Inheritance and gift tax reaches record high

Last year, tax authorities in Germany assessed more inheritance and gift taxes than ever before. According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, inheritance and gift taxes totaling €13.3 billion were assessed in 2024.

The total was 12.3 percent higher than the previous year, reaching a new record. The statistics do not reveal the actual transfers of wealth; these are recorded in a different set of statistics.

Of the assessed taxes, €8.5 billion was attributable to inheritances—9.5 percent more than in the previous year. After reaching a peak of €9.0 billion in 2021, inheritance tax fell in the following years and rose again for the first time in 2024.

The assessed gift tax reached a new high of €4.8 billion in 2024. It rose by 17.8 percent compared to the previous year. "It has thus been rising continuously since 2019 and has more than doubled since 2021," the statisticians report.

The tax assessments were based on asset transfers through inheritances and gifts amounting to €113.2 billion. This amount was 6.8 percent lower than the previous year.

According to the Federal Statistical Office, this is due, among other things, to lower transfers of business assets, which were almost a quarter lower.