Local authorities in Germany are making more money than ever from dogs – or their owners to be precise. The very idea of charging dog owners an annual tax for keeping their pets may sound archaic to British ears but it carries on fairly unchallenged in Germany.
In 2023, Germany’s municipal authorities received a total of €421 million (£351 million) in tax from the country’s dog owners. The figure has risen by 41 per cent over the last decade. Each municipal authority sets its own fees. Having a dog in Berlin will set you back €120 (£100) a year with every additional dog costing €180 (£150). Stuttgart charges extra for breeds considered dangerous: owning a Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier costs €612 (£510) a year.
Despite there being no good reason for the dog tax, there seems to be no significant rebellion against it
If this seems a lot of money, you’re right. It comes on top of higher pet food costs, which have risen by nearly 17 per cent in 2023 alone. Vet bills have also climbed sharply since the general tariffs for what clinics are allowed to charge were increased in November 2022.
In light of the rising cost of living and the pressures this puts on pet owners, occasionally small flurries of opposition to the dog tax do occur. Earlier this year, in the small south-western town of Blaustein, for instance, the authorities had decided to raise the annual dog fee by 60 per cent, from €90 (£75) to €144 (£120). A second dog will set you back €288 (£240). This drove 100 people onto the street in protest. Anja Hagenlocher, who owns a rescue dog called Thea, said this was the first demonstration she had ever taken part in. She felt it was unfair that ‘the town’s coffers are empty and now dog owners are supposed to pay for the shortfall’.
Blaustein town council ignored the protest. A local journalist wrote that she agreed with the decision. Owning dogs herself, she felt that ‘a high dog tax is also a chance for animal welfare’. The argument isn’t new. High costs for dogs are supposed to deter people from buying or adopting pets for which they cannot afford the food and vet bills. But since there aren’t taxes on cats and other pets, this argument is unlikely to make dog owners feel better about their annual shortfall.
Some municipalities have thought about introducing a cat tax. In Leipzig in eastern Germany, a councillor from the far-left party Die Linke argued that feline damage to the local bird population should be punished in some way. The motion was denied because the tax wouldn’t have been enforceable. Cats that are allowed to roam outside aren’t easily attributable to their owners. The commission looking into the matter concluded that ‘the keeping of birds, tarantulas and other pets is also impossible to tax’ since it would be difficult to check if someone even has these housebound pets. In other words, the authorities tax dogs because they can.
Another argument that has long been used to justify the tax is that dogs defecate in public areas, which requires cleaning by the local authorities and the maintenance of additional bins. But the €421 million raised this way isn’t ringfenced and simply flows into the authorities’ general coffers.
Despite there being no good reason for the dog tax, there seems to be no significant rebellion against it. This may partially be because of the extremely high risk of getting caught. Dogs have to have to wear a visible tag with their registration number at all times. Being caught without it can incur a fee of up to €10,000 (£8,335).
But the more likely reason why people pay up is simply that the dog tax has been around for so long. Its roots can be traced back to its introduction in Britain in 1796. This was a more progressive form than the one that Germany applies today: instead of a flat rate, dogs used in sports were classed as a luxury and therefore charged at five shillings per year. Poorer people were allowed to keep one dog not used for sport tax-free. Britain kept a dog licensing system at 37 pence for each dog until 1988 when it was abolished. But even beforehand, many dog owners simply ignored the requirement since it wasn’t really enforced.
The Kingdom of Prussia was among the first German-speaking states to introduce a dog tax in 1810. It applied it as a luxury tax, the logic being that anyone who had enough money to feed a dog was also able to pay tax. Cats on the other hand were considered a necessity to keep mice and rats at bay.
Many countries have now abolished their dog taxes. Denmark did so in 1972, France in 1979 and Sweden in 1995. They were followed by Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece and others. However, the German-speaking countries of Austria and Switzerland still charge it.
Since there is unlikely to be a widespread rebellion against a tax considered part of Germany’s state fabric, it isn’t seen as an issue worth raising by any political party. The dog tax has somehow evaded a widespread debate around the increased cost of living. As long as that remains the case, local authorities will happily count their boost in revenue and let sleeping dogs lie.
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