Growth Booster 2026: What Accelerated Depreciation and Special Depreciation Deliver for Automation Projects

Since July 2025, accelerated depreciation has returned, and the so-called Growth Booster is being promoted as an investment incentive. Anyone concluding that an automation project can now be written off at a flat rate of 30 percent in the first year is mostly mistaken. The reason is in the statute itself: accelerated depreciation and special depreciation apply only to tangible fixed assets. Software is not one of them.

That doesn't make the topic worthless, but simply usable differently than often claimed. And it has an advantage that no grant program offers: tax depreciation requires no application, no approval, and no listed consultant.

Important note: This article explains the legal situation and is not tax advice. NordFlux is an automation service provider, not a tax firm. Whether and how any of the regulations described here applies to your business is decided by your tax advisor based on your balance sheet and profit situation. Please clarify any arrangement there before implementing it.

What Does the Growth Booster Actually Regulate?

The Growth Booster brings accelerated depreciation of up to 30 percent for tangible fixed assets that are purchased or manufactured after June 30, 2025 and before January 1, 2028. The rate may not exceed three times the linear rate and must not exceed 30 percent. This is stated in § 7 Absatz 2 EStG and is confirmed by the Federal Finance Ministry in its overview of the Growth Booster.

Practically speaking: For an asset with a ten-year useful life, linear depreciation is 10 percent; three times that would be 30 percent, which is exactly where the cap applies. For a five-year useful life, it's 20 percent linear; three times that would be 60 percent, capped at 30. The cap is thus the rule, not the exception.

Two other points from the same legislative package are relevant for businesses. For new electric vehicles purchased in the same time window, § 7 Absatz 2a EStG provides for a schedule of 75 percent in the acquisition year, then 10, 5, 5, 3 and 2 percent, but only if no special depreciation was claimed for the same asset. And the corporate income tax rate, according to the Federal Finance Ministry, will decrease annually by one percentage point from 15 to 10 percent starting in 2028.

Does Accelerated Depreciation Also Apply to Automation Software?

No. § 7 Absatz 2 EStG applies exclusively to tangible fixed assets, and software is tax-wise an intangible asset. Intangible assets are not tangible, so the entire software portion of an automation project falls outside the regulation. The same criterion is found word-for-word in both paragraphs of § 7g EStG, each referring to "depreciable tangible fixed assets."

What remains is the hardware portion. It is genuinely present in automation projects, but usually smaller than expected:

• Covered: a dedicated server or mini-PC for self-hosted n8n, document scanner for invoice capture, industrial PCs, sensors, label printers, handheld terminals in warehouse logistics.
• Not covered: software licenses, cloud subscriptions, custom development, design, integration, training, and operations.

What Does the Special Depreciation under § 7g EStG Deliver?

Special depreciation under § 7g Absatz 5 EStG allows up to a total of 40 percent of acquisition or production costs in addition to regular depreciation, distributable over the acquisition year and the four following years. The 40 percent rate applies, according to § 52 Absatz 16 EStG, for the first time for assets purchased or manufactured after December 31, 2023. Previously, it was lower.

Special depreciation is subject to two conditions that smaller businesses more easily meet than larger ones:

• Profit limit: The profit in the fiscal year before acquisition must not exceed 200,000 euros (§ 7g Absatz 6 EStG).
• Use requirement: The asset must be used exclusively or almost exclusively for business purposes or rented at a domestic place of business in the acquisition year and the following year.
• Available in advance: Via the investment allowance under § 7g Absatz 1 EStG, up to 50 percent of the expected acquisition costs can be deducted even before the investment. The sum of these deduction amounts is limited to 200,000 euros per business, calculated across the current and the three preceding fiscal years.

Here too, the restriction to tangible assets applies. An investment allowance for planned software introduction is not provided for by the statute.

How Is an Automation Project Treated for Tax Purposes?

Two other rules apply to the software portion, which in effect are often more favorable than any special depreciation. Both are unremarkable and therefore rarely discussed in grant newsletters.

