Inheritance Tax Calculator

German inheritance tax follows a clear logic that hardly anyone holds in their head anyway: the more closely related you are to the deceased or the giver, the higher your allowance and the lower your tax rate. The Inheritance Tax Calculator translates this kinship logic into concrete figures so you know whether any tax is due at all and, if so, how much.

Everything begins with the allowance under Section 16 ErbStG. Spouses and registered civil partners have 500,000 EUR free, children and stepchildren 400,000 EUR, grandchildren whose parents have already died likewise 400,000 EUR, other grandchildren 200,000 EUR and great-grandchildren 100,000 EUR. Parents and grandparents have 100,000 EUR in the case of inheritance. For more distant relatives and non-relatives - siblings, nieces, nephews, children-in-law, but also friends - it is only 20,000 EUR. Only the acquisition above the allowance is taxed at all.

The tax class is likewise determined by the degree of kinship, under Section 15 ErbStG. Class I covers the closest family, class II further relatives such as siblings and children-in-law, class III all other persons. This class decides, alongside the allowance, the tax rate, which ranges from 7% to 50%. The calculator assigns your case automatically to the right class.

An important and often surprising point: the inheritance tax tariff under Section 19 ErbStG is not marginal like income tax. The applicable rate is applied to the entire taxable acquisition, not just to the part above a bracket. That is why one euro more at the border between two brackets can lead to a noticeable jump. Precisely for this there is the hardship adjustment, which softens this jump - the calculator includes it.

For gifts the same framework applies, with one decisive addition: the allowances are available to you afresh every ten years. Anyone who transfers assets early and in stages can use the allowances multiple times and thus save considerable tax over the years. The calculator makes visible how inheritance and staggered gifting differ.

Besides the allowances there are further exemptions, such as for the owner-occupied family home and household goods, plus special maintenance allowances. The calculator names these cases and the associated sections as orientation. It computes protected and does not replace tax advice: valuing real estate and business assets, estate liabilities and structuring are complex. Take the result as a well-founded order of magnitude, not a final tax assessment.