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Error in property tax declaration: woman has to go to court

2023-02-19T07:56:38.237Z


Three quarters of the owners in Germany had already submitted their property tax returns by January 31st. Criminal proceedings have now been initiated in Saarland because of an incorrect declaration. 


Three quarters of the owners in Germany had already submitted their property tax returns by January 31st.

Criminal proceedings have now been initiated in Saarland because of an incorrect declaration. 

Saarbrücken – The deadline for submitting property tax returns was January 31 – except in Bavaria.

Nationwide, around three quarters of property owners submitted their property tax returns as of February 1st.

According to a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance, around 64.72 percent of the declarations were sent electronically nationwide by the end of January, and an estimated 9.82 percent were received on paper.

The rate is 74.54 percent.

In the past few days, the number of statements made has increased noticeably. 

Property tax declaration: Owners find it difficult to fill out the forms

As part of the property tax reform, all property owners in Germany must submit a property tax return.

This is a kind of second tax return for all owners of apartments, houses or land and should ideally be submitted online via the Elster portal.

In many federal states, declarations on paper may only be made on application.

Owners reported problems when filling out the forms in the Elster portal and complicated formulations in official German.

A hotline employee who answers questions about property tax for the tax office in North Rhine-Westphalia told Der

Spiegel

in the summer of older callers who had cried on the phone.

The reason: You didn't even understand the information letter, which is actually supposed to help with the submission of the declaration.

Woman from Saarland in court for incorrect property tax declaration

But what happens if minor and major mistakes are made in the property tax return?

In the worst case, it can also happen to the owners that criminal proceedings are instituted against them: this is happening in the case of a social worker from Saarbrücken in Saarland, as the

Saarbrücker Zeitung

reports.

The accusation: You tried to reduce the property tax with incorrect information in your property tax return.

The woman had therefore applied for an exemption from property tax for the property she used herself in the online form.

Although the woman apologized for the mistake and asked for corrections, according to her lawyer, she was summoned, the newspaper further reported.

The Ministry of Finance did not want to give the

Saarbrücker Zeitung

any information because it was an ongoing process.

However, it also emphasized to the newspaper that criminal proceedings would only be initiated if there was a suspicion of “deliberate intention to deceive”.

It remains to be seen whether there will be further proceedings nationwide.

From 2025 new property tax calculation should apply

The background to the property tax reform is a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2018. Most recently, the tax authorities calculated the value of a property on the basis of completely outdated data, from 1935 in East Germany and from 1964 in West Germany.

The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that this was unconstitutional due to the unequal treatment of taxpayers.

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

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

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

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

(

With material from the dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-02-19

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