Dresden (dpa / sn) – The period for submitting property tax returns begins in July. The Saxon Ministry of Finance announced on Thursday in Dresden that all owners of land, condominiums and agricultural and forestry businesses as well as those entitled to leasehold buildings are obliged to submit a declaration to the tax authorities to determine the property tax value. The submission deadline is October 31 of this year.
“The tax offices are happy to support the owners. They can be reached by the citizens via specially set up hotlines and during property tax consultation hours,” explained Finance Minister Hartmut Vorjohann (CDU). In addition, a property tax website has been set up on which all information is bundled.
The property tax portal of the Free State starts parallel to the start of the submission period. This is where owners can find information for the so-called declaration of determination, such as the standard land value of a property or the yield indicator for land used for agriculture and forestry. The portal can be accessed via the property tax website www.grundsteuer.sachsen.de.
“The federal legislature has stipulated that the declaration of determination must always be submitted electronically. It is advisable to use the free portal “MeinELSTER” at www.elster.de for this purpose,” it said. Only in cases of hardship, such as when there is no technology or no internet access, can the declaration be made in paper form.
The tax offices in Saxony have to re-evaluate around two million properties and plots of land and issue corresponding notices. These are then the basis for the decisions of the municipalities on their so-called assessment rates. They determine the amount of the new property tax, which is due from January 1, 2025.
In February 2021, Saxony’s state parliament decided to reform the property tax. The basis for the new regulation was a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court of April 2018. According to this, the previous standard values, which had remained unchanged for decades, had to be replaced by new assessment bases. The states could make their own regulations, which Saxony made use of.
