Property tax return Final sprint: What you should do now

Created: 01/04/2023, 16:40

By: Patricia Huber

The end of January is now the final deadline for the new property tax return.

Many have still not handed in - what needs to be done now.

Berlin – For the planned real estate tax reform, 36 million properties in Germany have to be revalued.

More than 16 million Germans have already made the necessary property tax return - but that's not even half of those who are obliged to do so.

The deadline expires at the end of January.

The declaration was actually due in October, but the complicated forms caused frustration for many owners.

Finally, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) decided to extend it.

You still haven't handed it in and the property tax only gives you question marks?

We clarify the most important questions:

Who has to submit the property tax return?

Owners of apartments, houses and land, including those in agriculture and forestry, are obliged to do so.

In what form do I have to submit the property tax return?

The declaration must be submitted to the tax office in electronic form.

A certificate is required for this transmission via the Elster portal, which is available free of charge at www.elster.de.

However, registration can take up to two weeks.

Relatives who are already registered with Elster can also submit the declaration.

For simple facts - undeveloped land, one- and two-family houses, condominiums - there is a simplified electronic transmission in eleven federal states at www.grundsteuererklaerung-fuer-privateigentum.de.

With the help of a questionnaire on the home page, you can quickly determine whether you can use this route.

The paper form is only intended for hardship cases - on application to the tax office.

What information is required?

In the simple form, i.e. the federal model, owners need the following data:

• land area

• Land register number (if available), district, corridor, parcel

• For condominiums: co-ownership share in the property

• Tax number/file number of the property (to be found on the letter of request for the declaration of assessment or in the last property tax notice)

• ground value

• Exact year of construction of the building (from a year of construction 1949)

• living space

• Number of garage parking spaces

• Contact details of the owners and their ownership interests

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Each federal state has documents and sources where this information can be found.

Eleven federal states have chosen the model proposed by the federal government – ​​Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse and Lower Saxony each have their own models.

What software can help?

Stiftung Warentest calls the Elster process “rather complicated”.

Programs can help, but they cost something.

Stiftung Warentest recommended Wiso property tax in September, while the testers rated Smartsteuer property tax as rather confusing and error-prone during the test period.

What happens if you don't submit the new property tax return?

If the property tax return is not submitted or submitted late, a surcharge may be imposed, warns the Haus & Grund Hessen owners’ association.

It is therefore 25 euros for each started month of delay.

In the event of non-delivery, the tax office can estimate the basis of taxation – the “worst case” for Haus & Grund.

Will owners pay more or less property tax in the future?

Some taxpayers will have to pay more real estate tax, others less, according to the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).

The reform should therefore be designed to be revenue-neutral for all taxpayers - the state should not increase its income with it.

Ultimately, it is up to the cities and municipalities, because they set the so-called assessment rate, a factor that influences the final amount of the property tax.

When will the new tax be due?

The property tax is to be recalculated on the basis of the new values ​​– it is to be paid from January 1, 2025.

The BMF expects autumn 2024, when the specific amount will be known for the majority of taxpayers.

Where does the tax go?

The income from the property tax goes to the cities and municipalities.

According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, it is currently almost 15 billion euros a year - the tax is one of the most important sources of income for the municipalities.

Why does it need reform at all?

The Federal Constitutional Court declared the current rating system unconstitutional in 2018 because similar properties are treated differently.

The previous calculation is based on property values ​​that are decades old - in the west they date from 1964, in the east from 1935. The principle that the valuation is based on the value of a property should be retained.