Inheritance Not Reported to the Tax Office: What Heirs Should Do Now

Do I have to report an inheritance to the tax office?

Yes, if the requirements of § 30 ErbStG are met. Under para. 1, every acquisition subject to inheritance tax within the meaning of § 1 ErbStG must be notified in writing “by the acquirer” to the tax office responsible for administering inheritance tax within three months after obtaining knowledge of the accrual.

• Who: the acquirer personally, i.e. every person whose acquisition upon death is subject to inheritance tax.
• Deadline: three months. It is linked to your knowledge of the accrual, not solely to the date of death.
• Form: in writing.
• Value threshold: The wording does not set one. Whether tax is ultimately due depends, among other things, on the subject matter and value of the acquisition, deductible amounts, tax-free allowance, tax class and earlier acquisitions.

Under § 30 para. 4 ErbStG, the notification should contain the following information:

1. First name and surname, tax identification number, occupation and residence of the deceased and of the acquirer
2. Date and place of death of the deceased
3. Subject matter and value of the acquisition
4. Legal basis of the acquisition, for example statutory succession or legacy
5. Personal relationship of the acquirer to the deceased
6. Earlier gifts from the deceased to the acquirer by type, value and date

And after the deadline? § 30 ErbStG does not provide that the duty ends when the three months expire. Other provisions expressly refer to a notification filed later or to information supplied later: § 170 para. 2 no. 1 AO for the start of the assessment period, and § 371 para. 1 and § 378 para. 3 AO. The following sections deal with this making up of the notification.

When is your own notification not required?

§ 30 para. 3 sentence 1 ErbStG reads (unofficial translation):

“No notification is required if the acquisition is based on a disposition upon death opened by a German court, a German notary or a German consul and the relationship of the acquirer to the deceased is evident beyond doubt from the disposition; this does not apply if the acquisition includes real property, business assets, shares in corporations that are not subject to the notification duty under § 33, or foreign assets.”

Therefore check four questions. Only if all four can be answered with yes was your own notification not required:

1. Is your acquisition based on a disposition upon death, such as a will?
2. Was this disposition opened by a German court, a German notary or a German consul?
3. Is your relationship to the deceased evident beyond doubt from the disposition?
4. Does your acquisition include neither real property nor business assets, neither shares in corporations that are not subject to the notification duty under § 33 ErbStG nor foreign assets?

In the case of statutory succession without a disposition upon death, sentence 1 does not apply by its very wording. The same applies if the disposition was opened only by a foreign body.

What “foreign assets” (Auslandsvermögen) in § 30 para. 3 covers is not defined by that provision itself. The definition in § 21 para. 2 ErbStG expressly applies to the crediting of foreign tax. If assets have a foreign connection, you should therefore not assume without examination that your notification was not required.

Even if the notification was not required, the tax office may request a tax return (see below).

Co-heirs: does each one have to notify?

• Notification: Under § 30 para. 1 ErbStG, the acquisition must be notified “by the acquirer”. Each co-heir is the acquirer of his or her own acquisition. The wording does not provide for a joint notification by several acquirers.
• Open question: Whether one co-heir’s notification relieves the others is not governed by the provisions analysed here. Do not rely on this without examining the individual case. In practice, it makes sense to coordinate the notifications with each other.
• Tax return: Here there are express rules. If there are several heirs, they are entitled to file the tax return jointly; it must then be signed by all parties involved. Other persons involved in the inheritance can be included with the consent of the heirs (§ 31 para. 4 ErbStG).
• Executor, estate administrator, estate curator: If there is an executor (Testamentsvollstrecker) or estate administrator (Nachlassverwalter), that person files the tax return; the tax office can require heirs to co-sign. An appointed estate curator (Nachlasspfleger) is obliged to file (§ 31 paras. 5 and 6 ErbStG). These rules concern the return, not the notification under § 30.

Doesn’t the tax office find out about the inheritance anyway?

There are reporting duties of third parties, but only to the extent described by their wording.

§ 33 ErbStG: Anyone who is engaged on a business basis in the safekeeping or management of third-party assets must notify “those assets in their custody and those claims directed against them” that belonged to the deceased’s assets at the time of death or over which the deceased had power of disposal at the time of death. As a rule, this is done within one month after the death has become known to the custodian or manager. In addition, issuers of registered shares or bonds report an application for re-registration before the re-registration (para. 2), and insurance companies report payments to persons other than the policyholder in advance (para. 3). Violations by these reporting parties are punished as a tax administrative offence with a fine (para. 4).

