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Can my landlord charge me property tax (Grundsteuer) in Germany?
Grundsteuer is a recoverable operating cost if your lease says so. How to check the amount, the allocation and the 2025 reform effect.
If you rent in Germany, the first line of your annual service-charge statement (Nebenkostenabrechnung) is usually Grundsteuer — property tax. Newcomers are often surprised: in many countries property tax is paid by the owner and never appears on a tenant's bill. In Germany it does, and it is legal. This guide explains why, how to check your share, and what changed with the 2025 property-tax reform. It covers residential tenancies in Germany and is not individual legal advice.
Why property tax appears on your bill
German law lists the costs a landlord may pass on in the Betriebskostenverordnung (BetrKV), the operating-costs ordinance. Section 2 no. 1 BetrKV names "the ongoing public charges on the land, in particular property tax". So Grundsteuer is an expressly recoverable operating cost.
Recoverable does not mean automatically charged. Under section 556(1) BGB the parties must have agreed that the tenant bears operating costs. Look at your lease (Mietvertrag): does it say that Betriebskosten under the BetrKV are payable by you, or does it list individual cost types? Without such a clause, the costs are covered by the rent.
What is not covered
The key word in the ordinance is "ongoing" (laufend). One-off public charges are not operating costs. Development contributions for a newly built road (Erschließungsbeiträge), connection charges for a sewer, and similar one-time levies do not belong on your statement, even though they come from a public authority.
Taxes that hit the landlord personally are also excluded: income tax, corporation tax, and the real-estate transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) paid when the building was bought. If a line simply says "Steuern" without naming Grundsteuer, that is a good reason to ask for the underlying assessment notice.
How your share is calculated
The municipality charges the tax for the whole property. Your share arises from the allocation. If nothing else is agreed, section 556a(1) BGB requires allocation by the proportion of living space (Wohnfläche). The Federal Court of Justice has held that the actual floor area is decisive, not a different figure written in the lease (BGH, judgment of 30 May 2018 – VIII ZR 220/17).
So do the arithmetic: total Grundsteuer ÷ total living area × your living area. If the result does not match the amount shown, something is missing from the statement — often a deduction for commercial units or a pro-rata calculation for part of the year. Both can be legitimate, but they have to be explained.
Mixed-use buildings
If the building contains shops, offices or a medical practice, the property tax attributable to those areas is often higher. If the whole tax is simply spread by floor area, residential tenants subsidise the commercial units. In that case a prior deduction (Vorwegabzug) should be considered, at least where the commercial use causes significantly higher costs.
Ask three specific questions: how much area is commercial, how much tax is attributable to it, and how was the residential share calculated? Without these figures your own share cannot be verified.
Vacant flats are not your problem
If a flat in the building is empty, the landlord bears the corresponding share. The Federal Court of Justice held that where cold operating costs are allocated by the ratio of your flat's area to the total area of the building, the landlord must generally bear the costs attributable to vacant units (BGH, judgment of 31 May 2006 – VIII ZR 159/05).
This matters in practice because the shift is invisible: instead of the real total area, only the let area is used as the denominator, so everyone else pays more. Compare the total area stated with what you know about the building, and with previous years.
The 2025 reform
Germany revalued every property for the reform that took effect from 2025, and municipalities adjusted their multipliers (Hebesätze) at the same time. Some buildings now pay considerably more, others less. An increase is therefore not by itself an error.
Two checks are still worth making. First, was the higher tax booked into the correct billing period? What matters is the period the levy relates to, not only when the landlord happened to pay it. Second, were your monthly prepayments raised at the same time? An adjustment under section 560(4) BGB is possible after a statement, but it must be appropriate and based on the actual result.
Retroactive assessments
Municipalities sometimes reassess the tax retroactively. If such a notice arrives after the landlord's billing deadline has passed, the question is whether a back-claim is still possible. Section 556(3) BGB generally bars late back-claims, with an exception where the landlord is not responsible for the delay. A late official notice can be such a case.
Ask for specifics: when was the notice issued, when did it arrive, and when was the correction passed on to you? A general reference to "the property-tax reform" is not enough.
What a reasonable amount looks like
The German Tenants' Association (Deutscher Mieterbund, DMB) publishes a national benchmark. For the 2024 billing year it puts Grundsteuer at €0.18 per square metre per month — roughly €151 a year for a 70 m² flat. This is an average, not a legal cap; in expensive cities the figure is higher.
Use it as a sanity check, not as an argument in itself. A figure that is three times the benchmark deserves a question; a figure twenty percent above it usually does not.
How to check your line
Write down the total amount, the allocation key, your area, the total area, and the share shown. Redo the calculation. Compare the amount with last year: a jump of more than twenty percent is a reason to look at the assessment notice. Under section 556(4) BGB you are entitled to inspect the documents on which the statement is based, in electronic form if the landlord chooses.
If you object, keep it specific and in writing, and note the date the statement reached you: objections must generally be raised within twelve months of receipt under section 556(3) BGB.
Read on and check your own bill
How shares are calculated in general is explained in the guide on allocation keys. If a figure looks wrong, see inspecting the invoices, and for context on amounts see average service charges per square metre.
You do not have to do the arithmetic yourself. Upload your statement to the free check: the property tax line, the allocation key and your share are read out and compared with the national benchmark.