Property Tax B Wizard

Since 1 January 2025, German property tax has been levied under new rules - the result of a Federal Constitutional Court ruling that declared the old unit values unconstitutional. The problem: there is not one new property tax regime but many. The federal government has the federal model (earnings-value method), but several states used the opt-out clause and introduced their own models.

The wizard maps exactly this landscape. It knows the federal model (Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-W. Pomerania, NRW, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia), Bavaria's pure area model with equivalence numbers, Baden-Wuerttemberg's modified land-value model, Hamburg's residential-location model, Hesse's and Lower Saxony's area-factor models and Saxony's federal model with different base rates. You pick your state and the wizard switches to the right method automatically.

The basic structure is the same in every model: a value is derived from your inputs (property value in the federal model, area amounts in the area models), multiplied by the relevant base rate - giving the assessment amount - and the municipality applies its multiplier. The base rates differ considerably by model: roughly 0.31 per mille for residential property in the federal model, 0.50 in Bavaria, 0.91 for residential use in Baden-Wuerttemberg. The wizard stores the correct values per state.

In the federal model the earnings-value method is the most demanding calculation: a capitalised net income is derived from the land reference value, plot area, living area, construction year, rent level, yield rate and remaining useful life. The wizard guides you through each of these, explains where to get them (the land reference value from your state's BORIS portal, for instance) and computes the present value for you. In the area models, plot and building area times the equivalence number is enough - much leaner.

So you can gauge the reform effect, the wizard sets old against new: what did you pay before, what will you pay now? For many owners the burden shifts noticeably - sometimes up, sometimes down. A multiplier database for over 48 cities helps if you do not have your rate at hand; alternatively you enter it yourself.

All property types are covered: single-family house, two-family house, rental property, condominium, vacant land and commercial property - each with its matching base rate. The legal bases are the Property Tax Act (GrStG Sec. 1, 13, 14, 15, 25) and the Valuation Act (BewG Sec. 218-263) plus the state property tax acts.

Everything runs in the browser; your inputs never leave your device. The wizard replaces neither the assessment declaration nor tax advice - it helps you understand how your property tax comes about and to sanity-check your assessment notice.