IAB Investor Leads for Solar and Storage Providers in Germany
Nextmove Digital generates enquiries from business owners, freelancers and self-employed people in Germany who want to plan a solar PV or battery storage investment with the Investitionsabzugsbetrag (IAB). The campaigns run exclusively in your own Meta ad account, the form prequalifies every enquiry, and we never make tax promises: whether an IAB applies is decided by the investor’s tax advisor.
Last updated 1 November 2026
The IAB in brief, for international readers
If you are new to the German market: the IAB is a tax instrument for small and medium-sized businesses, not a subsidy programme. Providers of PV and storage investments use it as a sales argument for business owners who want to plan an investment with its tax effect in mind. This is a summary for orientation, not tax advice.
- What the IAB is
- The Investitionsabzugsbetrag (investment deduction amount) under § 7g of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) lets a business deduct up to 50 % of the expected acquisition cost of a movable fixed asset from its profit before the asset is bought. The tax effect is brought forward; it is a timing effect, not a grant.
- Who can use it
- Businesses whose profit in the year of the deduction does not exceed €200,000, for an asset used for business purposes. The investment has to be made within three years, otherwise the deduction is reversed.
- The solar restriction
- For PV systems whose income is tax-exempt under § 3 No. 72 EStG, an IAB is generally not possible according to the tax authorities and case law (Finance Court of Cologne, 2024; administrative guidance from January 2026). This affects many smaller systems.
- What this means for marketing
- An ad cannot know a reader’s profit, business use or system size. That is why blanket tax promises do not belong in ads, and why every enquiry needs an individual check by the provider and a tax advisor.
What an IAB investor lead is
An IAB investor lead is an enquiry from a person with business income, such as an entrepreneur, tradesperson, doctor or other freelancer, who is interested in a PV or storage investment and has answered the prequalification questions in the form. It is not a confirmed investor: profit, business use and eligibility are self-reported and are checked later by your sales team and the investor’s tax advisor.
The target group is close to classic capital investors: higher incomes, a tax motive, return expectations and a strong need for trust before any money is committed. Ads, forms and the first call have to reflect that.
Ad wording: what to write and what to avoid
Investment and tax statements in ads fall under German rules against misleading advertising and under Meta’s advertising policies for financial and investment offers. We only publish wording that you, and where needed your tax advisor, have approved.
| Wording | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| “Guaranteed tax savings with your solar system” | Don’t | Whether an IAB applies depends on profit, business use and the type of system. No ad can guarantee it. |
| “Pay no tax this year” | Don’t | The IAB brings a deduction forward. It does not cancel tax, and it is reversed if the investment is not made. |
| “Free solar system thanks to the tax office” | Don’t | Misleading. The investor pays the system; the tax effect depends on the individual case. |
| “For business owners: check whether the IAB under § 7g EStG can apply to your PV or storage investment” | Do | Names the target group and the legal basis and invites a check instead of promising a result. |
| “Up to 50 % of the planned investment can be deducted in advance, if the requirements are met. Your tax advisor decides.” | Do, if approved | Correct statement of the law with its condition. Must be approved by the provider and its tax advisor. |
| Return or yield figures | Only with approval | Only figures the provider can document, with assumptions stated, and in line with its prospectus or information duties. |
Form prequalification
The form filters before your sales team calls. All answers are self-reported and are not a tax or credit check.
| Question | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Are you self-employed, a freelancer or a business owner? | Separates business owners from private homeowners, who usually cannot use the IAB. |
| Legal form or type of business | Helps your sales team prepare the first call; answers are self-reported. |
| Is the investment intended for business use? | Business use is a requirement of § 7g EStG. A “no” goes to a different follow-up. |
| Planned investment: own roof, business premises or investment model | Tells your team which offer to present. |
| Planned timeframe for the investment | The IAB is tied to an investment within three years; the timeframe sets the priority of the callback. |
| Is a tax advisor already involved? | Shows how far the planning is and whether the tax check can happen quickly. |
| Preferred contact time and channel | Increases the chance that the first call reaches the person. |
Scope and responsibilities
By default our work ends with the handover of the enquiry. The content of the offer, tax statements and all legal duties of an investment offer, such as prospectus or information duties under the Vermögensanlagengesetz and the licences of your sales team, remain your responsibility.
