Register second home tax

If you are registered in Bremen with a secondary residence or should be registered with a secondary residence according to the registration law.

A dwelling within the meaning of the local law on the levy of a tax on secondary residences is a room intended for living or sleeping, which includes the use of a toilet and kitchen or kitchenette.

The second home tax is 12% of the net monthly rent.

Net cold rent is the basic rent excluding operating and heating costs.

In your lease.

Then subtract 25% from the warm rent to get the net cold rent.

If you are the owner, the customary local rent is to be used as the basis for assessment.

Yes, in this case the rent customary in the locality is to be used as the basis for assessment. The rent can be divided according to the number of persons. This is to be done in the secondary residence tax application in lines 40 to 50 and explained in the instructions.

Yes, but only for the share you use alone plus your share of the jointly used rooms, such as kitchen, bathroom, hallways, common rooms, etc.
Please refer to your own sublease or rental agreement for the net cold rent. If there is only one joint lease, your share of the living space is calculated by dividing the area of the jointly used rooms by the number of persons participating in the shared apartment plus the rooms used by you alone. Otherwise, please refer to your own sublease or rental agreement for the net cold rent.

The second home tax is due on March 1 for the previous calendar year.

No. As this is a registration tax, you must remember the payment date yourself (March 1) or you can issue a SEPA direct debit mandate to the tax office.

The new second home tax filing must be completed and submitted because something has likely changed (e.g., the length of the lease or the amount of rent).

No. The calculation takes place pro rata temporis.

Yes. An exception exists if you are married or in a registered civil partnership, do not live permanently separated and your common home is outside the municipality of Bremen.

Single persons or non-marital partnerships are not affected by this.

In principle, yes. Secondary residence taxes are avoidable taxes on expenses, which is why the legislator has instructed that trainees and students are also subject to the tax. For students, trainees and pupils, however, there is the possibility in individual cases to apply for a waiver for personal, economic reasons, if the disposable monthly income does not exceed the exemption limit of § 850c ZPO (German Code of Civil Procedure) and no assets such as e.g. savings, building society savings are available.e.g. savings deposits, building savings deposits are available (if necessary If you apply for a waiver for this reason, the relevant current documents (e.g. salary slips, copy of training contract, Bafög notice, certificate of study, confirmation of monthly maintenance payments made by parents, etc.) must be attached to the application. The requirements must be met at the time the tax is due and not for the calendar year in question.

The tax office responsible for the income tax return must check whether these can be claimed as income-related expenses.

Arbors in allotment gardens can also be subject to the second home tax if they are suitable for permanent living. In principle, the actual use is irrelevant. Since the Bremen secondary residence tax is linked to the formal registration of the secondary residence, you should check whether you are subject to registration (§§ 21 paragraph 3, 27 of the Federal Registration Act). The Citizens' Registration Office (Bürgeramt - Meldeangelegenheiten) can help you with this.

The magistrate in Bremerhaven is responsible for the second home tax there.

In the case of adult children who still occupy a room in the parental home (children's room), there is generally no tax liability due to the lack of minimum structural equipment in the secondary residence. Here it depends on the circumstances of the individual case. If you are of the opinion that a tax obligation does not exist in your case, please provide additional reasons on a separate sheet in addition to the secondary residence tax application.

Second homes are not homes that are provided by independent charitable organizations for therapeutic reasons or by public or independent youth welfare organizations for educational purposes (Section 2 (4) Nos. 2 and 3 BrZwWoStG). Therefore, there are care facilities (e.g. old people's homes, nursing homes, children's homes) which are not taxed. This is to be checked by the secondary residence tax office in each individual case. If you are of the opinion that a tax obligation does not exist in your case, please justify this on the secondary residence tax application sent to you.