Property tax return: How to extend the filing deadline

January 31 is the deadline for submitting the property tax return.

Each federal state sanctions omissions differently.

An overview.

Munich – In just a few days – on January 31st – the deadline for submitting property tax returns will expire.

Things are getting tight for many owners: So far, only a little more than half of the owners have submitted their property tax returns.

If you can no longer make the deadline and want to be on the safe side, you can apply for an extension of the deadline.

What defaulting owners must now consider:

Property tax return: Apply for an extension of the deadline

Since the deadline is January 31, the application for an extension of the deadline should be submitted as soon as possible - this works, among other things, via the online platform Elster or by letter to the tax office.

The application for an extension of the deadline for the basic acid declaration must contain the following information:

• name and address

• Tax number of the property (can be found e.g. in the last property tax assessment)

• New deadline

• Reason for the extension of the deadline (e.g. missing documents, illness or stay abroad)

• Request to the tax office to send a confirmation of the extension

Jana Bauer, deputy managing director at the Bundesverband Lohnsteuerhilfevereine (BVL), told

: "The reason for the failure to meet the deadline must be valid and excusable."

Property tax return: No penalties for the time being if you fail to do so

But what happens if the deadline is missed without requesting an extension?

Owner representatives had originally warned that defaulting owners would have to reckon with a late payment surcharge of 25 euros per month and a fine of 25,000 euros.

However, according to a current survey by the Finanztip advice portal, that will probably not happen yet with the tax authorities of all 16 federal states.

14 federal states want to send a reminder letter first.

"It is appealed to the insight and moderate behavior of the tax offices mentioned," said tax expert Jörg Leine from

.

How the individual federal states react to omissions

According to the query, this is how the individual federal states behave towards owners who have not submitted their property tax return by January 31:

• According to the financial tip , Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Lower Saxony

  and

  Rhineland-Palatinate

  initially want to send reminders;

  after that, according to the respective financial authorities, surcharges for delays and penalties could be imposed.

• In

  Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein

  and

  Thuringia

  , taxpayers are to be reminded in a letter to submit their property tax return.

  In these federal states, it is not clear when delay surcharges or other measures will occur, as Finanztip explained.

• In

  Bavaria

  , according to the query, the tax offices can grant extensions of deadlines in justified individual cases - and only on request.

  Late surcharges and other measures are possible, but the duration of the submission deadline and the new property tax procedure are taken into account.

• According to the information, Hamburg

  has not yet decided how to proceed after January 31.

  A late surcharge can be set according to the financial tip.

  In any case, a fine will only be announced in a letter.

Can owners now sit back and wait?

Rather no.

Tax expert Leine nevertheless advised submitting the property tax return “as soon as possible”.

"Because at some point the tax office will resort to the last resort if the property tax return has still not been submitted." And that is the estimate of the property tax value, which decisively determines the amount of the property tax.

“An estimate by the tax office has never been beneficial for taxpayers.

Here it means more property tax than necessary and that for many years to come,” Leine warned.

Property tax reform: State should not increase revenue

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 reform of the property tax should retain the principle that the valuation is based on the value of a property.

According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, some taxpayers will have to pay more real estate tax, others less.

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

With material from the AFP