Property assessments for commercial properties are being postponed again—here's what that means for you

The new property valuation system for commercial real estate has been plagued by delays for several years, and now another adjustment is on the way.

A bill that is scheduled to be fast-tracked in the Folketing and passed before the summer recess will mean that individual assessments of commercial properties will be postponed and replaced by a simplified model.

What is the bill about?

Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Minister of Taxation and Growth, has put forward the proposal because the Valuation Board continues to be far behind schedule in completing the individual property valuations. Instead of a specific valuation of each individual property, the base value will be determined through indexation—that is, a projection of the previous valuation based on general price trends in the area.

For owner-occupied homes, a safeguard has been included in the bill: homeowners may request a standard appraisal with the right to appeal if the indexation deviates significantly from the property’s actual value.

Commercial properties do not have the same opportunity

This is where the bill hits commercial property owners significantly harder. According to the bill, there will be neither a declaration process nor an opportunity to appeal the indexed assessment for commercial properties. In other words: The standard process involving declaration, a deadline for objections, and the right to appeal—which has been the norm until now—will be suspended for future indexed assessments.

This has already prompted criticism from tax advisors and lawyers. Several have pointed out that, from the perspective of legal certainty, it is problematic that owners of commercial real estate are effectively deprived of any influence over their own tax base.

Why is this happening—again?

The reason is that the Valuation Board has so far only managed to issue a very limited number of final valuations. Of the nearly 500,000 commercial properties that must be valued under the new rules, only a small handful have received an actual, individual valuation so far. To avoid an even larger backlog, the agency has therefore once again opted for a simplified, indexed solution, as it did previously for both the 2023 and 2025 assessments.

What does this mean for your property tax?

Even though you do not receive an individual assessment or have the opportunity to appeal the indexation, there are still some safeguards in place. Commercial properties continue to be subject to cap-and-limit schemes for both property tax and coverage tax, which set a limit on how much your property tax can increase from year to year, regardless of whether the indexed assessment rises further.

We're following the case

Since the bill is still under consideration, changes may be made before it is passed. We are closely monitoring developments and will provide updates as soon as there is new information, including what this specifically means for your property tax in the coming years.

Do you have any questions?

If you have any questions about how the new legislation affects your specific property, or if you would like help assessing the impact on your property tax, please feel free to contact us.

Call us at 39 29 08 00 or email us at buusjensen@buusjensen.dk.