Property owners will soon receive their property tax assessments from the tax office. You should definitely check these notifications carefully and as soon as possible. The Schleswig-Holstein Chamber of Lawyers recommends this.
If there are any doubts or mistakes are made, owners should object. This is possible in writing. As a rule, you can send a letter or an email to the tax office that issued the notice. The deadline for this is one month after receipt of the decision. If owners later discover errors that are disadvantageous for them, correction is only possible in exceptional cases.
Watch out for mistakes
According to the experts, possible errors occur, for example, with standard land values that landowners have taken over from the state portals. They are repeatedly too high. This can be the case, for example, if unusable area has been recorded as building ground.
The amount of the future property tax is not yet foreseeable. According to the experts, the assessment rates, which each municipality determines individually, could cause nasty surprises.
According to the Ministry of Finance, it will probably take until autumn 2024 before the specific amount of the future property tax for the majority of taxpayers is known.
Submission deadline has already expired
The property tax return could be submitted by the end of January. Those who have not yet submitted them should not take any risks and apply for an extension of the deadline, advise the experts. Otherwise, delay surcharges may become due immediately.
According to the experts, the financial authorities have generally refrained from imposing sanctions so far. But after a corresponding threat, they could also set a penalty payment.
In addition, if owners do not submit a declaration, the tax office can estimate the tax base itself. This is usually disadvantageous for those affected. Prerequisite for the approval of an individual deadline extension are valid and excusable reasons. These include, for example, a prolonged illness or problems in obtaining the documents. (dpa)
