Since 1 January 2025, German property tax has been levied on new valuations nationwide – the Federal Constitutional Court struck down the decades-old unit values in 2018.
"Property tax is one of the recurring public charges on the land within the meaning of § 2 no. 1 of the Operating Costs Ordinance and is therefore recoverable from tenants."
— settled case law on § 2 no. 1 BetrKV (translated)
The new system
Three stages: property tax value (tax office; land value, area, construction year and rent in the federal model) × assessment factor (0.31‰ for residential property) × the municipality's multiplier. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, Hesse and Lower Saxony run their own area-based models – identical buildings are taxed differently across state lines.
What changes for owners
- Check the new assessments: errors in living area and land values are common; objections against the valuation notice must be filed within one month – the later tax bill merely adopts it.
- Many municipalities adjusted multipliers; "revenue-neutral" holds for the city, not for your individual building.
For the utility statement
Property tax remains fully recoverable (key: usually living area). Back-payments from retroactive assessments may be billed in the period in which the notice arrives. Managers should file the new assessments per property and briefly explain year-on-year changes in the statement – it prevents most queries.