Property owners only have until the end of January to submit their declarations.

Many millions still have to deliver.

As a survey by the German Press Agency among the countries showed, the rate of statements made so far is currently in a range of around 60 to around 70 percent.

Most of this was received electronically.

As of Thursday, around 65.5 percent of the declarations had been made nationwide, as a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance said.

About 56.9 percent were transmitted electronically, and an estimated 8.6 percent were received on paper.

There has obviously been a sharp increase in returns in the past few days, as it was said in Berlin, for example.

A spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Finance said that experience has shown that deadlines are often used as far as possible.

In mid-October, the federal states had extended the submission deadline from the end of October to the end of January 2023 due to the slow receipt of the new property tax returns from the tax authorities.

No further extension of the deadline is possible

There is no further extension of the deadline.

Lower Saxony's Finance Minister Gerald Heere (Greens), for example, said that this was not possible.

The tax authorities must evaluate the majority of the properties by the end of 2023 so that the municipalities have the necessary basis for collecting property taxes from 2025 in good time.

The NRW Ministry of Finance said that if the submission deadline were to be extended, the property tax revenue of the cities and municipalities by January 1, 2025 would be at risk.

For the tax offices, the time still available to determine the property tax values ​​is tight.

"The fact is that the financial administration is at its limit because of the property tax reform and the relief packages," said Florian Köbler, Federal Chairman of the German Tax Union.

"Any non-declaration creates extra work and keeps staff from doing what they are supposed to be doing: ensuring tax justice and a level playing field."

late payment penalties and penalties

When the deadline expires, the tax offices will first send out reminders, as the Schleswig-Holstein Finance Minister Monika Heinold (Greens) said.

The tax authorities then also have the option of levying surcharges for delays and penalties and making estimates.

The Bavarian Ministry of Finance stated that the tax authorities would take into account late payment surcharges or, ultimately, estimates that property tax was a "new law".

The Association of Taxpayers explained that every citizen can apply for an extension, including justification, individually from their tax office.

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 land and living space, the type of building, years of construction and the so-called standard land value.

Important source of income for municipalities

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, for owners of apartment buildings, on the other hand, 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.

The "music" in the property tax plays in the municipalities, said Köbler.

"In this context, I would like to remind you of the promises made by the municipalities that there should be no serious additional burdens for the citizens as part of the property tax reform."

Land, house and apartment owners have been able to submit the declaration online since July 1, 2022.

Technical difficulties arose shortly after the start: the “Elster” tax software 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.

Association of Taxpayers complains about complexity

The taxpayers' association criticized the new property tax as being very complicated.

"Because the required information depends on the property tax model of the federal states, a confusion was announced early on: Usually it is about parcel numbers, official areas, community names, district numbers, standard land values ​​and the size of the living space.

Right from the start, the owners were threatened with an XXL bureaucracy.”

Sibylle Barent, head of tax and financial policy at the Haus & Grund owners' association, spoke of a "communication and technology disaster".

“It would have been important not to unnecessarily burden the taxpayer with piecing together information that the authorities already have for the most part.

One should learn from this for future surveys.” Late surcharges and reminders should be used generously.

"Anything else would be unfair to the citizens." According to Barent, many owners have never had to deal with property tax or have not had to do so for a long time.

She expects property tax values ​​to often rise significantly.