Inheritance Tax Calculator 2026

The allowance depends on the relationship: Spouses receive €500,000, children €400,000, grandchildren €200,000, parents (inheritance) €100,000. Siblings, nephews/nieces, and unrelated persons receive only €20,000.

There are three tax classes: Class I for spouses, children, grandchildren, and parents (in inheritance). Class II for siblings, nephews/nieces, and parents (for gifts). Class III for everyone else. The higher the tax class, the higher the tax rate.

For Tax Class I, you receive a 10% valuation discount on owner-occupied residential property. Spouses and children can even inherit the family home completely tax-free under certain conditions if they live in it for at least 10 years.

Both tax types are based on the same law (ErbStG) and use the same allowances and tax rates. The key difference: For gifts, the allowances can be used again every 10 years. Also, for parents, Tax Class II applies for gifts instead of Class I.

The gift tax allowances renew every 10 years. This means: If you gift your child €400,000 every 10 years, no gift tax applies. All gifts within a 10-year period are added together.

Siblings only receive an allowance of €20,000 and fall into Tax Class II with tax rates of 15-43%. Larger inheritances to siblings are therefore heavily taxed. Forward-looking estate planning can help reduce the tax burden.

In addition to the personal allowance, spouses receive a maintenance allowance of €256,000 and children (depending on age) up to €52,000. This is reduced by the capital value of maintenance benefits (e.g., widow's pension).

Business property can be exempted from inheritance tax by 85% (standard exemption) or even 100% (optional exemption) if certain conditions are met: The payroll sum must be maintained over 5 years and administrative assets must not exceed certain limits.

The tax office issues a tax assessment notice. You typically have four weeks after receiving the notice to pay. For real estate inheritances, a deferral of up to 10 years can be granted upon request if immediate payment would constitute significant hardship.

No, on the contrary: The Berlin Will can actually increase the overall tax burden because the children's allowances remain unused at the first death. Instead, a combination of legacy solutions and lifetime gifts is recommended.