Steuer: Finanzamt fordert Steuer – obwohl der Erbe leer ausgeht

The federal tax court recently ruled that the tax office can impose inheritance tax even if the beneficiary receives nothing from the estate. This case was brought to light after the 2006 death of the estate owner. He had intended to bypass legal inheritance succession by leaving a handwritten will, naming one man, his mother and another woman as heirs, with the estate to be divided equally among them.

When the estate owner passed away, the legal heirs applied for an inheritance certificate at the local district court, unaware of the will's existence. Eventually, a second inheritance certificate was issued, distributing the estate equally among the man, his mother, and the other woman. In 2017, the man learned that his grandfather's inheritance entitled him to a statutory share worth 250,000 euros, which had already been distributed among the two legal heirs in 2013.

The man subsequently filed for a tax refund, arguing that the tax collection was unjustified. After the tax office denied his appeal, he filed a lawsuit at the Düsseldorf Tax Court. During the proceedings, the tax office also rejected his request to have the tax rate set to zero based on good faith. The man's argument was based on his unsuccessful attempts to invalidate the initial inheritance certificate and obtain information from the other heirs.

The court acknowledged his nine years of effort to nullify the first certificate. However, it found that the two legal heirs had already consumed the estate by 2016, and both had already received benefits from the estate, including long-term care insurance. The tax court upheld the decision to set the tax rate to zero but referred the case back to the Düsseldorf Tax Court for further review.

The federal tax court emphasized that the tax office can generally assume that an inheritance has flowed according to the will, and if the tax-free allowance is exceeded, it can impose inheritance tax. While a deviation from this principle is possible, the court noted that the lower courts failed to consider whether the man was entitled to compensation from the two legal heirs or whether enforcing such claims would be reasonable.

Consequently, inheritance tax can be reduced in exceptional cases when an estate is left empty due to the beneficiary's efforts to secure the estate or claim compensation, provided the estate was not deliberately wasted.