Property tax reform in Lower Saxony
Different property tax for comparable properties in a similar location? This is unfair and will no longer be possible in the future. According to the judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court, the property tax must be newly regulated. The previous unit values, which have remained unchanged for decades, must be replaced by a new assessment basis from 2025.
Nationwide, various property tax laws will now apply from 2022, which will be used from 2025 for the calculation of property tax. Lower Saxony has deliberately opted for a very simple property tax model (property tax B – real estate) in the interests of taxpayers. Nevertheless, as the owner, you must provide some information in your property tax return, because some of these are not up-to-date and not complete to your tax office.
This must happen as early as July 2022, because the necessary steps from the revaluation of all around 3.6 million properties in Lower Saxony to the determination of the new property tax for 2025 by the cities and municipalities will take time.
The property tax reform is to be carried out revenue-neutrally. This means that the total revenue from property tax in every city or municipality should neither increase nor decrease as a result of the reform. But individual property tax payments can change. Some owners will have to pay more property tax, others less. This is the inevitable consequence of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court and the unconstitutional uniform values. The property tax reform has the goal of a fairer property tax!
Every owner of a property is obliged to submit a declaration with the correct information electronically to the responsible tax office.
In Lower Saxony, you will only have to submit such a declaration once for the property tax. (Unlike only property tax A for agricultural and forestry businesses: every 7 years a declaration must be submitted. Here, federal law applies in all countries.)
For taxation from 2025, the value ratios of the land on the cut-off date of 1 January 2022 apply.
Please note: The property tax will be levied for the first time from 2025 according to the new regulations. Should there be changes to your property by then (e.g. due to sale, extension, demolition), the necessary adjustments will be made in the new and old law.
Old: Unit values
New: Property tax values / equivalent amounts
- In the period from 1 July 2022 to 31 January 2023, the declaration must be submitted to the competent tax office.
- The tax offices determine the basics on the basis of your tax return by the end of 2023 (so-called property tax assessment amount) and forward them to the municipalities.
- The actual determination of the property tax (property tax assessments) will then be carried out by the municipalities until the end of 2024.
- The new property tax will not be payable until January 2025.
Detailed information can be found on the website of the State Tax Office of Lower Saxony.
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
