Gift and inheritance tax
Gift and inheritance tax in Germany is a single tax levied on the current market
value of assets transferred without consideration, that is, by way of gift or
inheritance. The rates vary between 7% and 50% depending on the amount of
the transfer and on the closeness of kinship between donor and beneficiary.
Smaller gifts or inheritances are exempted from tax altogether by deducting
“general allowances” from the value of the assets transferred.
These general allowances vary by degree of kinship from €500,000 on transfers between
spouses, €400,000 on settlements on children to €20,000 on gifts to unrelated
persons. Non-resident recipients are only entitled to a reduced allowance of
€2,000, although this is increasingly being challenged before the European
Court of Justice.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18e:199/nws-01