The legally necessary change to property tax - i.e. the taxation of land - has been a hotly debated topic since the judgement of the Federal Constitutional Court in 2018 - and still is to some extent.
Property tax is a real tax on land, but also on heritable building rights, which is payable by the owner. It can be passed on to tenants and is an important source of income for local authorities. In 2022, the nationwide revenue was around 15 billion euros. The determination of property tax values according to the so-called federal model, which opponents consider to be unconstitutional, was criticised early on. Many also feared a massive increase in the tax.
Since the beginning of 2025, almost all citizens have received the new tax assessment. This is now based on the new 2022 valuation method for the first time, allowing taxpayers to directly compare how high their tax was before the reform and how high it will be after the reform.
A recent survey by ImmoScout24 shows: For 73 per cent of people with residential property, the new property valuation means a higher tax burden. For 30 per cent of owners, property tax will double. Around a fifth of respondents (18 per cent) will have to pay more than 50 per cent more property tax, while for a quarter (25 per cent) it will be more than 10 per cent. For a total of 27 per cent of owners, property tax has not increased and a quarter (25 per cent) even pay less.
A majority of owners (65 per cent) want to pay the tax as it has been set. 35 per cent plan to at least do some research in order to understand the tax increase. 28 per cent will not only research but are determined to appeal against the tax assessment. More than two thirds (69 per cent) of the owners surveyed rent out their property as an investment or private pension. Of these, 66 per cent are planning to adjust their operating costs in order to pass on the property tax increase, while twelve per cent are not planning any increase.
Graphic: © Bru-nO, Pixabay
