Property tax return: These fines threaten if owners miss the deadline

Created: 12/19/2022, 12:32 p.m

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

Owners have until the end of January to submit their property tax returns.

If you miss the deadline, you run the risk of having to pay a lot more.

Berlin – The time has come on January 31, 2023: Then the deadline for the property tax return, which all owners in Germany must submit, ends.

An expert warns that those who miss the deadline not only have to expect fines.

Why do property owners have to file a property tax return?

The tax authorities need data from all owners by the end of January, even if they only own an allotment garden.

Usually it is about the plot and living space, the type of building, years of construction and the so-called land value, which must be uploaded in a kind of additional tax return via the "Elster" tax software or a portal of the Ministry of Finance. 

Almost 36 million properties have to be revalued for the recalculation.

From 2025, the new property tax calculation should then apply.

The Federal Constitutional Court had demanded this, because the tax offices recently calculated the value of a property on the basis of completely outdated data, from 1935 in East Germany and from 1964 in West Germany.

How much property tax the individual owners will actually have to pay from 2025 will remain open for a while.

Because that depends crucially on the so-called assessment rates of the municipalities.

Could the deadline be extended again?

According to the current status, the property tax return must be submitted by January 31 - October 31, 2022 was originally planned as the deadline.

But after few property tax returns were filed and numerous complaints about unnecessary complexity, the deadline was extended to the end of January 2023.

It is unclear whether there will be a further extension.

Hesse's finance minister, Michael Boddenberg (CDU), recalled in October, however, that property tax is an important source of income for local authorities.

He therefore asks everyone to submit the declaration as quickly as possible.

“The declaration must be made, and a longer period of time will not change that.” A similar appeal was made by the Minister of Finance from Baden-Württemberg, Danyal Bayaz (Greens): “The citizens now have a little more time, but they should now to use."

Anyone who misses the deadline when submitting the property tax return must expect fines.

(Archive image) © IMAGO / MiS

Property tax deadline missed: These fines are imminent

Anyone who misses the deadline must expect fines.

Because the same rules apply to the property tax return as to an income tax return, said Jana Bauer from the Federal Association of Wage Tax Assistance Associations (BVL) of the

.

This means that the tax offices could first send a reminder with a new deadline in the event of a late submission - but this is not mandatory.

The expert explains that fines and surcharges for delays then threaten.

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According to Bauer, the penalty payment will only be threatened in the course of a further fixed period for submitting the property tax return.

If no payment is made after this period, the penalty payment will be assessed.

According to the

, this is usually between 25 and 250 euros – or more.

In the worst case, fines of up to 25,000 euros could be due.

According to Bauer, the late surcharge amounts to 0.25 percent of the assessed tax, but at least 25 euros for each month or part thereof after the deadline has expired.

Property tax: The tax office can also make estimates

In addition, the tax office can make an estimate when calculating the property tax if the data is not submitted by the owner.

The problem: This estimate is usually disadvantageous for the owner, since the tax offices would round generously, according to Bauer of the

.

In addition, the owners are still obliged to submit a declaration – usually within a period of about four weeks after the appraisal notice has been issued.

This means for owners: Even after the deadline, you cannot avoid having to submit your property tax return - but you may still have to pay fines and have to accept disadvantageous estimates.

It is therefore worth submitting the property tax return within the set deadline.

Anyone who does not make it by the deadline can apply for an extension of the deadline - but this must be sufficiently justified for the authorities.

With material from the dpa