History of inheritance tax

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The inheritance tax as one of the oldest verifiable taxes has a long history . It is levied on the death of a person (the testator) either directly from the estate or from the heir on his acquisition.

Early origins

The inheritance tax is said to have already been levied in the Sumerian Empire . It is proven as a transfer of ownership levy in ancient Egypt for the year 117 BC. BC and also for the Roman Republic . In the Roman Empire it was raised from the year 8 AD with few exceptions at a rate of five percent until the 4th century. In the Middle Ages, inheritance tax did not play a special role in Europe and then reappeared there first in the Mediterranean region as an early financing instrument for the Italian city-states. However, already known as a precursor in the early Middle Ages were taxes levied by the feudal lord or rulers on leasehold land, called mortuarium , following death or change of ownership . It also overlapped with stamp duties levied in modern times , which could also apply to documents such as wills and inheritance contracts. Right from the start, the collection of inheritance tax was linked to the question of a value-based progression on the one hand and the exemption of close family members on the other.

Reintroduction of the tax in Europe

In Sweden the earliest evidence of an inheritance tax law can be found in the form of the younger Visigoth law ( västgötalagen ) in the 14th century, according to which the heir had to give up 1/10 of the inherited movable property. During the Spanish-Dutch War of Independence , inheritance tax was introduced in the provinces there at the end of the 16th century, and some German states followed in the 17th century ( Braunschweig , Lüneburg and Hamburg ). England introduced inheritance tax in 1694, France in 1703, Austria in 1759, Denmark and Norway in 1702. In the area of Switzerland it was raised for the 1798th In 1873 Prussia enacted the first modern, comprehensive inheritance tax law on German territory, followed by Hamburg in 1894 and Baden in 1899. After the introduction of the Civil Code at the turn of the century in 1900, which brought about a standardization of inheritance law for the first time, an inheritance tax law was introduced in 1906 on the basis of the model Prussian inheritance tax law Imperial Inheritance Tax Act enacted.

Development of the history of ideas

In terms of the history of ideas, the inheritance tax in modern times goes back to the discussion of the issue of granting the right of inheritance. Adam Smith thought it made sense, and the rejection of an inheritance tax was unfounded. The early socialists such as Henri de Saint-Simon demanded the abolition of inheritance law because this would maintain the unequal distribution of wealth . The Communist Manifesto accepted this demand, but later Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels explicitly withdrew it. Because only the socialization of the most important means of production, including land, would eliminate the unjust distribution:

“Like any other bourgeois legislation, the inheritance laws are not the cause, but the effect, the legal consequence of the existing economic organization of society, which is based on private property in the means of production. [...] The disappearance of the right of inheritance will be the natural result of a social change that displaces private property in the means of production, but the abolition of the right of inheritance can never be the starting point for such a transformation. "

A discussion of the socio-political significance of inheritance law and inheritance taxes did not play a special role in the early social democratic opposition in the Prussian parliament and in the Reichstag . The plan, named after its creator Eugenio Rignano , which was hotly debated in Italy , France and England around 1900 , to confiscate all inheritance tax within three generations by collecting inheritance tax, did not acquire any particular significance in the political discussions about inheritance tax in Germany, although it was in German as early as 1905 translated. On the other hand, the inheritance tax has always been viewed by its opponents as an attack on and encroachment on the family.

National

Germany

A uniform inheritance tax was introduced in Germany in 1906.

The Inheritance Tax Act of 1906 introduced progressive taxation, but exempted spouses and children from taxation. In the years 1908 and 1909, the question of including the spouses and children in taxation was discussed vigorously in the Reichstag, but the majority rejected it as an encroachment on families. It was only with the tax and financial reform of 1919 by the Reich Finance Minister Matthias Erzberger , who was later murdered at the center , that general inheritance and gift tax legislation took place again, with the spouses and children being made subject to tax liability for the first time. They formed the first tax bracket with a progressively increasing tax rate from 4 to 35%. In the case of third parties and distant relatives, the top tax rate (from a value of one million marks) rose to 70%, which was increased by 20% to 90% if the heir already had assets in excess of 100,000 marks. An additional estate tax of up to five percent was also levied. However, as early as 1922 there was a new reform in which the top tax rate for tax class 1 was halved and the spouses were completely exempted again, which was withdrawn in 1925 for childless spouses. The estate tax was abolished and the tax classes differentiated. Since then, all subsequent inheritance tax laws have moved within this framework.

