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Residential estate: Parcels with standard land values
Photo: Jens Büttner / dpa
Many property owners are still struggling with submitting the declaration of assessment for the new property tax.
As a spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Finance announced on Monday in Berlin, only just under 18 percent of the declarations have been made so far.
6.2 million forms were filled out online, around 584,000 declarations were received in paper form.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is open to a possible extension of the deadline in order to give the owners of the real estate more time.
But the countries are responsible.
If there were to be an extension, it would be desirable for the countries to agree on a "common deadline," said the spokeswoman.
From 2025, a new property tax calculation is to apply.
To do this, almost 36 million properties in Germany have to be revalued.
This is done on the basis of information that all owners must submit - the tax authorities have been receiving the data since July 1st.
In mid-July, technical difficulties arose with »Elster«.
The control platform was temporarily unavailable.
Several associations and some state politicians then called for an extension of the submission deadline, which normally ends on October 31st.
Landowners also repeatedly report that authorities from whom they have to obtain information for the declaration are slow to react and overburdened.
"Especially older homeowners overwhelmed"
"The reform of the property tax is a bureaucratic monster that overwhelms older homeowners and apartment owners in particular," criticized the Association of German Property Users.
In addition, the municipalities would have to significantly reduce the assessment rates that influence the amount of property tax by 2024 at the latest, since people who live in their own homes would otherwise have to pay much more than they do today.
The previous rules for collecting property tax were overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2018.
They were based on figures from the beginning of the previous century.
mamk/dpa-AFX
