Erfurt (dpa/th) – Almost 375,000 property tax returns have so far been received by the tax offices in Thuringia. That is around 30 percent of the 1.25 million expected declarations, said Finance Minister Heike Taubert on Thursday in Erfurt. She was convinced that property owners would submit their declarations by the end of October, explaining her stance not to extend the deadline beyond this date. The SPD politician contradicted the Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).
According to his information, a quarter to a third of landowners nationwide have submitted their property tax returns. He therefore announced talks with the countries to possibly extend the deadline moderately. “I don’t have an appointment with Mr. Lindner in the calendar,” said Thuringia’s finance minister. The conference of finance ministers two weeks ago decided unanimously not to extend it. “I’m sticking to this decision,” said Taubert.
Berlin, Bremen, Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also directly rejected Lindner’s proposal. More time only delays the declaration, they argued.
CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt criticized the attitude of the minister. The opposition leader in the state parliament pleaded for an extension of the deadline. The procedure for the property tax return is extremely complicated and not only overwhelms users who have no routine in dealing with the Elster program. “For many Thuringians, an extension of the deadline would bring great relief,” said Voigt.
Taubert also rejected similar demands from the taxpayers’ association, which sees problems with house heirs with the declaration period. Taubert: “The taxpayers’ association is hiding the fact that the heirs of a property or house can properly submit the declaration using the data provided by the federal states and a length measure for determining the size of the living space.”
According to the Ministry of Finance, the deadline for the declarations has been published since March 2022. This was preceded by a decision by all countries. From 2025, a new property tax calculation is to apply. To do this, almost 36 million properties in Germany have to be revalued. This is done on the basis of information that all owners must submit – the tax authorities have been receiving the data since July 1st.
