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Vis-à-vis the tax office, only the owner registered as of the reference date of 1 January remains liable for the entire annual tax, regardless of the later date of sale.
In practice, a pro rata reimbursement of the property tax between seller and buyer from the date of handover is therefore regularly agreed in the notarial purchase agreement.
If no such contractual arrangement exists, the entire tax burden remains legally with the original owner, even if that owner has already sold the property during the course of the year.
In practice, the civil-law re-registration in the land register often only takes place weeks or months after the actual notarial purchase agreement – however, for property tax purposes, the situation as of 1 January alone remains decisive.
Buyers and sellers should therefore clearly and unambiguously regulate the apportionment of property tax already in the purchase agreement, in order to avoid later disputes over the proportional reimbursement.