BERLIN/MAINZ (dpa-AFX) – Due to the slow receipt of the new property tax returns by the tax authorities, the submission deadline for this nationwide will be extended once until the end of January 2023. The state finance ministers have agreed on this, as the chairwoman of the finance ministers’ conference, Doris Ahnen (SPD), announced on Thursday. The deadline was originally supposed to expire at the end of October. “We are reacting to the fact that citizens need more time to submit their declarations,” explained Ahnen, who is Finance Minister in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner welcomed the decision. The extension gives taxpayers, financial authorities and tax consultants breathing space, said the FDP leader in Washington on the fringes of the International Monetary Fund meeting. “At the moment there are other concerns and tasks that we have to deal with as a priority.”
Owners of land, houses and apartments have been able to submit declarations online since July 1st. A week ago it was said that not even every third house and apartment owner had already done so. Lindner therefore advocated extending the submission deadline by several months. The decision was up to the states. The “Handelsblatt” reported about it first.
Bavaria’s Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) said that the extension would significantly relieve the burden on citizens, business and tax consultants. Hesse’s head of department Michael Boddenberg (CDU) reminded that the property tax is an important source of income for the municipalities. 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 Finance Minister from Baden-Württemberg, Danyal Bayaz (Greens): “The citizens now have a little more time, but they should use it now.”
Criticism came from the SME and Economic Union (MIT). “A three-month extension of the deadline is not enough,” said its chairwoman Gitta Connemann. Many citizens are overwhelmed or unsure. “Because up to now it has been the case that those who have declared themselves are liable. That is why it must be possible to correct the complex information afterwards.” The notices would have to be issued subject to review.
From 2025, the new property tax calculation should 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. Almost 36 million properties now have to be revalued for the recalculation.
The tax authorities need data from all owners, even if they only own an allotment. 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. Even before the start, experts warned that it could go wrong because it was too complicated. Shortly after the start, there were technical difficulties: “Elster” was temporarily paralyzed because many citizens wanted to call up the property tax page at the same time. The official tax language in the declarations does not make things easier either.
Property tax is one of the most important sources of income for municipalities. It is an annual tax on the ownership of land and buildings – but a landlord can also pass it on to the tenants via the utility bill. For most apartment owners, it is a few hundred euros a year, but for owners of apartment buildings it is often four-digit amounts.
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./sk/DP/stw