| Step | Nextmove | Provider and sales team | Optional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign and ads | Meta campaigns, ad copy and creative, steering by lead quality | Approval of every ad, especially tax and return statements | Ad videos |
| Tax and legal statements | Implements only approved wording | Content, tax advisor review, prospectus or information duties, licences of the sales team (e.g. § 34f GewO) | – |
| Lead form | Form with prequalification questions and consent text, in German and/or English | Agreeing which answers matter to your sales team | Landing page and CRM integration on request |
| First call | Handover of every enquiry to your sales team | Callback and consultation | Telephone prequalification or appointment setting by Nextmove, scope and price agreed in advance |
| Tax check of the individual case | None | Investor and their tax advisor | – |
| Investment decision and contract | None. We do not broker investments | Provider and investor | – |
| Ad account and data | Works in your account with your access rights | Owns the ad account, form and all contacts | – |
Nextmove Digital does not check creditworthiness, give investment, tax or legal advice, or broker investments.
Our experience with capital investors
We have run campaigns and ad videos for IAB offers. We do not publish their results without the client’s approval, so we cannot show IAB figures here yet. What we can show comes from real-estate investor campaigns, a target group with a similar profile:
- CD Immo Portfolio (real estate): just under 400 investor leads, from around €7 ad cost per lead in the best phase and around €15 on average, prequalified for a self-reported net income of at least €3,500. According to the client, on average around 10 to 15 % of the leads reached a notarised purchase (client statement, not verified by us). Case study (in German)
- Cacasa Immobilien (real estate): 122 investor leads in 82 days at around €20 ad cost per lead. Case study (in German)
Real-estate figures, not IAB figures. Costs per lead for PV and storage investments can differ.
Cost components
We disclose what you pay for and to whom. Contract terms and the management fee are set in the strategy call; we have not yet published cost ranges for IAB campaigns.
| Component | Who pays | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ad budget | You, directly to Meta | You set the amount and can see every euro spent in your own ad account. |
| Management fee | You, to Nextmove | For strategy, campaigns, forms and optimisation. Set in the strategy call. |
| Creative production | You, to Nextmove, if agreed | Ad videos or photo production, priced separately. |
| Telephone prequalification | You, to Nextmove, if agreed | Optional. Scope and price agreed in advance. |
| Internal costs | Your company | Sales time for callbacks and consultations, CRM, tax advisor review of advertising claims. |
Compare offers by cost per consultation held and per signed contract, not by price per lead. Our German guide on lead costs (in German) explains the calculation using real-estate leads.
How to judge an agency for IAB leads
Seven questions that show quickly how an agency works. A longer checklist is in our German guide on choosing an IAB lead provider (in German).
- Who owns the ad account and the data?
- If campaigns run in the agency’s account, the history, audiences and contacts stay with the agency when you stop. Ask for campaigns in your own account.
- Are ad costs shown separately from the fee?
- Only then can you see the real cost per lead and per consultation. A single “price per lead” hides how much goes to Meta and how much to the agency.
- Does the agency have its own energy projects?
- An agency that also sells its own PV or storage investments has a conflict of interest. Ask directly.
- Are the leads exclusive?
- Ask whether the same contact is sold or passed on to other providers.
- How are tax statements handled?
- A serious agency does not write tax promises on its own and asks for your approval and your tax advisor’s review.
- Which figures are verified?
- Ask which numbers come from the ad account, which are client statements and which are estimates, and from which industry they come.
- What is measured after the lead?
- Reached, suitable, consultation held, contract signed. Lead counts alone say little about an investment product.
