Free calculator
Stagger the gift.
Multiply the allowance.
Every ten years the Freibetrag (allowance) renews (§ 14 ErbStG) - the strongest legal lever against Schenkungsteuer (gift tax). Enter your transfer volume and compare instantly: a single gift against a staggered transfer across several ten-year windows. With the saving and the tax-free capacity.
Details of the gift
Tax comparison
Enter the transfer volume to compare a single gift with a staggered transfer.
Note: This calculation is a non-binding initial estimate. It applies the flat-band scale of § 19 ErbStG without the Härteausgleich (hardship adjustment, § 19 para. 3) and ignores any Nießbrauch (usufruct) reservation, the relief for business assets (§ 13a ErbStG) and the specific valuation of individual asset types. For a robust structure, please consult a German tax adviser.
Example
One gift, three schedules
1,000,000 EUR to a child, Freibetrag 400,000 EUR (§ 16 ErbStG), Steuerklasse I. This is how differently the gift tax turns out, depending on how many ten-year windows you spread it across.
| Schedule | Tax | effective |
|---|---|---|
| Everything at once today§ 16 ErbStG · one allowance | 90,000 EUR | 9.00 % |
| Over 10 years, two windows§ 14 ErbStG · allowance doubled | 22,000 EUR | 2.20 % |
| Over 20 years, three windows§ 14 ErbStG · allowance tripled | 0 EUR | 0.00 % |
Worked example, as of 2026. Flat-band scale of § 19 ErbStG without the Härteausgleich. Figures rounded.
Frequently asked
Understanding gift tax
How often can I use the German gift tax allowance?
Every ten years afresh. Under § 16 ErbStG every recipient has a personal Freibetrag (allowance) - 400,000 EUR for children, 500,000 EUR for a spouse. Gifts within ten years are added together under § 14 ErbStG. But once ten years have passed since the last gift, the full Freibetrag is renewed. Anyone who starts early and spreads transfers over two or three decades can use the same allowance several times and move substantial sums tax-free.
How high is the allowance for a gift?
The Freibetrag depends on the family relationship (§ 16 para. 1 ErbStG): spouses and registered partners 500,000 EUR, children and stepchildren 400,000 EUR, grandchildren 200,000 EUR. For everyone else - siblings, nieces, nephews and unrelated persons - it is 20,000 EUR. Important and often missed: parents and grandparents only receive 20,000 EUR for a lifetime gift. The 100,000 EUR you often read about apply only on inheritance.
Why do parents only get 20,000 EUR for a gift?
This is probably the most important difference between a gift and an inheritance. § 15 para. 1 ErbStG only places parents and grandparents in the favourable Steuerklasse I (tax class I, with a 100,000 EUR allowance) when they acquire on death - that is, when they inherit. If a child makes a gift to its parents during their lifetime, the parents fall into Steuerklasse II and receive only a 20,000 EUR Freibetrag at noticeably higher rates. A gift back to one's own parents is therefore rarely attractive in tax terms.
Is a staggered gift really worth it?
In most cases yes, and the effect is twofold. First, every additional ten-year period multiplies the usable Freibetrag. Second, the Schenkungsteuer (gift tax) is progressive (§ 19 ErbStG): the smaller the individual taxable acquisition, the lower the rate. Transferring 1,000,000 EUR to a child in one go costs around 90,000 EUR in gift tax. Spread across three windows over twenty years, the whole transfer can stay tax-free. The condition is that you start in good time.
Can I give and still keep the income?
Yes, through a reserved Nießbrauch (usufruct). You transfer the asset - a property or company shares, for example - but reserve the income and the right of use for yourself. The capital value of the Nießbrauch significantly reduces the taxable value of the gift, so the Freibetrag goes even further. You calculate the exact reduction with the Nießbrauch calculator; you plan the timing with this simulator. The two levers work together.
Read on
More on the gift
The ten-year rule for gifts
The detailed background to this calculator: how § 14 ErbStG works, when the clock starts and which mistakes undo the staggering.
Read the guideGerman Inheritance Tax Calculator
Same allowances, different rules: what falls due on death - with the same Steuerklassen and rates at a glance.
Open the calculatorMore than a calculator.
Real advice.
The ten-year staggering is one of the strongest levers in anticipated succession - but only if the chain is set up cleanly and starts early. In a personal conversation we examine how allowances, Nießbrauch and the timing of the transfer combine best in your family.