Unerreichbare Milliarden?
Die Erbschaftsteuer und das Grundgesetz
Paperback (Forthcoming)
(November 2026)
ISBN: 9783162012432
4.49 x 7.17 inches
Price: $36.00
Against the backdrop of ongoing debates on the taxation of large estates and business succession, Alexander Thiele outlines the constitutional framework of inheritance tax reform. At its core, this is a political rather than a legal question.
Given tight public budgets, and above all in light of an anticipated ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, a possible reform of inheritance tax has recently once again become the subject of intense debate. Against this background, Alexander Thiele discusses the constitutional-policy arguments for and against inheritance tax and examines the constitutional framework governing this long-established form of taxation. This concerns, first, the formal question of legislative competence, which may be exercised by the Federation despite the provision of Article 72(2) of the Basic Law. The main focus, however, is on the substantive limits imposed by fundamental rights, arising on the one hand from the freedoms guaranteed by Article 14(1) and (2) and Article 6(1) of the Basic Law and, on the other, and in particular, from the general principle of equality under Article 3(1) of the Basic Law. The analysis shows that the Basic Law leaves policymakers, and especially the federal legislature, considerable latitude in shaping the “right” form of inheritance tax, provided that they remain faithful, in its essential features and above all in a manner consistent with the principle of equality, to their own underlying legislative decision to tax increases in the ability to pay resulting from inheritance. This is not the case, however, with certain existing provisions, such as the needs-based exemption test under section 28a of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG). Alexander Thiele makes clear that the taxation of inheritances is essentially a political rather than a legal question.
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