Erfurt (dpa/th) – The deadline for submitting property tax returns has been extended to January 31 next year. The Federal Ministry of Finance and the heads of the state departments agreed on this on Thursday in Berlin, as announced by the Thuringian Ministry of Finance in Erfurt. Originally, the owners of real estate and land should have submitted the statement by October 31.
By Thursday, 431,433 declarations had been made in the Thuringian tax offices, which corresponded to a rate of 34.8 percent, according to the ministry.
“Unfortunately, the current loss of time is at the expense of municipal preparations for property tax collection from 2025,” said Finance Minister Heike Taubert (SPD) according to the announcement. She appealed to owners and their tax advisors to submit their declaration as soon as possible despite the extension period. The property tax will continue to be important as a source of income to finance kindergartens, road construction, culture and sports facilities. Taubert had spoken out against extending the deadline last week.
For the real estate tax reform, it is essential that the tax offices have a sufficient number of declarations at an early stage. Only in this way can the revaluation of a total of 1.25 million properties and land in Thuringia be managed in a timely manner. This ensures that the municipalities have enough time to set the new assessment rates and to send the new property tax assessments in good time.