Karlsruhe hears Bavaria's challenge to Germany's inheritance tax
The Federal Constitutional Court hears Bavaria's judicial review application from 2 pm today. Allowances have not changed since 2009. On Tuesday an heir's complaint against business privileges follows.
Archive image · Photo: Gerd Eichmann / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The First Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court hears an application by the Bavarian state government for judicial review of inheritance tax at 2 pm on Monday (case 1 BvF 1/23). Bavaria disputes the federal government's legislative competence, arguing that federal regulation is not necessary. It also objects that allowances and rates have not been adjusted to higher prices and ignore regional differences in property prices, citing the protection of property and family and the principle of equality. Personal allowances – for example 400,000 euros for children – have been unchanged since 2009.
On Tuesday the court also hears a constitutional complaint by a man who inherited around 250,000 euros in private assets from his aunt and is to pay about 47,000 euros in tax; he says he is disadvantaged by the exemptions for business assets. A ruling is not expected until late 2026 or early 2027. The parties are far apart: the SPD proposes a lifetime allowance of one million euros, the Left wants rates of 6 to 60 percent, and the AfD wants to abolish inheritance tax altogether. In 2025 the tax raised 21.5 billion euros.