Wave of lawsuits against property tax: What does this mean for owners?
Created: 09/12/2022, 15:05
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
Several associations in Baden-Württemberg support a model lawsuit against the property tax reform in the state.
The starting points.
Stuttgart – The property tax reform is encountering increasing resistance, especially in Baden-Württemberg.
All property owners in Germany must submit a property tax return by the end of January, on the basis of which the new property tax will be calculated.
The real estate tax is calculated differently depending on the federal state.
Baden-Württemberg's model met with particularly severe criticism.
Several associations have now registered constitutional concerns about the property tax reform in the southwest.
Associations support model lawsuit against property tax reform in Baden-Württemberg
Four associations, including the Baden-Württemberg Taxpayers' Association and the Haus & Grund owners' association, demanded on Thursday that the tax authorities should initially only issue preliminary property tax assessments.
Fundamental questions are still unresolved - for example, whether the current issuance of real estate tax assessments, without the assessment rates of the respective municipalities being known, is unconstitutional.
According to their own statements, the associations support the lawsuit of a married couple.
This stands for a pattern that affects many owners.
A corresponding lawsuit was received by the Baden-Württemberg Finance Court on Thursday, a spokeswoman said.
A lawsuit was to be expected, said a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department.
Such lawsuits have also been announced in other federal states.
The state has obtained legal expertise for its state property tax law in advance and continues to assume that the model is legal.
Preliminary property tax assessments are not provided.
Lawsuit against property tax: What it means for owners
On the other hand, the four associations recommend that owners in Baden-Württemberg file an objection to their property tax assessment and apply for the procedure to be suspended as soon as they receive it.
However, it is not advisable to refrain from submitting the property tax return or to delay it beyond the deadline at the end of January, as this could result in penalties.
It is also worth taking a second look at the property tax assessment notice outside of Baden-Württemberg.
Constitutional lawyer Gregor Kirchhof, holder of the chair for public law, financial law and tax law at the University of Augsburg, told
focus.de
that he considers the federal model and the model in Baden-Württemberg to be unconstitutional.
He advises affected owners to "raise objections to the property tax assessment within the deadlines and then sue".
He was “aware that this affects a large number of cases.
But it's not about not paying property tax.
The assessment of taxes must be realistic and correspond to the principle of ability to pay.
There is still time to correct the tax laws,” said Kirchhof.
With material from the dpa
