Property tax chaos in North Rhine-Westphalia: Owners and tenants worry about their finances!

Property tax chaos in North Rhine-Westphalia: Owners and tenants worry about their finances!

The property tax in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is currently causing uncertainty among owners and tenants. With the reform that comes into force on January 1, 2025, many citizens face the question of how their tax burden will change. While the federal government of the taxpayers NRW gives the all -clear with regard to feared massive tax increases, experts warn of potential high loads that could result from the necessary adaptation of the lifting rates, which vary greatly between the municipalities.

Current data show that the lifting tax B in 341 cities and municipalities were determined by January 21, 2025. Many municipalities have increased their lifting rates in 2023 and 2024 to remain newly up to 2025. The first quarterly payment for property tax is due on February 15. The incoming -neutral lifting rate for North Rhine -Westphalia is over 100 percent.

heterogeneous lifting rates and their effects

The analysis shows that 99 municipalities have decided to compensate for the tax burden between living and commercial bodies. In some cases, undeveloped land could be taxed more by higher lifting rates. The 11 municipalities are particularly striking, which set the lifting rates of over 1,000 percent, while the lowest lifting rates are between 238 percent in Verl and 400 percent.

This difference in the lifting rates is crucial because it significantly influences the amount of property tax. Owner of older houses could tend to pay more than before. In this context, it is noteworthy that 20 municipalities have not yet decided their lifting rates, which delayed the dispatch of the property tax notices and the collection of funds.

State of things and outlook

The reform aims not to increase the tax burden for homeowners compared to companies. However, the concrete implementation of the reform shows significant differences between the federal states. NRW plans to use the federal model, but has introduced an opening clause for differentiated lifting rates. This could enable the municipalities to react more flexibly to local conditions and to make the tax justified.

Transparency in the rate of the lifting rate is still an important topic, whereby transparency registers have been introduced in several federal states to ensure fair property tax assessments. Initial complaints against the property tax reform have been rejected, but there are still many uncertainties and legal questions that may have to be negotiated in the future.

Overall, the property tax reform in NRW results in new challenges for owners and tenants. The Federation of Taxpayers NRW had already collected information on property tax B in a flash survey, which show which variations can be expected in the lifting rates and how these could affect citizens. So it remains important to observe the developments closely and to react early. For more information about the property tax reform in North Rhine-Westphalia and their effects, you can do the articles from Merkur , BUND of the taxpayer and Consult