Millions of Germans are still at loggerheads with the new property tax. The first plan was to run it from July to the end of October 2022, a tight program for 36 million properties. But then they came to terms and extended the submission deadline to January 31, 2023.

But this deadline is also about to expire and it still is
millions of property tax returns are missing
. If you haven’t submitted your application yet, you should know a few things about the deadline. You might be able to squeeze out a little more time yourself.

Demands for a second extension of the deadline

The discussion about the property tax deadline has been going on for a long time, currently millions of explanations are still missing,
not even 60 percent
should have submitted by mid-January 2023. Can this problem be solved by extending the deadline again?

At least the Federal Chamber of Tax Advisors has good arguments for this, because many law firms are currently being literally overrun with mandates. So you really don’t get finished. This traffic jam could of course be worked off with more time.

There are also calls from politicians for a second extension, after all, one cannot expect the citizens to dig through the complex topic so quickly, they say.

Now you shouldn’t rule out anything in hectic times, but it looks as if the end of the period for the property tax is on
January 31, 2023 remains
. The reason may be that the tax offices need enough time to process the data supplied in good time so that cities and communities can also be supplied.

apply for an extension of the deadline

If at all possible, you should submit by the deadline. You can also expect a rush on the Elster servers in the last few days. If you don’t get through, you miss the deadline through no fault of your own.

In principle, one can assume that possible penalties will not be imposed on February 1st. The taxpayers’ association also expects the tax offices to send out reminders first. They will then also contain a new deadline.

If you also miss this deadline, there is actually a risk of penalties for late payment. If you respond with a statement even after these sanctions, the tax office will almost certainly die
estimate the necessary values yourself
usually to the detriment of those affected.

Better tactic: apply for a property tax deadline extension. A sample letter will help you. But this is not a sure-fire success. You need a valid reason for the authorities to accept that. Possible reasons could be if you were not able to obtain certain data in time, if you were out of action due to illness or if you lived abroad for a longer period of time.

If you plan to do this, you should hurry up, because the application for an extension of the deadline should reach the tax office before the deadline. The application for an extension of the deadline can also be sent directly to Elster faster than by post. Under
All forms
you will find the corresponding menu item.

Create property tax in the last few meters

If there was no particular reason for you not to do the property tax before, the only thing left to do now is to get the declaration through as quickly as possible.

A brake is Elster, because if you don’t have access yet, you shouldn’t waste valuable time applying for a certificate. What is possible: You can use an Elster account from a relative to submit the item. Registering at Elster with your ID card also saves time.

Otherwise, property tax alternatives without Elster remain. So you don’t need your own Elster certificate for WISO property tax or Smartsteuer to submit the property tax.