Status: 11/21/2022 5:15 p.m
The FDP wants to take action against the threat of additional burdens from changes in inheritance tax from January. She is asking for an increase in tax allowances. Inheritors of real estate could particularly benefit from this.
At the last minute, the FDP wants to limit the additional costs expected for heirs of larger assets from January 2023 and to have the coalition increase the allowances for this purpose. The higher taxes on inheritances “by no means only affect people with high incomes,” said FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr.
Dürr: Increase in allowances “possible without bureaucracy”
The background is a regulation from the Annual Tax Act 2022, which had been passed by the previous CDU-led government. This implemented a requirement of the Federal Constitutional Court, according to which real estate values must in future be estimated as close as possible to the sales value for tax purposes. However, the law does not provide for any higher allowances for inheritance.
These allowances are currently EUR 500,000 for spouses, EUR 400,000 for children of the deceased and EUR 200,000 for grandchildren. This means that inheritance tax only has to be paid for the portion of the value of the inheritance that is above this limit.
The selling prices for real estate have risen sharply in recent years, especially in metropolitan areas. The nationwide very high rate of inflation is now causing additional price increases. In this way, from 2023, inherited condominiums or single-family homes could be based on values that are well above the respective tax-free allowance. This would then also increase the sum on which the heirs would have to pay inheritance tax.
FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr pointed out that the coalition had decided not to burden the citizens additionally. This must also apply to inheritance tax. An increase in the allowances would be “possible without bureaucracy”.