Gradually, more and more property owners are receiving property tax assessments.
Many are threatened with an increase – sometimes to an enormous extent.
Stuttgart – The German tax authorities have a lot of work to do in the coming months.
In addition to the regular processing of property tax assessments, a flood of objections is now also waiting.
So far, 1.3 million objections have been received against property tax assessment notices, reported the magazine
Plusminus
of Saarland Radio, citing estimates by the German Tax Union (DStG).
Its chairman, Florian Köbler, called for all notifications to be provided with a provisional note.
Property tax: tax offices threaten "objection tsunami"
In this context, Köbler spoke of an "objection tsunami".
Each tax office received an average of 50 to 70 objections a day, he told
Plusminus.
This is “an incredible amount of work” for the colleagues.
For the processing of the objections, auditors and tax investigators often have to be assigned.
Many of the property tax assessment notices that have been sent out so far show increased amounts, in some cases sharply, because the standard land values have been adjusted to the price development of the last few decades.
However, the notices do not yet allow any conclusions to be drawn about the specific tax burden to be expected from 2025, because the municipalities have to redefine the so-called assessment rates.
According to official announcements, the reform is intended to be revenue-neutral, but there are fears that in many cases there could actually be significantly higher charges.
Property tax: Pensioners should pay 14 times as much
And property owners are already receiving the first notifications with enormously high property tax requirements.
So does the pensioner Rolf Hanstein from Stuttgart.
In the future he should pay 14 times as much as before, he
tells
bild.de.
The 74-year-old lives in a 210 square meter house with a 420 square meter garden.
The tax office now wants 3770 euros in property tax for this.
"That's as much as I'll get in pension in two months.
That's not possible.” Previously, Hanstein only had to pay 269 euros per year.
Background to this increase: Hanstein's entire property was calculated as building land.
But the garden will probably never be built on.
His property was planned about 90 years ago so that poor people could grow vegetables there.
Therefore, the pensioner has now lodged an objection.
(ph/dpa)
List of rubrics: © Andreas Gebert/dpa