Since 1955 (Federal Republic of Germany), the spouses have generally been assessed for inheritance tax again, but the burden has been reduced by tax exemptions that have been increased several times over the decades; this also applies to children. The top tax rate in tax class I (spouse, children) was 15%, in tax class V (strangers, distant relatives) 60%. In 1974, under the social-liberal coalition (SPD / FDP), the tax rates for families were drastically increased, which resulted in a doubling of tax revenue. The exemption for spouses was 250,000 DM, for children 90,000 DM and for other heirs 3,000 DM. With the tax reform of 2008 , the exemptions for spouses were increased to 300,000 euros and for children to 200,000 euros, and a pension allowance was introduced in favor of spouses. In the next tax reform, the rates of 500,000 euros for spouses and 400,000 euros for children (per parent) were introduced.

Income from inheritance and gift taxes rose to a record value of 6.3 billion euros in 2015. That was 15 percent more than in 2014. A total of 102 billion euros was bequeathed or given away in 2015, of which 57 billion euros remained tax-free because of the tax exemptions.

Austria

In Austria, the inheritance tax was lifted by the Constitutional Court in 2007 because the assessment base for land (the unit value) violated the principle of equality. Since the legislature (SPÖ / ÖVP government Gusenbauer ) did not react, the tax was waived. However, it has been replaced by various adjustments, in particular the real estate transfer tax , which is incurred in the case of paid and free property transfers in the real estate sector. It was increased significantly in 2015. Other assets, in particular household effects and other movable goods , but also final taxable savings balances for which capital gains tax  (KEST) is levied - for these there were previously exemptions based on the amount of inherited assets and the degree of relationship between the heir and the deceased - remain untaxed.

literature

  • Jens Beckert: Unearned Assets - Sociology of Inheritance Law. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-593-37592-3 .
  • Max Troll, Dieter Gebel, Marc Jülicher: Inheritance tax and gift tax law. Loose-leaf commentary, 7th edition. Vahlen, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-8006-2402-7 , introduction marginal note 60ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Max Troll, Dieter Gebel, Marc Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act. 2009, introduction of paragraphs 60 and 61.
  2. ↑ a b c Keyword inheritance and gift tax. In: Willi Albers (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of economics. (HdWW) Volume 2, G. Fischer, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-525-10255-0 , p. 448.
  3. ^ Ernst Johannsson: Inheritance law in Sweden. In: Rembert Süß (Ed.): Inheritance law in Europe. 2nd Edition. Zerb Verlag, Angelbachtal 2007, ISBN 978-3-935079-57-0 , page 1318f. No. 183.
  4. ^ Max Troll, Dieter Gebel, Marc Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act. 2009, introduction paras. 61–63.
  5. ↑ Federal Ministry of Finance: Inheritance tax / gift tax, historical development ( Memento from November 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Sam Fleischacker: On Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J. 2004, ISBN 0-691-11502-8 , p. 199 ( books.google.de : “there is no point more difficult to account for than the right we conceive men to have to dispose of their goods after death. ")
  7. ^ Karl Marx: Report of the General Council on the law of inheritance. 6th edition. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1975, 367 No. 2, accessed on September 13, 2009.
  8. ↑ Jens Beckert: Unearned assets - sociology of inheritance law. 2004, pp. 253-255.
  9. ^ Inheritance Tax Act (Germany, 1906) . Wikisource.
  10. ^ Max Troll, Dieter Gebel, Marc Jülicher: Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act. 2009, introduction marginal number 65ff.
  11. ↑ Jens Beckert: Unearned assets - sociology of inheritance law. 2004, pp. 263-273.
  12. ↑ Jens Beckert: Unearned assets - sociology of inheritance law. 2004, p. 272.
  13. ↑ Federal Statistical Office: Inheritance tax receipts in 2015 increased to 6.3 billion euros. In: Press Release No. 276. August 11, 2016, accessed March 15, 2017 .