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Germany’s Top Tax Court Sets December 10 Ruling on New Property Tax Model

The cases test whether using standardized rents with land values under the federal formula violates equality guarantees.

Overview

  • The Federal Fiscal Court concluded hearings in three revision cases on the Bundesmodell and scheduled judgments for December 10.
  • The panel signaled no leaning on the outcome, with presiding judge Franceska Werth noting, "We will not be able to please everyone."
  • The reformed system applies to about 36 million properties after a 2018 constitutional ruling, with eleven states using the federal model and five adopting their own rules.
  • Critics, including legal scholar Gregor Kirchhoff, say broad averages for rents and land values produce unequal results, while tax authorities call individualized valuation impracticable for mass assessments.
  • Roughly 2.8 million objections have been lodged, with cited anomalies such as sharply different Cologne land values for similar nearby apartments and a Berlin case where proving a lower market value is contested.