Inheritance
In the case of inheritance tax, the individual acquisition on death is taxed. Therefore, if you receive assets as part of a death, you are obliged to report this acquisition to the relevant inheritance tax office.
The notification is also required if you are of the opinion that your acquisition does not exceed the tax-free amounts. Even if the deceased was not resident in Germany or you have only acquired assets located abroad, you are still obliged to notify the tax office.
Notification is not required if you have received the assets on the basis of a disposition of property upon death (will, inheritance contract) issued by a German court, a German notary or a German consul. However, this does not apply if the acquisition includes real estate, business assets, shares in corporations or foreign assets.
You should provide the following information:
- First name, surname, occupation, home of the deceased
- Your first name, surname, occupation and address,
- Date and place of death of the deceased,
- the object and value of your acquisition,
- the legal basis for your acquisition (intestate succession, will, legacy, etc.),
- your personal relationship to the deceased (spouse, degree of kinship, in-laws, etc.)
- previous gifts made to you by the deceased according to type, value and date of the gift.
Gifts
The individual gift transaction is subject to gift tax. Therefore, if you receive a gift, you are obliged to notify the tax office of this acquisition. If you make a gift to another person, you must also notify the tax office.
Even if you believe that the value of the gift is below the tax-free amount, you are not exempt from the obligation to notify the tax office, as the tax-free amount is only granted once within a 10-year period. Notification is also required if only assets located abroad are gifted, if you receive a gift from a person resident abroad or if the gift is made to a person resident abroad.
Notification is not required if
- the gift clearly does not result in taxation (e.g. occasional gifts) or
- the gift is recorded by a court or notary.
Your notification should contain the following information:
- First name, surname, occupation, residence of the donor and the donee,
- Date on which the gift was made,
- object and value of the acquisition,
- legal basis for the acquisition (gift agreement, marriage contract, agreement on waiver of inheritance, etc.),
- the personal relationship between the donee and the donor (spouse, degree of kinship, sister-in-law, etc.) and
- previous gifts from the donor to the donee according to the type, value and time of the individual gift.