Steuer: Finanzamt fordert Steuer – obwohl der Erbe leer ausgeht
Selbst wenn ein Erbe erst spät von seinem Anspruch erfährt und leer ausgeht, fällt Erbschaftsteuer an. Der Bundesfinanzhof klärte, wieso das so ist – und welche Ausnahmen es gibt.
The German Finance Ministry is demanding inheritance tax even though the deceased's estate is left empty. A person can often anticipate a financial windfall upon inheriting, but the scenario changes when an estate is bereft of assets. Even the absence of debts does not prevent an empty inheritance from resulting in zero euros after all legal formalities and procedures are concluded.
The Federal Finance Court recently clarified whether the finance ministry can still claim inheritance tax in such cases (case II R 1/22). Typically, the 2006 deceased had different plans. He had left a handwritten will, designating a man, his mother, and another woman as heirs, with the assets to be split equally among them. Upon the deceased's passing, the legal heirs of the deceased applied to the responsible district court for a death certificate.
Since the court was unaware of the will's content, the death certificate listed only the legal heirs, each receiving an equal share.
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- Steuer: Finanzamt fordert Steuer – obwohl der Erbe leer ausgeht handelsblatt.com
