Thuringia: Property tax returns: If it is estimated, it will be more expensive

Erfurt (dpa/th) - Anyone who does not submit their property tax return by the end of January 2023 must expect an estimate of their tax liability.

Thuringia: Property tax returns: If it is estimated, it will be more expensive

Erfurt (dpa/th) - Anyone who does not submit their property tax return by the end of January 2023 must expect an estimate of their tax liability. With such estimates, the tax office is entitled to include so-called security surcharges, said the head of the Ilmenau tax office, Andreas Reymann, on Thursday in Erfurt. This could lead to higher costs for taxpayers.

However, an estimate by the authorities does not release taxpayers from the basic obligation to submit a property tax return. Anyone who violates this permanently could be fined, among other things.

Thuringia's Finance Minister Heike Taubert (SPD) explained that an estimate of the new property tax liability by the offices would also involve more work for those affected than the proper submission of the declaration. "In any case, there is always mail from the tax office," said Taubert. She again appealed to taxpayers to report the information they have to provide on the property tax reform to the tax offices as soon as possible.

The property tax returns were originally due by October 31, 2022, but the deadline has now been extended nationwide to January 31, 2023. The new property tax will be due from 2025.

According to the Ministry of Finance, property tax returns have to be prepared for around 1.25 million so-called economic units throughout Thuringia. About 45 percent have been received so far. After the deadline was extended, the number of declarations received every day had fallen significantly. Taubert called the development worrying.