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🇩🇪 German Inheritance Tax Calculator
What one heir pays, using 2026 rates
Your details
Inheritance tax here is charged per heir on what each one receives, not on the estate as a whole.
Steuerklasse I. A further €256,000 Versorgungsfreibetrag applies, reduced by the value of any survivor's pension.
A spouse can inherit the family home entirely tax-free, and a child up to 200 m², provided they use it themselves for 10 years. Moving out early claws the relief back.
Estimated tax
Spouse or registered partner · €500,000 allowance applied
Breakdown
Filing deadline
Notify the Finanzamt within 3 months. Separately, if you want to disclaim the estate you have only 6 weeks.
Worth knowing before you rely on this
- German rates are not applied in slices: the whole taxable amount is taxed at the single rate for its band, so crossing a threshold is expensive. A statutory hardship adjustment (Härteausgleich) softens the very edge of a band, and is not applied here.
- The hardest deadline is not the tax: an heir who does not disclaim within 6 weeks has accepted the estate, and its debts, personally.
- A disinherited child can claim the Pflichtteil, worth half their statutory share, as a money claim against the heirs.
- This is a simplified estimate for one heir. Business, farm and main-home reliefs, disability allowances and lifetime gifts all change the answer. Get advice before filing.
Your estimate: €0. A specialist inheritance adviser in Germany routinely saves families more than their own fee, through reliefs and elections this estimate cannot apply. Free quote →
What this is based on
2026 rates · ErbStG, Erbschaft- und Schenkungsteuergesetz
Rules and rates change. This tool gives you an informed starting point and the legal references to check, it is not legal or tax advice, and it does not replace a professional where money or deadlines are at stake.
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