Inheritance tax and gift tax law
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Inheritance tax and gift tax law |
| Abbreviation: | ErbStG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Tax law |
| References : | 611-8-2-2 |
| Original version from: | June 3, 1906 ( RGBl. Pp. 620, 654) |
| Entry into force on: | July 1, 1906 |
| New announcement from: | February 27, 1997 ( BGBl. I p. 378 ) |
| Last revision from: | April 17, 1974 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 933 ) |
| Entry into force of the new version on: |
1st January 1974 |
| Last change by: |
Art. 12 G of November 26, 2019 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1794, 1812 ) |
| Effective date of the last change: |
January 1, 2025 (Art. 18 G of November 26, 2019) |
| GESTA : | D033 |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
After the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act ( ErbStG ), occasionally inheritance tax law called the subject inheritance tax (gift tax) in Germany
- the acquisition of death;
- the gifts among the living;
- the special purpose allowances;
- the assets of a foundation , provided that they are essentially set up in the interests of a family or specific families,
- the assets of an association , the purpose of which is essentially in the interest of a family or certain families, to tie up assets, at intervals of 30 years.
The aim of this, like other tax laws, is the acquisition or maintenance of income to finance government expenditure. The federal states are entitled to the income from inheritance tax . In 2016, the tax was set at 6.8 billion euros.
The Inheritance Tax Implementation Ordinance has been issued for the Inheritance Tax Act. Instructions to the tax authorities contain the associated inheritance tax guidelines.
A distinction is made between three tax brackets, which are based on the personal relationship between the purchaser and the testator or donor (cf. § 15 ErbStG). After deduction of the exemptions (§§ 16, 17 ErbStG), there are graduated tax rates in each tax class according to the amount of the taxable acquisition, which in tax class III reach a maximum of 50% from an acquisition of more than EUR 265,000. Multiple acquisitions of the same property (by different acquirers) due to death within 10 years will be tax-deductible on a staggered basis. Earlier acquisitions (by the same purchaser from the same person) within the last 10 years are included in the calculation with a tax increase (Section 14 ErbStG). Limiting the consideration of previous acquisitions to 10 years opens up the possibility of reducing or avoiding inheritance tax through asset transfers carried out in the course of anticipated inheritance during one's lifetime.
For the valuation of the assets to be used for inheritance tax (taxable acquisition), the Inheritance Tax Act, in addition to its own regulations in Sections 11 ff., Essentially refers to the Valuation Act (BewG). For this reason, entire parts of the inheritance tax guidelines take a position on the BewG.
literature
- Jens Peter Meincke, ErbStG. Commentary , 16th edition 2012, Verlag CH Beck, ISBN 978-3-406-63240-2 .
- Max Troll, Dieter Gebel, Marc Jülicher: ErbStG. Commentary , (loose-leaf collection), 42nd edition, Munich 2011 (as of July 2011), Verlag Vahlen, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 (complete works).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ State & Society - Other taxes - Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Retrieved November 14, 2017 .
