While many property owners are still waiting for the full reasoning behind the Federal Fiscal Court’s (BFH) ruling— more on this in the PepperPapers news blog —they are already receiving letters from their municipalities.

The message was clear:

Withdraw your objection.

As justification, numerous municipalities cited the Federal Fiscal Court’s rulings on the Baden-Württemberg property tax model.

But this is precisely where, in our view, the real scandal begins.

Municipalities Cite Federal Fiscal Court Ruling

One example is the correspondence from the City of Mannheim dated June 2026.

In it, the city provides information about the BFH decisions, allegedly dated May 20, 2026, and expressly urges the property owners to withdraw their appeals within a specified time frame.

This gives many owners the impression that:

👉 The property tax has been finalized.

But that is not the case at all.

The Decisive Date: July 2, 2026

The Federal Fiscal Court had published its decisions in a press release on May 20, 2026.

In reality, however, these decisions date back to April 22, 2026.

However, the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) did not publish the full reasoning for its ruling until July 2, 2026.

Original judgments:

• https://www.bundesfinanzhof.de/de/entscheidung/entscheidungen-online/detail/STRE202610124/
• https://www.bundesfinanzhof.de/de/entscheidung/entscheidungen-online/detail/STRE202610125/

Why is that so important?

Because a constitutional complaint cannot be filed against a press release or the operative part of a judgment alone.

She must review the complete written grounds for the judgment.

The time limit for filing a constitutional complaint does not begin until the documents have been served on the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

So the legal proceedings are not yet over

That is precisely why the Taxpayers’ Association and Haus & Grund have already announced their intention to file a constitutional complaint.

👉 https://www.steuerzahler.de/aktuelles/detail/grundsteuer-musterklagen-vom-bundesfinanzhof-abgewiesen/

In other words:

While municipalities were already urging property owners to withdraw their appeals, the alliance of associations was already preparing to take the case to the Federal Constitutional Court.

Legal proceedings are therefore by no means over.

He’s simply moving to the court of last resort.

Why This Is Important for Property Owners

Anyone who prematurely ends their appeal or court proceedings may deprive themselves of the opportunity to benefit from a later decision by the Federal Constitutional Court.

That is precisely why you should carefully consider whether your case should remain pending until a final constitutional ruling is issued.

Here’s how you can rely on the test cases

PepperPapers developedthe “Property Tax Model Proceedings – Suspended Proceedings”template specifically for this situation.

You can use this form to request that your case remain pending until a decision is reached in the ongoing test cases and the announced constitutional complaints.

👉 https://pepperpapers.de/produkt/grundsteuer-musterprozesse-ruhendes-verfahren-vorlage/

Conclusion

The Federal Fiscal Court’s rulings do not mark the end of the property tax dispute.

Only with the publication of the full reasoning behind the ruling on July 2, 2026, will the way be cleared for the announced constitutional complaints.

This makes it all the more remarkable—and, from a legal standpoint, more than a little troubling—that some municipalities have already asked property owners to withdraw their objections.

The Federal Finance Court does not have the final say on property tax.

The final say now rests with Karlsruhe.