Property levy (Burden Equalization Act)
The property tax was a tax under public law that was levied in the Federal Republic of Germany on the basis of the Burden Equalization Act of August 14, 1952.
The assets were raised from the assets of natural and legal persons. The assessment basis was the assets to be assessed for the wealth tax according to the status of June 21, 1948. An exemption of 150,000 DM was deducted from the other assets, mainly monetary and capital assets. There was also a basic allowance of DM 5,000 with a sliding clause. In addition, the tax could be reduced due to war damage, expulsion and eastern damage in the ratio of this damage to the remaining assets.
The property tax amounted to 50 percent of the taxable property. The tax debt was to be paid in 120 quarterly installments, calculated from April 1, 1949, i.e. by March 31, 1979. Since interest was included, the quarterly installments were
- 1.5% for business assets, including most business land, and other assets
- 1.25% for mixed-use properties of the real estate and the business assets of certain real estate companies
- 1% for agricultural and forestry assets as well as for rented residential properties and single-family houses
Legal bases
Article 106, Paragraph 1, No. 5 of the Basic Law regulates that the income from the one-off property levies and the equalization levies levied to carry out the equalization of burdens are due to the federal government. The implementation of the property levy was regulatedby Sections 16 to 90 of the Burden Equalization Act.