Schwerin (dpa/mv) - The Ministry of Finance in Schwerin wants to campaign for a nationwide extension of the deadline for submitting the new property tax. "In order to give citizens more time to process their applications, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will support the Brandenburg Finance Minister's proposal to extend the deadline," said Finance Minister Heiko Geue (SPD) on Thursday in Schwerin.
FDP parliamentary group leader René Domke had repeatedly pointed out that he considered an extension to be absolutely necessary: "So far, not even a sixth of the property tax returns have been received. The deadline expires in 25 days," he said on Thursday. From his point of view, there is a lack of capacity in the tax offices, there is an "implementation deficit" in the countries. Domke believes it is wrong to make a levy under duress or penalties for delays.
However, Geue wants to maintain a uniform deadline in all federal states. "I assume that the finance ministers of the federal states and the federal finance minister will discuss the topic at the next finance ministers' conference in the coming week," said the finance minister. According to the ministry, a uniform deadline would be easier for citizens with properties in several countries, among other things.
From the point of view of the Ministry of Finance, however, the total time available for the new regulation remains unchanged even in the event of a later deadline. According to a spokeswoman, as of January 1, 2025, the Federal Constitutional Court made a mandatory determination of when the property tax must be levied on the new calculation basis. Extending the submission deadline would therefore mean reducing the processing time available in the tax offices and municipalities.
It was also said that around 70 additional jobs had been created in the offices nationwide to handle the processing of the real estate tax recalculation. In addition, capacities have been shifted from other areas of responsibility.
