The Inheritance Tax Clock

The Inheritance Tax Clock shows the total amount of lost tax revenue since the 2009 inheritance tax reform in Germany. The tally is based on the German federal government’s subsidy report.

Every year, Germany loses 8.8 billion euros in tax revenue because the ultra-wealthy receive massive tax breaks on inheritances and gifts.

A financially powerful lobby has succeeded in influencing inheritance tax law in favor of the ultra-wealthy.

In 2024 alone, 41 recipients of gifts and 4 heirs received assets totaling over 11 billion euros and, due to loopholes in tax law, had to pay only 180 million euros in taxes on that amount, instead of the 3.55 billion originally assessed. This meant they were exempted from paying approximately 95 percent of the inheritance and gift tax. Nearly half of the 11 billion euros transferred as gifts or inheritances — around 5 billion — went to people under 18.

Tax subsidies for the ultra-wealthy impose high social costs: The government could invest this money in education, infrastructure, research, and climate protection. It would thus benefit society and, in turn, the economy.

This is why we need to have a debate about what a fairly structured inheritance and gift tax might look like, one that would counteract the steadily growing inequality in Germany.