Danish homeowners could get ’wrong’ tax bill due to bureaucracy delays
An unknown number of homeowners in Denmark may not be able to correctly submit information on their homes, meaning they could face incorrect taxation.
The homeowners could be unable to correct incorrect information that sets the value of their homes even though they are aware of the error and have attempted to remedy it, according to a report by newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Homeowners have four weeks to correct information relating to the value of their homes if they can see inaccuracies.
Once this is done, municipalities approve the changes before the authority responsible for setting property tax, Vurderingsstyrelsen, uses the information to set taxation.
The information includes data from the national “Buildings and Housing Registry” (Bygnings- og Boligregistret, BBR). This includes the size of the plot and the house, the number of bathrooms and the heating source, according to Jyllands-Posten.
Should a homeowner submit amendments, they are informed that the local municipality “processes and approves the changes within a deadline of ten days”, the valuations agency states on its website.
But several municipalities informed Jyllands-Posten that they are no longer able to comply with the ten-day timescale.
The municipalities in question are major cities Copenhagen, Odense, Aalborg and Esbjerg.
The affected local authorities have reportedly received such a large number of BBR data amendments that it is now taking them over ten days to approve them.
This means that some homeowners will not see their corrections approved before the information is submitted to the valuation agency, potentially resulting in overtaxation according to Jyllands-Posten.
Experts have called for the system to be put on hold so that the backlog can be cleared, the paper reports.
“This can never be the fault of members of the public. It should therefore be placed on hold if you want to follow ombudsman practice,” professor of law Hanne Marie Motzfeldt told Jyllands-Posten.
Ultimate responsibility for the issue lies with Vurderingsstyrelsen, which risks breaching homeowners’ legal rights if it applies valuations based on incorrect data, according to the report.
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The homeowners could be unable to correct incorrect information that sets the value of their homes even though they are aware of the error and have attempted to remedy it, according to a report by newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
Homeowners have four weeks to correct information relating to the value of their homes if they can see inaccuracies.
Once this is done, municipalities approve the changes before the authority responsible for setting property tax, Vurderingsstyrelsen, uses the information to set taxation.
The information includes data from the national “Buildings and Housing Registry” (Bygnings- og Boligregistret, BBR). This includes the size of the plot and the house, the number of bathrooms and the heating source, according to Jyllands-Posten.
Should a homeowner submit amendments, they are informed that the local municipality “processes and approves the changes within a deadline of ten days”, the valuations agency states on its website.
But several municipalities informed Jyllands-Posten that they are no longer able to comply with the ten-day timescale.
The municipalities in question are major cities Copenhagen, Odense, Aalborg and Esbjerg.
The affected local authorities have reportedly received such a large number of BBR data amendments that it is now taking them over ten days to approve them.
This means that some homeowners will not see their corrections approved before the information is submitted to the valuation agency, potentially resulting in overtaxation according to Jyllands-Posten.
Experts have called for the system to be put on hold so that the backlog can be cleared, the paper reports.
“This can never be the fault of members of the public. It should therefore be placed on hold if you want to follow ombudsman practice,” professor of law Hanne Marie Motzfeldt told Jyllands-Posten.
Ultimate responsibility for the issue lies with Vurderingsstyrelsen, which risks breaching homeowners’ legal rights if it applies valuations based on incorrect data, according to the report.
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