Overview
- The SPD outlines a lifetime personal exemption of €1 million, keeps self-occupied inherited homes tax-free, and applies progressive rates above the threshold.
- For businesses, the concept proposes a €5 million corporate exemption and the option to stretch payments over up to 20 years to ease transfers.
- CDU/CSU leaders label the plan “mausetot,” argue current law is assumed constitutional, and warn of higher burdens on business assets and risks for family firms.
- SPD leaders defend the design as fairer, saying most heirs would pay less and that roughly 85% of companies would fall outside the tax under their model.
- Beyond Berlin, the SPD has tabled a motion in Schleswig-Holstein’s Landtag urging the state government to advocate a federal reform, as a Constitutional Court ruling expected this year could reshape the framework.