Euskirchen decides on drastic property tax reform: what comes now!

The city of Euskirchen has made an important step towards reform of property tax B. At the recommendation of the administration, the city of Rat has decided to introduce differentiated lifting rates for property tax B. The new regulation came into force on January 1 and brings significant changes.

According to the new provisions, the rate of residential property rose from 496 to 497 percent, while the rate of the heb for non -residential plots was increased from 496 to 914 percent. These decisions are the consequence of a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court from 2018, which found that the previous property tax law was based on outdated unit values, some of which have been used in West Germany since 1964 and since 1935 in East Germany. Commercial Klaus Schmitz pointed out that the reform is necessary to eliminate unjust tax burdens and to determine new property tax values.

Details of the reform and its challenges

The individual property tax is composed of property tax value, tax measuring number and the rate of lifting. However, a higher lifting rate does not necessarily mean a higher tax burden for all owners. The selected lifting rate is intended to prevent additional pollution for residential property and to secure the social good of living. Nevertheless, the introduction of differentiated lifting rates is considered risky, since there are legal uncertainties and possible judicial clarifications are not to be expected at short notice.

The political reactions to the reform are mixed. The CDU city councilor Franz-Josef Mauth expects many objections to the new tax notices, while SPD parliamentary group leader Michael Höllmann sees both "losers and winners" among the owners. In addition, the Greens spokeswoman Dr. Simone Galliat annual re -ratings of the lifting rates to ensure fair taxation. CDU boss Klaus Voussem and Manfred van Bahlen from the FDP expressly concerns about legal uncertainties and the financial risks that the municipalities have to bear in the implementation of the reform.

Additional information on the entire topic of property tax reform and its implementation in various municipalities provides a report by