Inheritance tax in Lithuania

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In Lithuania , acquisitions upon death are subject to inheritance tax , but Lithuanian law has no gift tax. However, purchases made on the basis of free dispositions among the living are assessed under income tax.

Legal basis

Inheritance tax is levied on the basis of a law of December 10, 2002. The tax goes to the municipalities, in principle where parts of the estate are located. If there are inheritance items abroad, the tax is paid to the municipality in which the heir has his general place of residence (Art. 10 ErbschStG).

Personal tax liability

Tax debtors can only be natural persons . Residents are subject to the tax with the entire inherited estate including any parts abroad, non-residents only with property located in Lithuania and objects that are registered in Lithuania. The property of the resident is determined by the income tax law (Art. 2 No. 2 ErbschStG). According to this, anyone who lives in Lithuania or stays more than 183 days a year is generally resident, but not in the case of foreigners, insofar as the resident status is only derived from a period of residence if the stay is exclusively for private purposes.

Discount, Tax Rates, and Exemptions

The decisive factor is the market value, which is determined by the tax office on the basis of an official calculation ordinance. 30% will be deducted from the determined market value. The tax is levied on the value determined in this way:

  • up to 500,000 litas (approx. 144,800 euros): 5%
  • above: 10%

Everyone has an allowance of 10,000 litas (approx. 2,900 euros).

The following relatives are completely exempt from paying inheritance tax (Art. 7 Para. 1 ErbschStG):

  • Spouses
  • biological and adopted children
  • Parents and adoptive parents
  • Foster parents and foster children
  • Grandparents and grandchildren
  • siblings

Procedure and crediting of foreign tax

The tax return must be submitted to the local tax officer at the place of residence of the heir who calculates the tax and issues a certificate no later than March 30th of each year, together with all the documents required for calculating the asset. A certificate of inheritance can only be issued after this tax has been paid. The responsible municipality can defer the payment of the tax for up to one year, or waive it in whole or in part (Art. 7 Para. 2 and 3 ErbschStG).

Insofar as inheritance taxes have to be paid in Lithuania for parts of the estate located abroad, these will be offset against the Lithuanian tax. This presupposes that the country in which this tax is due is included in a list kept and published separately by the Ministry of Finance (Art. 9 Para. 1 ErbschStG).

Gift tax

The Lithuanian tax law does not know gift tax. Free gifts among the living can, however, be taxed as income for the recipients at the lower tax rate of 15% (2009) (Art. 6 No. 9 Income Tax Act). Gifts to spouses, birth and adopted children, parents and adoptive parents, and grandparents are exempt from income tax. Others have an income tax allowance for gifts amounting to 24 times the monthly basic income tax allowance of 320 Litas (7,680 Litas, about 2,225 euros).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ No. IX-1239, Official English translation
  2. Art. 4 Income Tax Act, (Official English translation)
  3. Art. 4, Paragraph 2, No. 3 Income Tax Act
  4. ^ Frank Heemann: Inheritance law in Lithuania , in: Rembert Süß: Erbrecht in Europa , 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, Angelbachtal, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , page 984
  5. ^ Page of the Lithuanian tax administration, Taxes paid by foreigners in Lithuana , Page 16, (English) ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2008 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.vmi.lt
  6. ^ Page of the Lithuanian tax administration, Taxes paid by foreigners in Lithuana , Page 16, (English) ( Memento of the original from October 16, 2008 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.vmi.lt
  7. Art. 17 No. 19 and Art. 20 No. 1 Income Tax Act, (official English translation)

literature

  • Frank Heemann: Inheritance law in Lithuania , in: Rembert Süß: Inheritance law in Europe , 2nd edition 2008, Zerb Verlag, Angelbachtal, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , pages 969-984

Web links

  • Lithuanian Tax Administration website: Taxes for foreigners in Lithuania, (English), [1]

See also