Befreiung von der Hundesteuer beantragen

Applications can be submitted as follows:

Online

• You can submit your application online using the online platform "My ELSTER".
• This requires a one-off registration in "My ELSTER" or a login without registration using the activated online ID function (eID) of your ID card.

In writing

• You can submit the application informally in writing.

More information

If the conditions for tax exemption no longer apply, you are obliged to inform the Bremen tax office within 2 weeks of the conditions ceasing to apply.

Exemption is not possible because you do not have the necessary financial means to keep the dog.
However, you can apply for a deferral (payment in installments) if there is considerable hardship, for example in the case of a temporary financial emergency that you did not cause yourself. A deferral is only granted on application. The application must be justified. The current financial circumstances must be disclosed in the application.
You can also apply for a waiver of the dog tax, for example because you have a low income. In this case, you must submit proof of income and state the monthly funds available for living expenses.
A remission granted once and a deferral granted once are only valid for the year in question.

• If you wish to claim a tax exemption, you must prove that the conditions for the exemption are met. Documents to be submitted may therefore be
  
  • Copy of the severely disabled person's pass for so-called assistance dogs
  • Copy of the companion dog test and performance booklet of the Federal Association for Rescue Dogs for so-called rescue dogs
  • Copy of the admission contract for dogs from the Bremen animal shelter

• My ELSTER - Your online tax office - Dog tax
  

• Dog tax exemption questionnaire (only for guide dogs/assistance dogs) (pdf, 143.7 KB)
  

• Dog tax remission application
  

gebührenfrei

What deadlines must be paid attention to?

There is no application deadline. The application for tax exemption can be submitted as soon as the conditions for tax exemption are met.
However, the circumstances at the beginning of the calendar year or at the beginning of the tax liability are decisive for the granting of a tax concession (e.g. if a dog is acquired during the year).

Example: A guide dog for the blind (older than 3 months) was purchased on 01.04.2024.
The conditions for tax exemption are met from the outset. The tax exemption can be applied for together with the registration of the dog.

Example: A dog (older than 3 months) that has initially been kept purely privately since 18.10.2023 becomes a service dog on 01.04.2024, the upkeep of which is predominantly covered by public funds. The owner does not change.

On 01.01.2024, the conditions for tax exemption were not yet met. Therefore, no tax exemption can be claimed for 2024. However, the application for tax exemption can be submitted in 2024 for the year 2025.

If an application is submitted for previous years, a tax exemption may be excluded in individual cases because, for example, a change to the tax assessment is no longer permitted for procedural reasons. The Bremen tax office will check on a case-by-case basis whether the conditions for an amendment are met.

How long does it take to process

The processing time can take several weeks.

• §§ 6 und 10 Bremisches Hundesteuergesetz

• Merkblatt - Befreiung und Ermäßigungen der Hundesteuer