§ 34 ErbStG: Courts, authorities, officials and notaries report official records (Beurkundungen), certificates and orders that may be relevant for assessing inheritance tax. The statute names “in particular”, among other things, deaths reported by the registry offices, the issuance of certificates of inheritance (Erbscheine), European Certificates of Succession and executor’s certificates by courts and notaries, and opened dispositions upon death and completed partitions of estates by courts, notaries and German consuls.

What this means for you: these reports do not replace your own notification. § 30 ErbStG provides for relief of the acquirer only in para. 3.

Notification and tax return: two separate steps

Under § 31 ErbStG, the tax office can request the return from anyone involved in an inheritance, regardless of whether that person is liable for tax. It can also require the return to be filed on a form according to the officially prescribed template, in which the tax debtor (Steuerschuldner) has to calculate the tax; the tax debtor must then pay the self-calculated tax within one month after filing the return (para. 7).

Late-filing surcharge: § 152 AO is linked to the tax return, not to the notification. Under para. 1, a late-filing surcharge (Verspätungszuschlag) can be imposed on anyone who fails to comply, or fails to comply on time, with the obligation to file a tax return. It is not to be imposed if the person obliged to file credibly shows that the delay was excusable; fault of a representative or of an agent is attributed to that person. For the missed notification under § 30 ErbStG, the wording does not support a late-filing surcharge. Whether § 152 para. 2 AO applies to inheritance tax returns remains open here.

What are the consequences if the notification is missing?

This depends above all on whether taxes were understated or unjustified tax advantages were obtained, and on how the omission is to be assessed.

• Tax evasion: Under § 370 AO para. 1 no. 2, anyone who, in breach of duty, leaves the tax authorities unaware of facts relevant for tax purposes and thereby understates taxes or obtains unjustified tax advantages for themselves or another person is punished. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years or a fine; para. 3 provides a higher range for particularly serious cases. The attempt is punishable. Taxes are understated in particular if they are not assessed, not assessed in full or not assessed on time (para. 4 sentence 1).
• Reckless tax understatement: Under § 378 AO, anyone who, as a taxpayer or when handling the affairs of a taxpayer, recklessly (leichtfertig) commits one of the acts described in § 370 para. 1 commits an administrative offence. The administrative offence can be punished with a fine of up to EUR 50,000. No fine is imposed to the extent that the offender corrects the incorrect information, completes the incomplete information or supplies the omitted information vis-à-vis the tax authority before the initiation of criminal or administrative fine proceedings for the act has been notified to the offender or the offender’s representative. If tax understatements have already occurred or tax advantages have been obtained, a fine is not imposed only if the offender additionally pays the taxes understated in his or her favour as a result of the act within the reasonable deadline set for him or her (para. 3).

While § 378 AO expressly covers reckless commission, the mental element required for § 370 AO results from general criminal law provisions that were not analysed for this article. Whether an omission falls under § 370 AO, under § 378 AO or under neither of the two provisions is an assessment in the individual case that this article cannot make.

How long can the tax office still assess the tax?

Under § 169 AO para. 2, the assessment period (Festsetzungsfrist) for inheritance tax is four years, ten years to the extent that a tax has been evaded, and five years to the extent that it has been recklessly understated. Sentence 3 reads (unofficial translation):

“This also applies if the tax evasion or reckless tax understatement was not committed by the tax debtor or by a person whom the tax debtor uses to fulfil his or her tax obligations, unless the tax debtor proves that he or she obtained no financial advantage through the act and that it is also not due to the tax debtor having failed to take the precautions required in ordinary dealings to prevent tax understatements.”

The start of the period is governed by § 170 AO:

• Para. 1: In principle, it begins at the end of the calendar year in which the tax arose. For acquisitions upon death, the tax arises under § 9 ErbStG upon the death of the deceased, in certain cases later, for example for an asserted compulsory portion claim upon its assertion.
• Para. 2 no. 1: If a tax return or a tax self-assessment (Steueranmeldung) has to be filed or a notification has to be made, the period begins at the end of the calendar year in which the tax return, the tax self-assessment or the notification is filed, but at the latest at the end of the third calendar year following the calendar year in which the tax arose, unless the period under para. 1 begins later.
• Para. 5 no. 1: For an acquisition upon death, the period under para. 1 or 2 does not begin before the end of the calendar year in which the acquirer obtained knowledge of the acquisition.