First: Self-built automation is not activated at all. § 5 Absatz 2 EStG stipulates that for intangible assets of fixed assets, a balance sheet asset is only to be recognized if it was acquired for consideration. An internally developed workflow is self-created, not acquired. The expense thus takes effect immediately and does not need to be distributed over years.

Second: For purchased software, the Federal Finance Ministry allows a customary useful life of one year. The Federal Finance Ministry letter of February 22, 2022 (GZ IV C 3 - S 2190/21/10002 :025) explicitly names in Randziffer 5 ERP software, warehouse management system software and "other application software for business management or process control." Randziffer 1.4 makes clear that it is not contested if depreciation is taken in full in the year of acquisition. Source: Federal Finance Ministry, Useful Life of Computer Hardware and Software.

Important is the classification that the same letter makes in Randziffer 1.1: The shorter useful life is explicitly not a special form of depreciation, not a new depreciation method, and not immediate depreciation. It remains linear depreciation under § 7 Absatz 1 EStG, just with a different assumption about useful life. Anyone using the term "immediate depreciation" in a conversation with their tax firm is talking past the statute.

For smaller acquisitions, the low-value asset rules apply. According to § 6 Absatz 2 EStG, depreciable tangible assets of up to 800 euros can be fully deducted in the acquisition year. Alternatively, paragraph 2a allows a pooled reserve for assets of 250 to under 1,000 euros, which is reversed over five years at one-fifth each.

What Does This Mean for Planning an Automation Project?

The tax approach works strongest where grant programs are weakest: in speed and predictability. There is no application, no approval period, no quota, and no requirement for a listed consultant. However, it does require a profit against which to deduct. A business in a loss year gets little from 40 percent special depreciation.

In our projects, the larger cost block almost always lies in design, integration, and operations, not in purchased equipment. Hardware appears sporadically, such as with a self-hosted n8n on a dedicated server or a scanner for automating invoice receipt. Exactly this smaller part is the one that accelerated depreciation and § 7g can reach at all. Anyone basing a project calculation on special depreciation is calculating the wrong cost center.

More sensible is the reverse order: first determine the process and expected benefit, then allocate costs into hardware, purchased software, and services, and submit this breakdown to your tax firm. Only at this point can you determine which line item falls under which statute. If you also want to review grants, you'll find an overview in our article on AI grants for small businesses.

Let us be clear once more: All information in this article comes from the statute and publications of the Federal Finance Ministry, as of August 3, 2026. It does not replace individual tax advice. The application to your business, the allocation of individual cost items, and the balance sheet treatment belong in the hands of your tax advisor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Depreciate Automation Software on an Accelerated Basis?

No. Accelerated depreciation under § 7 Absatz 2 EStG applies only to tangible fixed assets. Software is an intangible asset and is therefore not covered. For purchased software, the one-year useful life under the Federal Finance Ministry letter of February 22, 2022 applies instead.

Does a Server for Self-Hosted n8n Fall Under Accelerated Depreciation?

A server is a tangible fixed asset and is thus potentially eligible if it was purchased after June 30, 2025 and before January 1, 2028. Whether accelerated depreciation is more favorable in the individual case than the one-year useful life for computer hardware under the Federal Finance Ministry letter must be calculated by your tax advisor.

Until When Does Accelerated Depreciation Apply?

It applies to tangible fixed assets that are purchased or manufactured after June 30, 2025 and before January 1, 2028. For acquisitions starting January 1, 2028, § 7 Absatz 2 EStG in its current form no longer provides for accelerated depreciation.

What Is the Difference Between Special Depreciation and a Grant?

Special depreciation reduces taxable profit; a grant is a direct payment. Special depreciation only works if there is corresponding profit, but comes without application and approval requirements. A grant works regardless of profit but requires an application process and compliance with the respective grant guidelines.

Can I Form an Investment Allowance for a Planned AI Project?

According to the wording of § 7g Absatz 1 EStG, the investment allowance applies to the future acquisition or creation of depreciable tangible fixed assets. It may fit for planned hardware, but the statute does not provide for it in the software and services portion of an AI project.