Previous property tax assessment bases unconstitutional

After the judges of the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe ruled in 2018 on the property tax that its previous calculation was unconstitutional, but that the tax could in principle be retained, the legislature has reformed the property tax from 2025. Until 2025, the previous calculation bases will remain in place on a transitional basis.

Property tax reform: Obligation to file a property tax return until January 31, 2023

From July 1, 2022 until January 31, 2023, owners of real property throughout Germany have been obliged by public notice to submit an electronic declaration of assessment to the relevant tax office.

The following are obligated to submit a declaration of the property tax assessment amount:

• Owners of real property (this also includes condominiums)
• owners of an agricultural or forestry enterprise
• In the case of land encumbered with a heritable building right:
  The owner of the heritable building right, if applicable with the cooperation of the owner of the land (heritable building obligor)
• In the case of buildings on third-party land:
  Owners of the land, if applicable, with the cooperation of the owner of the building.

Important note: Supporting documents or documentation for the declaration do not need to be submitted. If documentation is required, the tax office will request it.

Additional Information: You can find more information on the Internet at grundsteuer.hessen.de.

Open Data

You can access selected data, such as information on your parcel of land from the real estate cadastre as of the cut-off date of January 1, 2022, free of charge via the Internet portal of the Hessian cadastral administration:

• for real estate assets at https://gds.hessen.de/webshop/Flurstuecksnachweis or
• for agricultural and forestry enterprises at https://gds.hessen.de/webshop/Grundsteuerauszug-LuF.

Support with your property tax return available!

We will be happy to assist you with the property tax return requirements for the real estate tax reform. Call us, send us an e-mail or make an appointment with our office today!