How these rules interact in your case, for example if your own notification was not required under § 30 para. 3, the tax office has requested a return or has been informed through reports by third parties, can only be assessed in the individual case. The periods therefore imply neither that an assessment is already excluded nor that it remains possible indefinitely.

Voluntary disclosure: when the case belongs with an adviser

Under § 371 AO para. 1, anyone who, vis-à-vis the tax authority, corrects the incorrect information, completes the incomplete information or supplies the omitted information in full for all tax offences of one type of tax is not punished under § 370 AO for these tax offences. The information must cover all tax offences of one type of tax that are not time-barred, but at least all tax offences of one type of tax within the last ten calendar years. Which transactions belong to this may extend beyond the individual inheritance.

§ 371 para. 2 AO lists grounds on which exemption from punishment does not occur. Whether one of them applies must be examined before any filing on the basis of the full statutory text and your facts.

Payment as a requirement: If tax understatements have already occurred or tax advantages have been obtained, exemption from punishment occurs for the person involved in the act under § 371 para. 3 AO only if that person pays the taxes evaded in his or her favour as a result of the act and the interest named there within the reasonable deadline set for that person. Among this interest, the provision also names interest under § 233a AO. However, § 233a AO para. 1 covers only income tax, corporation tax, wealth tax, turnover tax and trade tax, not inheritance tax. For inheritance tax, what is decisive at this point, besides the tax, is therefore the interest on evaded taxes under § 235 AO. Under § 238 AO para. 1, it amounts to one half percent for each month and is payable only for full months. The lower rate of § 238 para. 1a AO applies only in the cases of § 233a AO. When the interest period begins depends on § 235 para. 2 AO and must be determined in the individual case.

§ 398a AO: In cases where exemption from punishment does not occur solely because of § 371 para. 2 sentence 1 no. 3 or 4 AO, prosecution is dispensed with if the person involved in the act, within a reasonable deadline set for that person, pays the taxes evaded in his or her favour as a result of the act and the interest named there and additionally pays a sum of money to the state treasury:

• 10 percent of the evaded tax if the evaded amount does not exceed EUR 100,000,
• 15 percent if it exceeds EUR 100,000 and does not exceed EUR 1,000,000,
• 20 percent if it exceeds EUR 1,000,000.

The sum of money is not refunded if the legal consequence of para. 1 does not occur (para. 4). Proceedings concluded under para. 1 can be reopened if the tax authority recognises that the information in the voluntary disclosure was incomplete or incorrect (para. 3).

When you should not act without support:

• Inheritance tax may be due on your acquisition.
• The acquisition includes real property, business assets, company shares or assets abroad.
• You have already received mail from the tax office or another authority regarding this inheritance.
• There are earlier, unnotified acquisitions from the same person within ten years.
• Several acquirers had different knowledge of the acquisition.

Whether a simple notification is sufficient, whether making up the information under § 378 para. 3 AO is the appropriate route or whether a voluntary disclosure under § 371 AO comes into consideration can only be assessed after examining the specific facts. This article cannot promise any particular legal consequence, in particular exemption from punishment. Seek tax advice and, where necessary, criminal law advice.

AI-generated symbolic illustration of a tax consultation with Florian Enders and another person.

Worked example: could tax be due on your acquisition?

The example only shows the calculation logic according to the statutory wording. It is not a forecast for your case.

Assumptions: A child (tax class I no. 2 under § 15 ErbStG) is the sole heir. The deceased and the child are residents (Inländer), so unlimited tax liability applies. The acquisition consists of bank balances with an assumed value of EUR 700,000. There are no debts and no earlier acquisitions from the same person within ten years (§ 14 ErbStG). The child has incurred costs within the meaning of § 10 para. 5 no. 3 ErbStG; the amount deductible without proof is applied. § 17 ErbStG is disregarded. The version as of 10 October 2026 is decisive.

1. Acquisition: EUR 700,000
2. Deduction under § 10 ErbStG para. 5 no. 3: For burial, a reasonable gravestone, customary grave maintenance and costs of winding up, settling or distributing the estate, a total amount of EUR 15,000 is deducted without proof. Result: EUR 685,000
3. Tax-free allowance under § 16 ErbStG para. 1 no. 2: EUR 400,000. Taxable acquisition: EUR 285,000, unchanged after rounding down to full EUR 100 (§ 10 para. 1)
4. Tax rate under § 19 ErbStG para. 1, tax class I, value up to and including EUR 300,000: 11 percent on the entire taxable acquisition. Tax: EUR 31,350
5. Hardship relief under § 19 para. 3: For an acquisition equal to the preceding value threshold of EUR 75,000, the rate would be 7 percent, i.e. EUR 5,250. The difference of EUR 26,100 is covered by half of the amount exceeding the value threshold (EUR 105,000). The tax remains EUR 31,350.

