Inheritance tax in Denmark

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Denmark levies inheritance tax in the form of both an estate tax and a supplementary inheritance tax on an acquisition due to death . A gift tax is only payable unrequited transfers among living family members, while donations are classified to any other person as taxable income.

Inheritance and gift tax liability

The Danish inheritance and gift tax law was completely redesigned on the basis of a law on taxes on inheritance and gifts of June 14, 1995; it is now in the version of September 22, 2006. In addition, the taxation of the estate is in the inheritance tax law in the version of 28 August 2006 regulated. Spouses and registered partners were excluded from the scope of the law . The law applies to all inheritances and gifts from all testators or donors with Danish domicile or other close spatial connections to Denmark to the entire property, including foreign ones. The estate of foreign testators is only subject to tax on real estate located in Denmark or on immovable permanent establishment assets located in Denmark. The same applies to gift tax.

Estate tax

According to Danish legal understanding, the estate is generally viewed as a separate legal entity that can also be subject to income tax until it is disputed. The estate tax law provides for a separate taxation of 50% of the income from the estate above a certain value (1,786,600 Danish kroner ), which also includes any profit realized on sales in preparation for the apportionment, such as the capital gains tax on property sales. The acquisition by the heir takes place only at the time of allocation. This point in time is also decisive for determining the amount of the assets accruing to the heirs, which is based on the market values. An estate tax of 15% is levied on the values ​​determined in this way, to which the heirs are subject regardless of their position in relation to the testator.

Supplementary inheritance tax

In addition to this estate tax, heirs who do not belong to the family of the deceased are also subject to inheritance tax (as inheritance tax) of 25% on the allocated estate value less the estate tax, so that this group pays a total of 36.25% inheritance tax ( 15% estate tax and 25% from 85% of the estate). The law defines the concept of the family very broadly. It includes the descendants, stepchildren , parents, divorced spouses, spouses of a living or deceased child, as well as persons with whom the deceased was at least two years immediately prior to his death (or moving to a retirement home) or as a foster child for any period of time has lived in the community for at least five years.

Allowances

An exemption , which is indexed annually based on the general performance, is only given to the heirs assigned to the family. For 2009 it was set at 263,100 Danish kroner (approx. 35,000 euros). The tax exemption is not offset against a gift tax exempt from a previous donation by the testator. There is generally no inheritance tax if the heir dies within six months of the acquisition.

Gift tax

Gift tax is subject to gifts from or to Danish residents and, if there is no residence, from property located in Denmark. Gift tax is levied on gifts made within the family (as defined above for inheritance tax) at 15%. If a child-in-law has received a gift, the child married to them must still be alive. Gifts to grandparents and stepparents as well as children-in-law (if they do not fall into the first group) are taxed at the full estate and inheritance tax rate of 36.25%. All other gift recipients must tax the gift as income at their personal rates. The family members plus grandparents and stepparents receive an allowance of 58,700 Danish kroner (2009), the children-in-law (if they do not belong to the first group) an allowance of 20,500 Danish kroner (2009). Gifts and inheritances are not added together for tax purposes, regardless of their temporal connection.

Double taxation

If there is double taxation of estate items located abroad, the resulting foreign tax will be offset against the Danish inheritance tax that has also been incurred. In addition, Denmark has concluded a number of agreements to avoid double taxation in the area of ​​inheritance law, such as the Nordic Convention, which also includes the gift tax to which Norway , Sweden , Finland and Iceland belong, with the USA (including gift tax) and Switzerland and Italy . The general German-Danish tax agreement of November 22, 1995 exists with Germany , which also regulates inheritance and gift tax. The DTA basically provides for inheritance taxation based on the residence of the testator or donor, but allows the tax calculated by the other state to be offset if, as is the case with real estate, a part of the property located in a foreign country is taxed. Changes of residence (from Germany to Denmark or vice versa) are only taken into account after five years.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Laws No. 426, 971 and 908; Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark); Ring and Olsen-Ring in: Rembert Süß (Hrsg.): Inheritance law in Europe. 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , page 461
  2. ↑ a b Ring and Olsen-Ring in: Rembert Süß (Hrsg.): Erbrecht in Europa , 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , page 462
  3. ↑ Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark)
  4. ↑ Ring and Olsen-Ring in: Rembert Süss (Ed.): Inheritance law in Europe. 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , page 464
  5. ↑ Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark)
  6. ↑ Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark)
  7. ↑ Danish Tax Facts 2009 (English)  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ey.com  
  8. ↑ CEF: Gift Tax in Denmark (English) ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cfe-eutax.org
  9. ↑ Taxation in Denmark Rates 2009 (English) ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.taxindenmark.com
  10. ↑ Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark)
  11. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 1996 Part II p. 2.565, Federal Tax Gazette 1996 Part I p. 1.219, German-Danish Tax Agreement of November 22, 1995  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bundesfinanzministerium.de  
  12. ↑ Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Denmark on the avoidance of double taxation on taxes on income and property, as well as estate, inheritance and gift taxes and assistance in tax matters (German-Danish tax agreement) - Federal Ministry of Finance - Topics. Retrieved December 8, 2018 .

literature

  • Troll / Gebel / Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act , 3, 7th edition 2009, Vahlen, loose-leaf commentary, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , § 21 ErbStG, marginal number 97 (Denmark)
  • Gerhard Ring and Line Olsen-Ring: Inheritance law in Denmark , in: Rembert Süß (Ed.): Inheritance law in Europe , 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , pages 413-465