Dogs in Hamburg: Dog tax, off-leash areas and rules
Dog tax in Hamburg: €90 for the first dog. Plus registration, off-leash areas, the rules in Hamburg and dog care at DOGSY – each item with official source and date checked.
1,862,565 inhabitants (as of 2024-12-31) · Source
Dog tax in Hamburg
- First dog
- €90 per year
- Second dog
- Not stated in the source
- Listed breed
- €600 per yeardogs classified as dangerous
- Reductions and exemptions
- Exemption, reduction or waiver on application to the tax office for transaction taxes and real property (e.g. when receiving benefits to secure a livelihood or with a severe disability of 50 per cent or more); not for dogs classified as dangerous.
- Registration
- Within 2 weeks of acquiring or bringing in the dog; registering with the dog register also fulfils the tax registration requirement.
Note: According to the tax authority (Finanzbehörde), the changes to the tax rates adopted by the city parliament (Bürgerschaft) and a temporary tax exemption for dogs from Hamburg animal shelters take effect on 1 January 2027 (announcement of 21.04.2026); the Senate's draft bill provided for an increase of the dog tax rate to 120 euros.
Legal basis: Hamburgisches Hundesteuergesetz (Landesgesetz) (not stated)
Rates according to: Finanzbehörde Hamburg: Hundesteuer
Further official sources: hamburg.de Serviceportal: Hundesteuer an- und abmelden · Finanzbehörde Hamburg: Hebesatz für Gewerbesteuer bleibt auch 2026 unverändert – Hundesteuergesetz modernisiert (21.04.2026) · Finanzbehörde Hamburg: Überprüfung der Hamburger Kommunalabgaben (draft bill)
Not yet checked: Amounts from the official information pages, not from the Act (the state law portal could not be read with curl on 29.10.2026, JavaScript portal). The pages state «90 euros per year» without a graduated rate; a rate for further dogs is not expressly stated. The rates from 2027 (120 euros according to the draft bill; rate for dangerous dogs from 2027) have not been read in the adopted wording; the data are to be updated as of 01.01.2027.
checked on 29 October 2026
Off-leash areas in Hamburg
More than 100 – places with dog exercise zones of the district offices
The district offices have set up dog exercise zones at more than 100 places; the leash requirement for dangerous dogs also applies there (§ 2 Hamburgisches Hundegesetz).
checked on 28 October 2026
Leash in Hamburg
City-state: the rules of the state are also the rules of the city.
Rules in Hamburg
Hamburg is also a federal state. The rules are on the state page.
Dog care in Hamburg
At DOGSY, dog owners find support from people nearby. The services in Hamburg:
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.
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