The new law creates confusion: Homeowners must now allocate taxes and fees themselves. With the new property valuation law, the responsibility for collection and distribution of taxes and fees is now placed on homeowners themselves. According to Politiken, this means that individuals who have bought or sold a home must take care of collecting and distributing property contributions and taxes among themselves. The new regulation, which came into effect at the beginning of the year, has already led to changes in the housing tax system.
The Valuation Agency (Vurderingsstyrelsen) is in the process of sending out additional bills or refunds to homeowners as the agency finalizes the property valuations. This means that statements are sent to the current owner of the property regarding any differences in paid property tax from 2021 to 2023. These statements are sent regardless of whether the home has changed owners during that period, which means that a new owner may receive money back or receive a bill, depending on what the previous owner has paid.
Lawyer Niels Erlandsen, chairman of Danish Property Lawyers (Danske Boligadvokater), expresses concern that the responsibility now lies with citizens and not with the authorities. He points out that it is unusual and concerning for legal certainty that the Valuation Agency does not handle splitting the tax and distributing it between the old and new owner of the property.
Erlandsen believes that fees and property taxes should be allocated between the former and current owner based on the time they have owned the property. The new law amendment also allows municipalities to issue consolidated invoices for expenses such as rat control and waste management to the owner of the property as of January 1. This means that an original owner may end up paying for the entire year’s expenses, even if the property changes ownership later in the year.
Thus, the new property valuation law has created new challenges for homeowners who must now navigate a more complex system for tax and fee distribution.