Tax offices with different regulations – federal states confusion – how to submit the property tax return in paper form

It is gratifying that Germany is also becoming increasingly digital when it comes to taxes. The tax office would like to receive the property tax return for 2022 only electronically. You have a variety of options for this:

But not all citizens are so well versed on the PC to be able to do it confidently. Also, not everyone has a computer whiz on hand to take over.

Therefore, in many federal states there is also the option of downloading the necessary forms, printing them out and submitting them by hand. You can download it here free of charge.

Property tax return on paper: All federal states at a glance

Once again, the federal states handle the submission of the return for the property tax in paper form very differently. Therefore, not all templates are included in the download.

Here you will find an overview of the eight countries that allow you to easily download the forms as PDF files:

• Bavaria
• Brandenburg
• Hamburg
• Lower Saxony
• Rhineland-Palatinate
• Saxony
• Saxony-Anhalt
• Schleswig Holstein

According to the authorities in Lower Saxony, there are also a small number of forms to collect, which means that you do not have to print them out yourself.

All other federal states have different regulations, which we will break down for you here.

• Baden-Württemberg:
  The state allows the declaration to be submitted in writing, but you must go to the tax office and be able to justify it. A hardship application is not necessary.
• Berlin:
  As a private individual, you can submit a handwritten declaration here in the event of hardship – but only if electronic submission is unreasonable for you. Contact the relevant tax office here as well.
• Bremen:
  In individual cases, the tax offices also issue forms in printed form. The submission of the declaration is then automatically considered an application for the hardship rule, so that a separate application is not necessary.
• Hesse:
  Call the citizen service of your tax office and clarify whether you can have the printed forms sent to you by post.
• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania:
  You can request the printed forms online here.
• North Rhine-Westphalia:
  You can get the forms informally by calling or visiting the tax office in person. No hardship application is necessary.
• Saarland:
  There are no PDF forms here yet, but this is already being planned. Hardship cases can request the paper forms from the tax office.
• Thuringia:
  The country has set up a dedicated telephone number to request a paper form. You can reach the responsible office on 0361/57 3611 800 Monday to Friday from 8 a.m.

Big mess

Filing the tax return digitally works much better and is a real time saver for most people. However, it should not be made so difficult for citizens who cannot cope with this to obtain the paper forms. Uniform handling would be desirable. We hope that at least the PDFs for download will help you to reach your goal faster.