The mayor of Meersburg on Lake Constance suspects that some people have not registered their second home. He now wants to use an investigation service to specifically search for second home tax fraudsters.
It is located in the middle of the old town, towers over Lake Constance and is hard to miss: the medieval Meersburg Castle. The postcard motif attracts thousands of tourists to the holiday resort every year. The citizens’ office, on the other hand, is rather hidden and inconspicuous on the edge of the small old town.
The desk is already there, from which a city investigator will be able to find fraudsters starting in January. The local council decided on the service a year ago because the city suspected that there were more orphaned apartments and houses in the community than registered residences.
Officially, around a fifth of the apartments in Meersburg are second homes. A special tax applies for this – the so-called second home tax. The income is used, among other things, to maintain the infrastructure. If the apartments are not registered, the city will lose income.
“There are people who have an apartment in a beautiful place but don’t want to contribute to it. That can’t really be the case,” says Mayor Robert Scherer. He hopes that he can find such apartments with the investigator.
He also relies on messages from the public. “Speaking bluntly, we live from information about how often the roller shutter is up,” says Scherer. “Or you go and ask the owners and the neighborhood.”
Scarce living space on the shores of Lake Constance
Thomas Haller from the “Haus & Grund Baden” association finds the investigative service excessive. “I think you don’t necessarily have to focus on reporting law.” There are tax fraudsters in every area of life.
Because there are many holiday homes and second homes on Lake Constance, there is hardly any affordable living space left for people who want to live there. Almost all towns on the lakeshore report a tight housing market.
Many municipalities are now reacting and increasing taxes. They hope that this will make second homes less attractive. For example, the second home tax in Uhldingen-Mühlhofen and Langenargen will rise to 28 percent from next year.
In Konstanz it is already 35 percent of the annual rent without additional costs. The Bavarian municipality of Nonnenhorn went one step further and even banned second homes four years ago.
Disadvantages for village life
In Meersburg, Mayor Scherer takes a walk to show the impact second homes have on the cityscape. “The roller shutter city,” as he calls it. He looks at a house in which the shutters have been closed for months – according to Scherer, there are many second homes in the house.
“This is affordable housing. We lack it and of course that hurts,” says the mayor. For example, if young families can no longer find living space, this will have consequences for social coexistence in the area. “The more people move away, the more the voluntary associations suffer,” says Scherer. At some point the places will just be a beautiful backdrop – without life.
He now wants to put an end to that. The investigation service – possibly a model for other tourist hotspots throughout Germany with many empty second homes.