Property tax returns in North Rhine-Westphalia: Chaos at tax offices and impending burden for taxpayers - a financial expert reports.

Property tax returns in North Rhine-Westphalia: Chaos at tax offices and impending burden for taxpayers - a financial expert reports.

According to a report by www.ksta.de, the tax offices in North Rhine-Westphalia will continue to be burdened with property tax returns. Almost a year after the end of the submission deadline, over 450,000 declarations are still missing. At the same time, there were more than 1.3 million objections to the recalculation, which the FDP parliamentary group in the Düsseldorf state parliament learned about. The situation has led to significant taxpayer dissatisfaction, which is now another source of anger.

The impact of this situation on the real estate market is serious. The number of incomplete or incorrect returns results in an enormous workload for the tax authorities, who have to reprocess each individual return. This leads to delays and an inefficient administrative process. In addition, rising property taxes could lead to higher utility costs for tenants, as owners can pass the additional burden on to their tenants.

In addition, there is an uneven picture in the objection rates in different regions. Objection rates are particularly high in urban areas such as Cologne and Bonn, which indicates increased dissatisfaction among taxpayers. The burden on residential properties compared to commercial land is also a point of concern as they could be more heavily burdened.

In view of the figures from the State Statistical Office IT.NRW, around a quarter of the municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia have already increased the assessment rate for property tax B between July 2022 and June 2023. This could lead to an additional financial burden for citizens. It is important to keep an eye on this development as it could have a direct impact on the real estate market and housing costs.