge.