Property owners must submit their property tax returns by January 31st. About 45 percent of the explanations are still missing. Meanwhile, criticism of the reform is growing. The taxpayers’ association wants to bring property tax to the Federal Constitutional Court.
A few days before the deadline for submitting the new property tax return, criticism of the reform is growing. “The deadline for submitting the property tax return must be extended,” demanded Union parliamentary group leader Ulrich Lange (CSU) in the “Bild” (Saturday). “Nor can it be that citizens and companies are patronized, but the federal government gets an extra sausage for its own properties in September.” In an answer to a question from a CDU member of the Bundestag, the Ministry of Finance had admitted that all declarations for federal properties could only be made by the end of September.
Criticism also comes from the taxpayers’ association. President Reiner Holznagel told the newspaper that it was obvious that the new tax would not work that way, contained many injustices and would ultimately lead to significant additional burdens. “That’s why we will bring the new property tax in almost all federal states to the Federal Constitutional Court,” announced Holznagel. The taxpayers’ association is pursuing this project together with the real estate owners’ association “Haus und Grund”. Its President Kai Warnecke said: “The property tax is far too complicated, non-transparent and unfair.”
The German Tenants’ Association, in turn, demanded that the property tax no longer be passed on to the tenants via the utility bill. Federal Director Melanie Weber-Moritz told the “Bild”: “The property tax is a tax on the ownership of land and buildings, so these costs must be borne by landlords.”
Due to the real estate tax reform passed in 2019, new methods for calculating the tax will take effect from 2025. The tax offices are recording a considerable amount of work due to the new declarations, while many landowners cannot cope with the forms. Because of the sluggish submission, the Federal Ministry of Finance had already extended the submission deadline by three months from the end of October to the end of January.
