Tax & Legal

In its decision of 6 June 2025 (II B 43/24 (AdV)) the Supreme Tax Court held that, upon summary examination, it was seriously doubtful whether contributions made by a shareholder to the capital reserve of a limited liability company (GmbH) lead to a taxable increase in the value of the shares of the co-shareholders within the meaning of Section 7(8) Sentence 1 of the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act (“IHTGTA”) if the shareholders agree that the contributions are to be allocated to the contributing shareholder.

In a recent judgment the Supreme Tax Court decided that the increase in value of shares in a corporation for the purposes of inheritance and gift tax must be determined in accordance with the rules of Section 11 of the Valuation Act. For this purpose, the market value of the beneficiary's share prior the transfer must be compared with the market value of this share after the contribution.

In a most recent decision, the Supreme Tax Court held that great-grandchildren could also be potential beneficiaries of assets transferred to a family foundation for inheritance and gift tax purposes. They would be the „most distant beneficiary“ according to Section 15 para. 2 of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act even if they have not yet been born at the time the foundation is established.

In identical decrees issued by the Supreme Tax Authorities of the Federal States, the tax authorities comment upon the judgment of the Supreme Tax Court of 26 July 2022 (II R 25/20) and upon the underlying view that the option relief under Section 13a (10) Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act (or Section 13a (8) IHTA old version) can be exercised separately for each economic unit transferred. This applies to all open cases.

If a gift is subject to inheritance tax under foreign law (here: Switzerland) because the donor dies within a short period of time after the donation, the tax is to be credited against the German gift tax pursuant to Section 21 Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act. With this decision, the Duesseldorf Tax Court upheld the claim of the plaintiff, who had residences both in the Canton of Lucerne and in Germany.

The Supreme Tax Court decided in three separate cases that the payment of excessive consideration under the terms of a contract between a GmbH and a party related to the shareholder is not a partial gift by the GmbH, if the shareholder was involved in the conclusion of the contract between the GmbH and the related party. In such a case the benefit granted arises from corporate relationship between the GmbH and the shareholder. With these decisions the Supreme Tax Court has changedn its earlier jurisprudence on this question.

In a decision on 30 August 2017 the Supreme Tax Court held that where a third party provides his employees to a football club to serve as players, trainers or counsellors without receiving adequate consideration, the waiver of such compensation is to be considered as a taxable gift of the third party to the football club.

The ECJ has previously held that the German inheritance and gift tax option according to which a higher exempt amount is available where one beneficiary is resident does not fully resolve the conflict with EU law arising from the lower personal allowances for non-residents. In consequence and considering the relevant ECJ case law the Supreme Tax Court ruled in favour of a Swiss-resident widow and granted the full higher tax-free allowance for spouses of €500,000 irrespective of the total inheritance transferred which also included foreign property not subject to German tax.

The Members of the Arbitration Committee of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and the Federal Assembly (Bundesrat) have reached a compromise on the inheritance and gift tax reform after a seven hour session going on late into the night. Here is a summary of the key points.

The new German Inheritance and Gift Tax Act which was presented by the German government in June 2016 in order to meet the standards set by the German Constitutional Court is delayed: The representatives of the German provinces (Bundesrat) did not accept the package.