Free practitioner guide
German Erbschaftsteuer (inheritance tax) on 8 pages
Steuerklasse (tax class), Freibetrag (personal allowance), tax rates, 5 levers to reduce the burden and 3 worked examples - compact, with every paragraph reference, free of jargon.
This quick-check is for you if an inheritance is approaching or you are planning a larger Schenkung (lifetime gift) and want to know quickly what to expect from German Erbschaftsteuer and Schenkungsteuer (gift tax) - and where the planning levers sit.
Before you read on
The allowance that decides everything
In advice I see the same reflex constantly: a 500,000 EUR allowance for the spouse sounds like a lot. With a Frankfurt property inheritance it is often used up by a single apartment - and every euro above it is taxed. The quick-check shows you in black and white where your allowance really ends.
Personal allowance for spouses and registered partners under § 16 ErbStG. For children it is 400,000 EUR per parent, for grandchildren 200,000 EUR.
§ 16 ErbStG
Honestly: your whole calculation stands or falls on this allowance. Use it and renew it every ten years, and you move wealth tax-free. Let it lapse unused, and you pay six figures later.
What you will find inside
7 parts, every one with tables
I built this quick-check the way I would want to read it as the person affected: one table per page, every statement with its paragraph, no jargon. Here is what sits in the 8 pages - the full version with every rate, every sample calculation and the 5 levers ships as a PDF.
Steuerklasse (tax class)
Who falls into which Steuerklasse - and why parents shift class depending on the transfer direction.
Personal Freibetrag (allowance)
Every Freibetrag under § 16 ErbStG: 500,000 EUR for the spouse down to 20,000 EUR for unrelated heirs.
Tax rates per Steuerklasse
The full progression table under § 19 ErbStG for class I, II and III.
5 levers to reduce tax
Schenkung (lifetime gift), Niessbrauch (usufruct), Gueterstandsschaukel, Familienheim, survivor allowances.
3 sample calculations
Concrete cases at 300,000, 1 million and 5 million EUR of estate value.
The 3 most common mistakes
What regularly costs families six-figure amounts.
Understanding the 10-year clock
Tax, Pflichtteil and social-care recovery - and why a Niessbrauch suspends all three.
From practice
Why I wrote this quick-check
I am Florian Enders, Steuerberater (German tax adviser, regulated under StBerG) at tietze enders und Partner mbB in Liederbach. Erbschaftsteuer and Schenkungsteuer, succession of wealth and tax-driven structuring are my daily work. I built this quick-check from real client files - the names stay between us, of course. I have seen too often how families pay six figures simply because nobody explained the two or three decisive sentences to them in time.
When the reading makes it real for you: bring your situation along and we will work through it together in the initial consultation. The first half hour costs nothing. Book a meeting