Even in this simple constellation, tax arises. With earlier acquisitions, a different tax class or differently valued assets, the result changes. An overview of the tax-free allowances and tax rates can be found in the inheritance tax guide.

How to make up the notification

1. Record the starting position. When did you obtain knowledge of the accrual? Is there an opened disposition upon death, and which body opened it? Does the acquisition include real property, business assets, shares in corporations (and are these subject to the notification duty under § 33 ErbStG?) or foreign assets?
2. Secure mail from authorities. Keep every letter from the tax office or other authorities regarding this inheritance at hand. Whether such a letter rules out a voluntary disclosure or making up the information without a fine depends on its exact content (§ 371 para. 2, § 378 para. 3 AO).
3. Compile documents.
   • Information under § 30 para. 4 ErbStG, including the tax identification numbers of the deceased and the acquirer
   • Death certificate, disposition upon death with the documents on its opening, certificate of inheritance or European Certificate of Succession, if available
   • Evidence of subject matter and value: account balances and securities account statements as of the date of death, land register extracts, company agreements and shareholding documents, insurance documents
   • Documents on the deceased’s debts and on costs within the meaning of § 10 para. 5 ErbStG
   • Earlier gifts from the deceased to you by type, value and date
   • For assets abroad: evidence of the amount of the foreign assets and of the assessment and payment of foreign tax; for documents in a foreign language, a certified translation may be required (§ 21 para. 3 ErbStG)
4. Have the tax relevance clarified. Valuation, deductible amounts, tax-free allowance, tax class and earlier acquisitions within ten years, among other things, determine whether tax is due.
5. Decide the route before filing. Simple notification, making up the information under § 378 para. 3 AO or voluntary disclosure under § 371 AO: if tax may be due, this decision belongs in advice.
6. Coordinate with co-heirs. According to the wording, each acquirer is personally obliged to notify, to the extent that his or her acquisition is subject to inheritance tax and § 30 para. 3 sentence 1 ErbStG does not apply. Coordinated information avoids contradictions.
7. File the notification in writing. The addressee is the tax office responsible for administering inheritance tax. Label the letter as a notification under § 30 ErbStG. If a procedure under § 371 AO has been chosen in the advice, coordinate form and labelling there.
8. Observe follow-up deadlines. If the tax office requests a return, the deadline it sets of at least one month applies. If the tax debtor (Steuerschuldner) has calculated the tax on request, the tax debtor must pay it within one month after filing the return. If tax understatements have already occurred or tax advantages have been obtained, making up the information under § 371 or § 378 para. 3 AO additionally depends on payment within the reasonable deadline set.

Assets abroad and a connection to Switzerland

Where there is a foreign connection, three questions must be clarified first: Is there German tax liability, was your own notification required despite an opened disposition, and can foreign tax be credited?

Tax liability under § 2 ErbStG: Unlimited tax liability for the entire acquisition of assets arises if the deceased at the time of death or the acquirer at the time the tax arises is a resident (Inländer). Residents include, among others, natural persons with a domicile or habitual abode in Germany, and German nationals who have not stayed abroad continuously for more than five years without having a domicile in Germany. In all other cases, limited tax liability applies to the acquisition of assets that consists of domestic assets within the meaning of § 121 BewG or includes a claim to the transfer of domestic assets within the meaning of § 121 BewG. In this case, the tax-free allowance is reduced by a partial amount under § 16 para. 2 ErbStG.

Notification: If the acquisition includes foreign assets, your own notification under § 30 para. 3 sentence 1 ErbStG is not dispensed with even if the other requirements of that provision are met.

Crediting under § 21 ErbStG: Under para. 1, crediting foreign tax requires that

• the acquirer is subjected, in a foreign state, with his or her foreign assets to a tax corresponding to German inheritance tax,
• unlimited tax liability under § 2 para. 1 no. 1 ErbStG applies,
• the provisions of a double taxation agreement are not applicable,
• an application is made,
• the foreign tax has been assessed, is attributable to the acquirer, has been paid and is not subject to any claim for reduction,
• the foreign assets are also subject to German inheritance tax; crediting takes place only to that extent,
• the German inheritance tax on the foreign assets arose within five years of the foreign inheritance tax arising.

