The issue of property tax is currently keeping tax firms very busy. Given the complexity of all the different models and details, those involved are constantly asking questions. Even in the hsp.community and the 'How-2-click!' seminars things often get lively. Some of the questions come up time and time again. In the Friday livestream „hsp live at 11“, Customer Success Manager Samuel Königshoven and tax adviser Teresa Gerke answer questions about the reform and Opti.Tax Land Tax answered.

Question 1: Where can I find the calculation of the property tax assessment and the calculation relating to the operation of agricultural and forestry businesses?

In the next update, the property tax list will be available under „General Information“ for the project. The calculation for agriculture and forestry is currently in its final stages and will be made available shortly.

Question 2: What could be the reason why no property tax value is being calculated?

All the data has been entered, but the property tax value cannot be calculated? If the error message „Rent level could not be determined using the postcode, town and AGS code“ appears, you should check that the postcode and town are correct. Is the town entered actually the town itself or just a district? Once the error has been corrected, the whole entry must be updated. To do this, Samuel double-clicks on the property. The programme updates the calculation. Samuel then returns to the previous page and can see the calculation.

Another error under „Parcel of land“: “An unknown error has occurred during the calculation. Please contact support with the log file.” Samuel goes to the ‘Plots’ section, where two are listed. He adds up the areas of the plots, combines them into the first plot and deletes the second one.

Question 3: What does „notional property tax value“ mean?

The notional property tax value is used to enable tax advisers to calculate their fees.

Question 4: How can I record buildings in Opti.Tax that were built before 1900?

If a year of construction prior to 1900 is entered, an error message will appear. In this case, enter the year 1900, then under „Explanation regarding the determination of the property tax value“, click on the item „Additional information regarding the assessment declaration“. There, you can then select the option „Further or differing details or circumstances“ and enter the information regarding the year of construction.

Question 5: How can I record a married couple’s assets in Opti.Tax?

If spouses have different owners and shares, these can be recorded accordingly in Opti.Tax. As an example, Samuel creates two entries under „Owners/Stakeholders“. If he then creates a new property, both individuals are recorded as owners. However, the individuals can also be removed separately should only one person be the owner of this property. The ownership structure can also be recorded.

Samuel adds: It is not necessary to create a new project for every plot of land. Several plots and owners can be recorded within a single project. However, in the case of communities of heirs, he recommends creating a new project, even if the client has already been recorded and is part of the community.

Question 6: How do I validate my property and thereby obtain the summarised statement for ELSTER?

First of all, Samuel explains what should be entered in the „Tax number“ and „Reference number“ fields. Many people simply enter the owner’s tax number under „Tax number“ here. This is not correct. Depending on the federal state, the economic unit is assigned either its own tax number or a unit value reference number. Opti.Tax indicates which of these is required. Depending on which field the yellow information icon and the explanatory text appear under, an entry for the corresponding field is required. In Berlin, for example, the tax number is required, whilst in North Rhine-Westphalia a file reference number is required.

Another issue concerns standard land values. Only two standard land values can be submitted to ELSTER. However, there are cases where three parcels of land have three different standard land values. In such cases, average values must be calculated based on the lowest and highest standard land values.

Furthermore, the validation messages provide a helpful overview of the issues preventing validation. It is important to note that, whilst resolving an issue flagged by Opti.Tax will clear the corresponding validation message in Opti.Tax, the ELSTER validation message will remain. The reason for this is that the newly entered data has not yet been synchronised with ELSTER. This must be carried out manually.

Question 7: How should I deal with validation errors?

The question has essentially already been answered, but here is a brief summary: If ELSTER flags an issue, you must manually trigger a re-check once the correction has been made. Otherwise, the error messages will not disappear. You can do this via the menu option „ELSTER“ -> „Validate“. Another tip from Teresa: the error messages are clickable. Double-clicking takes you directly to the section affected by the error message.