New property tax from 2025: It will be that expensive for Lower Saxony!

New property tax from 2025: It will be that expensive for Lower Saxony!

From January 1, 2025, a comprehensive reform of property tax will come into force in Lower Saxony. Property owners have to adapt to changed tax claims, since the calculation method deviates from previous practice. The cities of Hanover, Braunschweig, Göttingen, Oldenburg and Osnabrück will send the new notices in January 2025.

The reform based on the area-layer model takes into account the area of the property and its location and thus deviates from the nationwide model, which includes the property value. The Ministry of Finance in Lower Saxony confirms that the new calculation method should be less complex and easier to understand.

Details on property tax reform

According to the new regulations, property tax will only be charged according to the new law from 2025. Property owners had to make an explanation of their property at the tax office by January 31, 2023. Informative letters were sent to those affected in May and June 2022. In order to support the reassessment of the land, the property tax viewer offers a map display.

The property tax remains an important source of income for the municipalities in Lower Saxony. In 2023, the tax revenue for buildable and built -up land in Lower Saxony was around 1.5 billion euros. The tax offices will send two notices to property owners: one via the property tax equivalence amounts on January 1, 2022 and one via the property tax measurement amount from January 1, 2025.

Despite the introduction of the new calculation method, no additional money may be taken according to the law. Some municipalities have already increased tax due to tense budget situations. The federal government of taxpayers in Lower Saxony also calls for the introduction of a transparency register for property tax rates, since in contrast to other federal states, Lower Saxony does not yet have such a register. Overall, however, the new property tax is said to be new, even if there can be stress shifts.

The new regulation is necessary to achieve a fair taxation of the property after the Federal Constitutional Court declared the previous taxation as unconstitutional. In contrast to the federal model, the area-layer model requires only a main determination for around 3.5 million plots in Lower Saxony, while the nationwide regulation provides for regular main festivals every seven years.