Property tax

The assessed value (from 01.01.2022 also property tax value) for the land was already attributed to you on 01.01. of the year, since according to the concluded purchase agreement the delivery of the land (the transfer of benefits and encumbrances) was already agreed in the previous year or on 01.01. of this year. Therefore, until the entry in the land register, you are considered to be the beneficial owner. You should already have received a corresponding notice on the allocation and the amount of the standard value (from 01.01.2022 also the property tax value).

If the tax circumstances have not changed (owner, amount of property tax, method of payment), a notice in paper form is no longer issued, so that no duplicate can be sent. In these cases, the real estate tax is assessed by public announcement in the daily newspapers. If necessary, you can obtain the required data from the last notice issued in paper form (e.g. tax number, annual amount of property tax).

In the case of quarterly payment, one quarter of the assessed annual tax is due on 15 February, 15 May, 15 August and 15 November of each year.

As an annual payer, the annual tax debt is due on 01.07. of the year.

A change to annual payment must be requested in writing (fax or e-mail also possible) by 30.09. and will then take effect from the following year. A formal notice is then issued in January of the year with first-time validity.

The tax office receives a corresponding notification of change in ownership via the land register. In addition, the valuation office receives a control notification about the acquisition process from the real estate transfer tax office of the Bremerhaven tax office. A notification of the owner is generally not necessary, but can be done informally by letter or e-mail if required. When the new owner becomes known, the tax office allocates the tax object to him for the following year in a new assessment notice. The taxes for the current year must still be paid, as the tax liability is only transferred to the purchaser in the year following the delivery.

This requires the written issuance of a SEPA direct debit mandate. SEPA direct debit mandates cannot be issued by telephone or by mail because of the signatures that would then be missing.

Please note that two signatures are required on the form (as tax debtor and as account holder). In addition, please always enter the tax number (starting with 57/ or 457/ in Bremen and the free port area and 77 or 477 in Bremerhaven) and the location.

You can download a form from the Internet.
For properties in Bremen and the free port in Bremerhaven you can download a form SEPA direct debit mandate for property taxes ( https://www.buergerservice.bremen.de/sixcms/media.php/5/SEPALastschriftmandat%20Grundbesitzabgaben_neues_Formular.pdf) .

For properties in Bremerhaven, you can download a SEPA Direct De bit Mandate form (https://www.bremerhaven.de/sixcms/media.php/94/Sepa+Mandat.pdf) from the Municipality of Bremerhaven.

Otherwise, the form can also be sent to you.

Information about your neighbor's circumstances may not be provided due to tax secrecy. Statements can only be made about the amount of your property tax. Please note that the property tax assessment is a follow-up assessment to the property tax assessment, which in turn is a follow-up assessment to the assessment of the assessed value or property tax value. This value is determined, among other things, by the area of the building and the year of construction. The tax office will be happy to provide you with more detailed information on which factors have been taken into account for your property.

The tax number is shown at the top left of the notice of assessed value or the property tax notice (for properties in Bremen). This is also the file number that must be indicated in the Annex V to the income tax return.

The property tax assessment amount is not payable. It is only the basis according to which the property tax is to be paid. Only when a property tax assessment notice is issued is the tax to be paid determined. The property tax assessment also states when the tax is due.

SEPA direct debit mandates that have already been issued remain in effect, and the amounts due will continue to be debited. This is also evident in the notice, as the amounts to be debited are marked with an asterisk.

The amounts that are collected on the basis of a SEPA direct debit mandate are marked with an asterisk after the amount in the notice. The subsequent amounts will also be debited (even if they are not marked with an asterisk).

Subsequent contributions of the levee association fee can be seen on the reverse side of the notice, if applicable.

If no amounts are marked with an asterisk in the notice, no debit will be made, even if the amounts due have been debited previously. In case of doubt or for clarification of related / further questions, please contact the assessment office.

The following bank accounts are available for the municipality of Bremen and the properties in the free port of Bremerhaven:

Deutsche Bundesbank

IBAN: DE59 2500 0000 0025 0015 32

BIC: MARKDEF 1250

Sparkasse Bremen AG:

IBAN: DE 68 2905 0101 0001 0906 46

BIC: SBREDE 22
For the municipality of Bremerhaven, you can find the bank details of the municipal treasury of the magistrate here Stadtkasse.Bremerhaven.de (https://www.bremerhaven.de/de/verwaltung-politik-sicherheit/buergerservice/adressen-oeffnungszeiten/stadtkasse.22537.html).

It is also possible to issue a SEPA direct debit mandate. Then you save the effort for the transfers.

No, only one notice is issued. This is then issued with effect for and against all co-owners.

The real estate tax is an annual tax. The tax debtor is the person to whom the property was allocated on January 1 of the year. This means that if the property is sold during the year, the previous owner is still liable for the property tax and must pay the partial amounts due on 15/02, 15/05, 15/08 and 15/11. The amounts due will still be collected for the entire year if a valid SEPA direct debit mandate is in place.

Deviating private-law agreements on the payment of tax made between the seller and the purchaser shall not affect the seller's liability for tax. However, a SEPA direct debit mandate issued by the purchaser will also be taken into account in the year of the sale.

If you have any questions concerning payment transactions only, please contact the Central Finance Office ( Zentrale Finanzkasse ) at the State Central Finance Office (Landeshauptkasse ) (for properties in Bremen) or the City Finance Office (Stadtkasse) of the Bremerhaven City Council (Magistrat) (for properties in Bremerhaven). You will find the extension telephone number at the bottom left of the footer of your property tax notice.

A refund of the property tax is not made, since the property tax arises at the beginning of the calendar year and is therefore assessed according to the circumstances at the beginning of the calendar year (§ 9 Property Tax Act). The person (or persons) to whom the tax object is attributed is the tax debtor (Section 10 of the Real Property Tax Act). I.e., if the property is sold during the year, the previous owner is still the debtor of the property tax and has to pay the due instalments on 15.02., 15.05. 15.08 and 15.11. The amounts due will still be collected for the entire year if a valid SEPA direct debit mandate is in place. Deviating private-law agreements on the payment of tax made between the seller and the purchaser shall not affect the seller's liability for tax. However, a SEPA direct debit mandate that has been issued will also be taken into account in the year of the sale.

The property tax liability is newly established when a new economic unit is created, e.g. an existing building is divided into residential and partial ownership, a heritable building right is created for a property for the first time, a property is divided by surveying and partially sold to other owners. If a new economic unit is established, you will receive a notice of assessment for the property.

The amount of the property tax is based on the assessed property tax amount, which remains unchanged in the event of inheritance. The assessment rate valid for the calendar year is applied to the property tax assessment amount.

Pursuant to Section 28 (1) of the Real Property Tax Act, real property taxes are payable in quarterly installments in the middle of each quarter. Small amounts of up to €15 in property tax per year can be paid annually, and amounts up to €30 can also be paid semi-annually (Section 28 (2) of the Property Tax Act). In addition, according to Section 28 (3) of the Real Property Tax Act, the entire real property tax can also be paid in one annual amount on July 1 upon application. The application must be submitted by 30.09. of the previous year.

Amounts paid in excess are always refunded and cannot be offset against a next installment.

Please contact the evaluation office in
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Please contact the evaluation office.

This is possible in principle, since the identity of ownership is not checked by the tax office.

Please transfer the difference immediately, otherwise the issuance of reminders cannot be prevented and enforcement measures may also be initiated. Late payment will also incur late payment penalties of 1 percent per month on the amount in default, which will, however, be rounded down to the nearest amount divisible by €50.