What happens if I don’t submit the property tax return?

Owners still have a good month and a half to submit the unpopular property tax return. The previous deadline expires on October 31. 36 million properties have to be revalued in Germany. The tax offices are already working at full speed – at least on the declarations that have already been received.

So far, however, there are not very many. Only 18 percent of tax returns were submitted nationwide – 6.19 million electronically via the Elster tax portal and 583,615 on paper. After all, those who have submitted can usually count on rapid processing. This shows the survey by Capital among all 16 finance ministries of the countries. The tax authorities have already issued a total of 230,000 assessments of the so-called property tax value and sent them to the property owners.

The property tax value forms the basis for calculating the property tax and largely determines how much property owners will have to pay from January 2025. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the tax authorities issued almost 125,000 assessments of property tax values. This means that eleven percent of the 1.15 million tax returns received so far have been processed there. In other federal states such as Saxony-Anhalt and Hamburg, owners have not yet received any mail.

Will the submission deadline be extended?

Critics doubt that all taxpayers will have submitted their declarations by the end of October. Even before the reform began, associations were therefore demanding an extension of the deadline. The Association of Taxpayers and the Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors are still sticking to this demand.

With Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), they are increasingly finding open ears. “You may have to reserve the right to do something about the deadlines again,” he said a few weeks ago. However, the federal states are responsible. In Baden-Württemberg it is already clear that there will probably be a postponement, with a reminder in early 2023.

A response from the Bavarian State Tax Office, which coordinates the Elster tax portal nationwide, also suggests that other states could go along with this: “We ask for your understanding that – also because we are currently still exchanging information on this nationwide procedural issue – the details of the Reminder procedures, such as possible dispatch times and deadlines, have not yet been conclusively regulated.”

Regardless of whether the deadline is extended: Since the property tax laws are new law, it can be assumed that the tax authorities will first send reminders to the owners.

surcharge and fine

In principle, taxpayers who cannot submit a tax return on time must ask the responsible tax office for an extension. However, the responsible clerk decides whether the application will be granted. According to the Bavarian State Tax Office, there should only be a personal extension of the deadline for individual owners in the case of property tax “in justified cases”.

Tax offices have various options for sanctioning missing or incorrect tax returns: In the event of incorrect information or a complete lack of tax return, the tax offices can impose a late tax surcharge on defaulting taxpayers. This is often several hundred euros. If there is still nothing, they can also impose a fine.

“The tax authorities always check the appropriateness and proportionality of their measures in individual cases,” says the Bavarian State Office for Taxes. “Of course, they also take into account the duration of the submission deadline and the fact that the property tax is a new law.” These statements suggest that the tax offices will initially react in a rather accommodating manner.

Anyone who categorically refuses to submit a declaration or provides false information must expect an estimate from the tax office. This is the ultima ratio of the authorities. As a rule, the estimate is to the detriment of the property owner, because the tax office applies the property value rather generously.

This article first appeared on Capital.de