Glossary
- Investitionsabzugsbetrag (IAB)
- Investment deduction amount under § 7g EStG: up to 50 % of the expected acquisition cost of a movable business asset can be deducted from profit before the purchase, if the requirements are met.
- § 7g EStG
- Section of the German Income Tax Act that governs the IAB and special depreciation for small and medium-sized businesses.
- Profit limit
- The IAB is only available if the business’s profit in the year of the deduction does not exceed €200,000.
- § 3 No. 72 EStG
- Tax exemption for income from certain PV systems. For such tax-exempt systems an IAB is generally not possible.
- IAB investor lead
- Enquiry from a business owner, freelancer or self-employed person about a PV or storage investment planned with the IAB, including their answers to the prequalification questions.
- Exclusive lead
- A contact that only one provider receives. With campaigns in your own ad account, every lead is exclusive by design.
- Ad account
- The Meta advertising account in which campaigns run and budget is billed. Whoever owns it keeps the campaign history and data.
- Prequalification
- Questions in the lead form, and optionally a short call, that sort out unsuitable enquiries before your sales team spends time on them.
- § 34f GewO
- German trade regulation licence required for brokering or advising on certain financial investments. Its requirements are the responsibility of the provider and its sales team.
Questions IAB providers ask us
Can you run campaigns in English and German?
Yes. We run German and English campaigns side by side, each with its own ads, form and prequalification questions. Most business owners in Germany are best reached in German; English campaigns make sense for English-speaking entrepreneurs in Germany. Tax statements have to be approved by you in both languages.
Who owns the ad account?
You do. Campaigns run in your own Meta ad account, you pay the ad budget directly to Meta, and the form and all contacts belong to you. If we stop working together, campaigns, audiences and data stay with you.
Do you develop your own energy projects?
No. Nextmove Digital is a marketing agency only. We do not develop, sell or broker solar, storage or other investment projects, so we are never in competition with our clients for the same investors.
Do you give tax advice on the IAB?
No. We explain the basics of § 7g EStG so that ads and forms are correct, but whether an IAB is possible for a specific investor is decided by that investor and their tax advisor. Tax statements in ads are written or approved by you and your tax advisor.
Can every solar investment be combined with the IAB?
No. The IAB requires among other things a profit of no more than €200,000 in the year of the deduction, business use and an investment within three years. For PV systems whose income is tax-exempt under § 3 No. 72 EStG, an IAB is generally not possible according to the tax authorities and case law. The individual case decides.
Do you have results from IAB campaigns?
We have run campaigns and ad videos for IAB offers, but we do not publish their results without the client’s approval. Published figures come from real-estate investor campaigns: for CD Immo Portfolio just under 400 investor leads at around €15 ad cost per lead on average, for Cacasa Immobilien 122 investor leads in 82 days at around €20. These are not IAB figures.
Who calls the leads?
By default your own sales team, which receives every enquiry as soon as it comes in. Telephone prequalification or appointment setting by Nextmove can be added as an option, with scope and price agreed in advance. We do not check creditworthiness and do not advise investors.
What does IAB lead generation cost?
You pay the ad budget directly to Meta and a management fee to us, which is set in the strategy call. We have not yet published cost ranges for IAB campaigns. In documented real-estate investor campaigns, pure ad costs were between around €7 and €30 per lead; these figures cannot simply be transferred to IAB offers.
Selling IAB solar or storage investments?
In a free strategy call we go through your offer, your target group and your sales process and tell you openly whether Meta campaigns fit.
Sources
- § 7g EStG – Investitionsabzugsbeträge und Sonderabschreibungen
Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de
- § 3 EStG (No. 72: tax exemption for certain PV systems)
Federal Ministry of Justice, gesetze-im-internet.de
Legal summary as of 1 November 2026, for orientation only and not tax advice. Please have the individual case checked by a tax advisor.
Nextmove Digital is a marketing agency and does not provide investment, tax, legal or brokerage services. Details entered in forms are self-reported. No promise regarding tax effects, returns or sales figures.