Be careful with the property tax declaration: Four mistakes can quickly become very expensive
Created: 09/29/2022, 05:05
By: Nicholas Kirk
Owners must submit their property tax returns by October 31, 2022 © Oliver Berg/dpa
In order to implement the property tax reform, property tax returns are due by the end of October.
Particularly expensive mistakes should be avoided.
Kassel – The deadline is October 31, 2022, by which time owners of land, houses and apartments nationwide are called upon to submit their property tax returns.
This is necessary in order to implement a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court from 2018.
In order to avoid expensive mistakes, there are a few things to keep in mind when explaining.
The court has declared the current system to be unconstitutional because it treats similar properties differently and thus violates the principle of equal treatment enshrined in the Basic Law.
In 2019, the legislator complied with the obligation to find a new regulation, whereby the property tax will be levied according to the old model until the end of 2024.
The required property tax return sets the course for levying property tax in accordance with the new law from 2025 and for completing the tax reform.
Property tax return: Necessary reform by judgment of the Constitutional Court
Since the owners are now being asked to implement it, many people are currently having to deal with the declaration.
In order to determine the value from which the local authorities determine the real estate tax, adding their own assessment rate, the following information is typically required:
land area
property type
age of the building
living/usable area
Standard land value, depending on the determination of the federal state
Property tax return: Missing the deadline and providing false information can be expensive
The preparation of the declaration and the determination of the data can sometimes prove to be complex.
The owners always play the leading role, because: "Incorrect data falls on the owner's toes," Holger Freitag from the Association of Private Builders (vpb) is quoted as saying by
Focus Online
.
You should therefore avoid these four mistakes when filing property tax returns:
Error:
Disregard deadline of January 1, 2022 for your information
Error:
Provide outdated information on the standard land value
Mistake:
Missing the deadline
Mistake:
Wrong calculation of living and usable areas
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To ensure that they do not provide outdated information on the parameters in the declaration, owners must take
the key date of January 1, 2022 into account
for their declaration .
This key date results from a declaration by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
This means that everyone who is or was the owner of a property at the time must submit a property tax return – even if this is no longer the case.
The key date also applies to the information: If data has changed since then, this does not have to be taken into account.
Avoid common mistakes in property tax returns
The
standard land value
is the value for one square meter of undeveloped land in the respective municipality and is used, among other things, as a parameter for the valuation of real estate.
In order to state this correctly, owners should ensure that the current values are taken into account.
These can be called up online from the relevant land value information systems (BORIS) of the federal states.
If, even if unintentionally,
outdated information is provided on the standard land value
, there is a risk of proceedings for tax evasion.
Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hamburg are not affected by the independent indication of the standard land value, because here the value plays no role in the property tax return.
In Hesse and Lower Saxony, the value is obtained from the tax authorities.
Property tax return: note the submission deadline and the correct basis for calculation
Those affected should also refrain from
delaying the delivery
or even ignoring the delivery.
Here, too, there is a risk of additional costs if the obligations are not met.
In a press release, the Association of Private Builders refers to the risk of official estimates in the event of a delay, which can have a negative impact on owners.
You also have the option of asking the responsible tax office for an extension of the deadline.
However, there is no legal entitlement to this – the decision is up to the employees of the authority.
Since the living space makes up a significant proportion of the valuation, it is worth taking a close look beforehand at how the living space is calculated.
Information about what is living space and what is usable space in your property
can be derived, for example, from purchase contracts or building documents.
For legal security, the information on the calculation of living and usable space should be used, which results from the Federal Living Space Ordinance (WoFIV).
(nki)