Property tax reform causes unrest: thousands of contradictions in Brandenburg!

In the Havelland, over 10,000 objections to the Nauen tax office have accumulated against property tax notices by December 31, 2023. There are also about 6,000 objections to new property tax notices. Brandenburg has received a total of over 200,000 objections to property tax and property tax notices. The recalculation of property tax is intended to update outdated unit values, which were last adapted to West Germany in 1964 and in 1935 in East Germany. This reform is aimed at a fairer and more transparent taxation after the Federal Constitutional Court 2018 declared the old evaluation method for unconstitutional

The legal remedy rate on November 30, 2024 was around 14 percent. On January 1, 2025, the property tax is charged on the basis of the new law. By the end of November 2024, around 176,500 appeals against property tax value and around 103,500 against property tax notices were pending in Brandenburg. Alfred Trogisch from Stölln reports on sleep problems due to the situation and has been waiting for an answer from the tax office since February 2023. So far there is no sample procedure that has been decided in favor of the citizens. Contradictions do not influence the issuance of the property tax assessment by the municipality.

contradictions and legal aspects

In Brandenburg, many people have become active and appeal against their property tax notices. The Ministry of Finance has announced that the procedures will be suspended if the objections question the constitutionality of the reform. More than 1 million property taxpayers in Brandenburg have submitted their property tax return, which corresponds to 81 percent of the requested declarations, but almost 19 percent are still missing. The tax authorities have already sent several hundred thousand new property tax notices.

The Federation of Taxpayers and the Haus & Grund owners' association have called for appeal, whereby they must have received the tax office within one month of receiving the decision. An expert opinion describes the federal property tax law as unconstitutional, while the Ministry of Finance in Brandenburg believes that the reform is constitutional and does not plan any deviations from the federal model. It is expected that the new property tax will come into force from January 2025 and a register will be published in summer 2024 to create transparency about the lifting rates.