Dogs in Berlin: Dog tax, off-leash areas and rules
Dog tax in Berlin: €120 for the first dog. Plus registration, off-leash areas, the rules in Berlin and dog care at DOGSY – each item with official source and date checked.
3,685,265 inhabitants (as of 2024-12-31) · Source
Dog tax in Berlin
- First dog
- €120 per year
- Second dog
- €180 per yearApplies to the second and every further dog.
- Listed breed
- Not stated in the source
- Reductions and exemptions
- Exemption on application to the tax office, among other things for dogs from animal shelters, animal sanctuaries and similar animal welfare facilities (for five years) and when receiving certain social benefits (exhaustive list, § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 6 Hundesteuergesetz).
- Registration
- Within one month of buying the dog or moving to Berlin; dogs under three months within the first four months of life.
Legal basis: Hundesteuergesetz Berlin (Landesgesetz) (not stated)
Rates according to: Senatsverwaltung für Finanzen Berlin: FAQ Hundesteuer
Not yet checked: Amounts and deadline from the official FAQ, not from the Act; Dog Tax Act not retrieved in its wording. The FAQ does not say whether there is a separate rate for dangerous dogs. Re-check 29.10.2026: the law portal gesetze.berlin.de could not be read with curl (JavaScript portal); the Act has still not been read in its wording.
checked on 28 October 2026
Off-leash areas in Berlin
12 – dog exercise areas in the forest, together about 1,220 hectares
In the forest, dogs may only run off the leash in the designated dog exercise areas; otherwise the leash requirement applies in the forest (§ 23 Abs. 2 Landeswaldgesetz, § 28 Abs. 3 Hundegesetz Berlin).
checked on 28 October 2026
Leash in Berlin
City-state: the rules of the state are also the rules of the city.
Rules in Berlin
Berlin is also a federal state. The rules are on the state page.
Dog care in Berlin
At DOGSY, dog owners find support from people nearby. The services in Berlin:
More cities in Germany
The same information for other cities.
No guarantee
As of: 29 October 2026. The official text alone is authoritative. Source and date checked per row.
Not legal advice. We summarise the rules in plain language. This is a guide and does not replace information from the competent authority.
More at DOGSY
At DOGSY, dog owners, dog sitters and everyone who loves dogs connect with each other.