Overview
- The annual report delivered on 12 November calls for replacing repeatable personal allowances with a single lifetime exemption, tested at about €1 million for close relatives.
- The council proposes sharply scaling back preferential treatment for business assets, including reducing relief below €26 million in value, while offering generous tax deferrals to avoid forced sales.
- Member Veronika Grimm filed a minority opinion warning that higher burdens on business inheritances would be risky given weak private investment and the importance of family firms.
- Member Achim Truger argues for higher contributions from very large estates and has floated a solidarity levy on top earners, citing high wealth inequality and that roughly 30–50% of assets stem from inheritances and gifts.
- Political lines are hardening as SPD factions signal openness to curbing privileges for large corporate estates, while CSU leader Markus Söder rejects any inheritance-tax hikes and has suggested devolving the tax to the states.