If the acquisition consists only partly of foreign assets, the portion of German inheritance tax attributable to the foreign assets is determined by apportioning the tax for the entire taxable assets in the ratio of the taxable foreign assets to the entire taxable assets; if foreign assets are located in different states, this portion must be calculated separately for each state. What counts as foreign assets depends under para. 2 on whether the deceased was a resident at the time of death: if so, these are all assets of the type listed in § 121 BewG that are attributable to a foreign state, as well as all rights of use in them. If the deceased was not a resident, these are all assets except domestic assets within the meaning of § 121 BewG, as well as all rights of use in them. If, under a double taxation agreement, the foreign tax is to be credited, paras. 1 to 3 apply accordingly (para. 4). Whether crediting actually takes place in your case can only be said after these requirements have been examined.

Switzerland: Whether a double taxation agreement on inheritance tax between Germany and Switzerland applies to your case and what it provides, whether and which inheritance tax arises in Switzerland, and which information is exchanged between the authorities were not analysed for this article. These questions belong in advice. Prepare the following for it: domicile and habitual abode of the deceased and the acquirers at the relevant times, nationality and duration of any stay abroad, location of the individual assets, and assessments and proofs of payment relating to any tax in Switzerland.

Frequently asked questions

I was below the tax-free allowance. Did I still have to notify?

§ 30 para. 1 ErbStG refers to every acquisition subject to inheritance tax and sets no value threshold. The only exception that § 30 ErbStG provides for acquisitions upon death is para. 3 sentence 1 with its counter-exceptions. The consequences of an omission where no tax is actually due are not expressly governed by the provisions analysed here.

Is it enough if one co-heir files the notification?

The wording obliges each acquirer, to the extent that his or her acquisition is subject to inheritance tax and § 30 para. 3 sentence 1 ErbStG does not apply, and does not provide for a joint notification. Whether one co-heir’s notification relieves the others is open and should be clarified in the individual case. For the tax return, § 31 para. 4 ErbStG expressly allows joint filing, signed by all parties involved.

The will was opened by the probate court. Do I then not have to do anything?

Only if all requirements of § 30 para. 3 sentence 1 ErbStG are met: opening by a German court, a German notary or a German consul, your relationship to the deceased is evident beyond doubt from the disposition, and the acquisition includes neither real property nor business assets, neither shares in corporations that are not subject to the notification duty under § 33 nor foreign assets. The tax office can request a tax return even then.

Will I face a late-filing surcharge because I am filing the notification late?

§ 152 AO is linked to the tax return, not to the notification under § 30 ErbStG. A late-filing surcharge comes into consideration under para. 1 if a requested return is not filed or not filed on time; it is not to be imposed if the person obliged to file credibly shows that the delay was excusable. Whether para. 2 applies to inheritance tax returns remains open here.

I have already filed a return that was incomplete. What now?

The correction of a return that has already been filed follows its own rules, which were not analysed for this article. Clarify the procedure in advice before making any correction.

Sources, assumptions and limits of this article

• Sources: All analysed provisions are linked once in the text to gesetze-im-internet.de. Date of retrieval: 10 October 2026.
• Not analysed: case law, administrative instructions, § 17 ErbStG, the application rule for older inheritance cases (§ 37 ErbStG), the question of whether § 152 para. 2 AO applies to inheritance tax returns, the general criminal law provisions on the mental element of § 370 AO, the correction provisions of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung), the relationship with Switzerland including any agreement, Swiss inheritance tax and information exchange.
• Open questions that can only be clarified in the individual case: whether one co-heir’s notification relieves the others; whether mere non-notification without a tax shortfall is sanctioned; how the assessment period runs if your own notification was not required or the tax office was informed through reports by third parties; when the interest period under § 235 para. 2 AO begins.
• Assumptions: The worked example is based exclusively on the assumptions stated there.
• Limits of advice: This article reproduces the statutory wording in general terms. It does not replace individual tax or criminal law advice and does not promise any particular consequence, tax amount or exemption from punishment.

Your next step

If you have missed a notification and are unsure whether tax is due on your acquisition or which route suits your situation, arrange an initial consultation. There we clarify whether and to what extent further advice is possible.