Property Tax Reform - An Overview

Assessment begins for New Property taxes from 1st January 2025 onwards.

From 1st January 2025, every property owner in Germany will have to pay property tax according to a new assessment basis. As the value of land and buildings calculated by the tax offices has so far been based on outdated values, the Federal Constitutional Court demanded this reorganization. Accordingly, the Bundestag and Bundesrat passed a property tax reform in 2019, according to which around 36 million properties including agricultural and forestry areas in Germany will now be revalued. This also includes part ownership, such as apartments or commercial units.

Property Tax Reform

Starting 1st July 2022 the data required for the assessment basis will be collected via the electronic Elster platform in the form of an assessment declaration. The assessment declaration must be submitted electronically for each property to the associated tax authority latest by 31st October 2022. In some regions, it is also possible to submit the declaration in paper form. The submission of the data is mandatory by law however in some federal states, such as Berlin, the individual owners are not directly informed – only the tax advisers and the house managements. It may also be possible to penalize anyone who fails to submit the assessment declaration on time or who cannot provide a good reason for an extension of the deadline. The basis for the revaluation is the value as of 1st January 2022.

Property owners should first compile the necessary information about their property or land. Subsequently, as of 1st July 2025, you will be able to submit the necessary data about yourself and the real estate/property you own to the relevant tax office by using the electronic Elster form.

TRUST-AGN Holding supports you with the property tax reform

In the event that you do not have a corresponding certificate for the use of the Elster form and do not wish to apply for one, we, TRUST-AGN Holding GmbH, as a real estate and property manager, can transmit this declaration to the tax office on your behalf.

* For more information on this topic or if you would like us to act on your behalf, please contact us directly at: property-tax@trust-agn.com

If you have commissioned us with the transmission of the assessment declaration to the responsible tax office, you will receive the corresponding transmission protocols from us by email after the data transfer has been completed. Later, if not sent directly to you by the tax authorities, also the notices from the tax office, provided we are your authorized recipient.

On the basis of the submitted assessment declaration, the tax office issues the following two notices:

• The real estate tax assessment notice as of 1st January 2022.
• The real property tax assessment notice as of 1st January 2025.

The city or municipality sets the property tax on the basis of the property tax assessment notice. It is only this property tax assessment that creates a payment obligation for you vis-à-vis the city or municipality as of 1st January 2025.

We can check the notices when commissioned (with appeals if necessary), but this is not necessary if all the necessary data and information has been properly submitted.

* For more information on this topic or other services from our company, please feel free to contact us directly at: info@trust-agn.com

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