General Information on Property Tax

The property tax value for the lot has already been attributed to you as of January 1 of this year, since, according to the finalized purchase agreement, the transfer of the lot (the transfer of rights and obligations) was already agreed upon last year, specifically as of January 1 of this year. Until the property is registered in the land registry, you are therefore considered the beneficial owner. You should have already received a notice regarding the attribution and the amount of the property tax value.

If there have been no changes to your tax circumstances (owner, amount of property tax, payment method), a paper notice will no longer be issued, so a duplicate copy cannot be sent to you. In these cases, the property tax assessment is published via a public notice in daily newspapers. If necessary, you can find the required information in the most recent paper notice (e.g., tax ID number, annual property tax amount).

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 request to switch to annual payments must be submitted in writing or via the ELSTER contact form by September 30 and will take effect the following year. A formal notice will be issued in January of the year in which the change first takes effect.

The tax office receives a corresponding notification of changes in ownership from the land registry. In addition, the appraisal office receives a verification notice regarding the acquisition from the real estate transfer tax office of the Bremerhaven tax office. A notification from the owner is generally not required, but can be submitted informally by letter or via the ELSTER contact form if necessary. Once the new owner is identified, the tax office will assign the taxable property to the new owner for the following year in a new assessment notice. Taxes for the current year must still be paid, as liability for the tax does not transfer to the purchaser until the year following the transfer.

To do this, you must submit a written SEPA direct debit mandate. SEPA direct debit mandates cannot be issued by phone or email due to the lack of signatures.

When filling out the form, please note that two signatures are required (as the taxpayer and as the account holder). In addition, please always enter your tax ID number (starting with 57/ or 457/ in Bremen and the Free Port area, and 77 or 477 in Bremerhaven) and the property location.

You can download a form from the Internet.
For properties in Bremen and the Free Port of Bremerhaven, you can download a form titled “SEPA Direct Debit Mandate for Property Taxes” ( https://www.finanzen.bremen.de/sixcms/media.php/13/Vordruck_SEPA-Mandat_Grundbesitzabgaben_mit%20Vorblatt_29.11.2024.pdf ).

Alternatively, the form can be mailed to you.

Due to tax confidentiality, we are not permitted to provide information about your neighbor’s financial circumstances. Information can only be provided regarding the amount of your property tax. It should be noted that the property tax assessment notice is a follow-up notice to the property tax assessment basis notice, which in turn is a follow-up notice to the property tax value notice. The calculation of this value takes into account, among other things, the building’s floor area and the year it was built. The tax office will be happy to provide you with more detailed information on which factors were considered for your property.

The tax number is shown in the upper-left corner of the property tax assessment notice or the property tax notice (for properties in Bremen). This is also the file number that must be entered in Schedule V of 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 City 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 22XXX

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

You also have the option of setting up a SEPA direct debit authorization. This will save you the trouble of making bank transfers.

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

Property tax is an annual tax. The person liable for the tax is the individual to whom the property was assigned as of January 1 of that 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 installments due on February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15. The amounts due will still be collected for the entire year if a valid SEPA direct debit authorization is in place.

Any separate agreements under private law regarding the payment of the tax that are made between the seller and the buyer have no effect on the seller’s liability for the tax. However, a SEPA direct debit mandate issued by the buyer is also taken into account in the year of the sale.

For questions concerning payment transactions exclusively, please contact the Central Finance Office at the State Treasury (for properties in Bremen) or the City Treasury of the Bremerhaven Municipal Administration (for properties in Bremerhaven). You will find the direct extension number at the bottom left of the footer on your property tax assessment 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.

If you have any questions about the fee adjustment, please contact the relevant dike association directly. You can reach the Bremen Dike Association on the left bank of the Weser at 0421 333060 and the Bremen Dike Association on the right bank of the Weser at 0421 2076525.
In addition, you may file an appeal to challenge the decision communicated in the assessment notice. The tax office does not have jurisdiction over this matter.