Roschier has successfully acted for clients in multiple real estate-related tax disputes

Recent work|May 28, 2025

Our tax team has recently represented several clients in tax disputes in the field of real estate. These success stories encompass a series of disputes for major golf clubs, including Golf Talma and Pickala Golf, in significant cases concerning real estate taxation. The other success story concerns disputes for an infrastructure subgroup, where the tax treatment of special structures was challenged as far as concerns real estate, income and transfer tax.

The Tax Adjustment Board overturned the Finnish Tax Administration’s (FTA) decisions that a significant valuation discount did not apply in the real estate taxation of golf courses

Roschier represented several golf clubs, including Golf Talma and Pickala Golf, in notable cases concerning real estate tax. The cases concerned the question of whether a significant valuation discount generally applied in determining the real estate tax on large properties outside urban areas. Without having sufficient legal grounds to do so, the FTA had found that this discount did not apply simply due to the fact that the properties were being used as golf courses.

The disputes originally commenced in 2019, with Roschier representing Golf Talma, which had retroactively been denied the discount for several years. In 2021, the Tax Adjustment Board overturned the decision in Golf Talma’s favor, resulting in a tax refund of several hundred thousand euros. Following our victory, the FTA amended their published written guidance to support their view that certain special purpose areas like golf courses and ski resorts were excluded from the discount’s scope of application. In 2023, the FTA systematically denied the discount for golf courses. This resulted in a sudden increase in the real estate tax on golf courses, in some cases as much as seven times the usual amount.

Resuming the representation of Golf Talma and taking on engagements for other golf clubs, our team prepared claims for adjustments disputing the exclusion from the valuation discount. Based on our claims, and fully aligned with our arguments, the Tax Adjustment Board issued legally valid decisions in 2024 and 2025 confirming that the FTA did not have the authority to change the interpretation and exclude certain types of businesses from the scope of the valuation discount solely based on their published written guidance to taxpayers. The victory is of significant monetary value to our clients, with the annual accumulated savings ranging from tens of thousands to a couple of hundred thousand euros for each golf club.

Special structures constructed by an infrastructure subgroup were to be treated as movable property for the purposes of real estate, income and transfer tax

One of our long-time clients has been subject to several tax disputes concerning real estate, income and transfer tax. All these disputes have now been decided in favor of our client – the latest being a positive decision on our claim for adjustments of the real estate tax just a few weeks ago.

The disputes started in 2021, when the FTA issued two negative preliminary rulings concerning transfer and income tax against our client. Against well-established taxation practice, the FTA concluded that the company was a real estate company for tax purposes since the FTA considered their special structures to be immovable property. The company appealed to the Helsinki Administrative Court. In 2022, the Helsinki Administrative Court agreed with our arguments and ruled that the structures should be treated in line with civil law, namely as movable property for the purposes of both transfer and income tax. In the taxation of transfers relating to these types of infrastructure companies, the standard rules should be applied, not the special rules applicable to real estate. When the shares in these companies are transferred between two non-residents, the transfer is not subject to either transfer or capital gains tax.

Even after this, the FTA continued to make their reassessments regarding annual depreciations and real estate taxes in line with their previous arguments. First, the Tax Adjustment Board decided the case in our client’s favor in October 2024 and treated the special structures as movable property in the assessment of annual depreciations for corporate tax purposes, and then in March 2025, our claim for adjustments of the real estate tax was approved in line with our arguments.

The decisions have a harmonizing effect on the tax treatment of infrastructure, making the taxation more predictable across tax types. All disputes – regardless of the type of tax – led to the outcome that the special structures are considered to be movable property.

Infrastructure companies should turn to tax specialists in the event of any uncertainty in the tax treatment of special structures in relation to any form of tax.

Our main advisory team in the above disputes, led by Mika Ohtonen, included Andreas Bussman, Marie Mäenpää, and Maria Lyhykäinen.