Gift Tax Calculator for German Property
Want to transfer your house or flat in Germany to your children during your lifetime? The calculator shows the gift tax per recipient, deducts a reserved usufruct or right of residence, accounts for earlier gifts and compares a gift in two steps. Everything runs locally in your browser.
Last updated: October 2026
1. Property
Don't know the value? Estimate it with our property valuation calculator.
2. Recipients
Tax class I, allowance €400,000
3. Reserved rights and consideration
Usufruct (Nießbrauch): you keep using the property yourself or let it and keep the rent. Right of residence: you may only live there yourself. More in the glossary: What is Nießbrauch? and What is a Wohnrecht?
Enter the tax value of the property to calculate the gift tax.
Transferring a German property: when is gift tax due?
If you transfer a property in Germany to your children, grandchildren or partner during your lifetime, that is a gift. The same law applies as for inheritance, the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG). Tax is only due once the value of the gift exceeds the personal allowance. A child can receive €400,000 tax-free from each parent, and the allowance renews every ten years.
Many parents keep a usufruct (Nießbrauch) or a right of residence (Wohnrecht) when they transfer the house. They keep living there or keep the rent, and the value of that right is deducted from the gift. For older donors the deduction is smaller, because the right is expected to run for a shorter time.
How the calculation works
1. Value of the gifted share: the starting point is the tax value of the property (Grundbesitzwert), multiplied by the recipient's share. If the property is let as housing, 10 percent stays tax-free (§ 13d ErbStG).
2. Deduction for a usufruct or right of residence: capital value = annual value × multiplier. The annual value is the local net rent per year, but at most the tax value divided by 18.6 (§ 16 BewG). The Federal Ministry of Finance publishes the multipliers every year by age and sex. Debts taken over and equalisation payments to siblings are deducted as well.
3. Allowance and earlier gifts: gifts from the same person in the last ten years are added (10-year rule), then the personal allowance is subtracted. The rest is rounded down to the full €100. Tax that falls on the earlier gifts is credited (§ 14 ErbStG).
4. Tax rate: one rate applies to the whole taxable amount and depends on the tax class and the amount, between 7 and 30 percent in class I. Just above a bracket limit, hardship relief keeps the tax from jumping (§ 19 (3) ErbStG).
Worked example: €800,000 to a child, with and without usufruct
A 65-year-old mother transfers her house with a tax value of €800,000 to her child. In the second case she keeps the usufruct because she wants to go on living there. The local rent is €2,000 a month, so €24,000 a year. With the multiplier of 12.583 that gives a capital value of €301,992.
| Step | Without usufruct | With usufruct |
|---|---|---|
| Value of the property | €800,000 | €800,000 |
| Capital value of the usufruct | €0 | -€301,992 |
| Net gift | €800,000 | €498,008 |
| Allowance (child) | -€400,000 | -€400,000 |
| Taxable amount | €400,000 | €98,000 |
| Tax rate (class I) | 15 % | 11 % |
| Gift tax | €60,000 | €10,780 |
In this example the usufruct saves €49,220 in gift tax. For a 65-year-old man the multiplier would be lower (11.444), because the life table shows a shorter life expectancy for men. All figures come from the calculator on this page.
Allowances for gifts
The allowances apply per donor and per recipient, so both parents together can give a child €800,000 tax-free. Unlike on inheritance, parents and grandparents as recipients of a gift are only in tax class II with €20,000.
| Recipient | Class | Allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse / registered partner | I | €500,000 |
| Child / stepchild | I | €400,000 |
| Grandchild (parent deceased) | I | €400,000 |
| Grandchild (parent alive) | I | €200,000 |
| Great-grandchild | I | €100,000 |
| Parents, grandparents | II | €20,000 |
| Sibling, niece, nephew, child-in-law, ex-spouse | II | €20,000 |
| Unrelated, unmarried partner | III | €20,000 |
Multipliers for usufruct and right of residence in 2026
The factors apply to gifts from 1 January 2026 (BMF letter of 21 October 2025, based on the 2022/2024 life table). For gifts from 2027 the Federal Ministry of Finance publishes new values. An extract:
| Age | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 15.711 | 14.977 |
| 60 | 13.832 | 12.798 |
| 65 | 12.583 | 11.444 |
| 70 | 11.107 | 9.938 |
| 75 | 9.393 | 8.282 |
| 80 | 7.490 | 6.509 |
Usufruct or right of residence?
With a usufruct you can keep using the property yourself or let it and keep the rent. As a rule you then also bear the running costs. A right of residence only allows you to live there yourself, often in just part of the house, and you may not let it. For tax both are valued the same way: annual value times multiplier. For a right of residence in part of the house only the space you use counts.
If a married couple keeps the right jointly, it runs until the death of the longer-living partner. There are separate factors for joint lives. The calculator approximates this with the factor of the younger person and says so.
Good to know
Compulsory-share top-up (Pflichtteilsergänzung)
Gifts can later increase the compulsory share of other heirs (Pflichtteilsergänzung). Their value counts one tenth less for every year since the gift and drops out after ten years (§ 2325 (3) BGB). If you keep a usufruct, case law of the Federal Court of Justice says this period usually does not start, because you keep using the property. Have this checked for your case.
Rights to reclaim the gift
In the deed of gift you can reserve the right to reclaim the property, for example if the child dies before you, sells it or becomes insolvent. If the gift is reclaimed on a contractual or statutory ground, the gift tax lapses retroactively (§ 29 ErbStG). The deed must be notarised.
No real estate transfer tax
Gifts are exempt from real estate transfer tax (§ 3 no. 2 GrEStG). Transfers to spouses and direct relatives are exempt anyway (§ 3 nos. 4 and 6 GrEStG). What a purchase would cost is shown by the real estate transfer tax calculator.
Usufruct and heating grants
Holders of a usufruct are not eligible to apply for the KfW heating grant (programme 458). If you are planning a new heating system, clarify beforehand who applies. More in the funding finder.
Gift or inheritance?
For children and spouses the allowances are the same for gifts and inheritance. The advantage of gifting is that the allowances renew every ten years. Parents and grandparents, on the other hand, are better off inheriting. What an inheritance would cost you can work out with the inheritance tax calculator, and the property value with the property valuation.
Sources and legal status
Legal status: 29 September 2026. The calculator uses the law in force.
- Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG), §§ 10, 13, 13d, 14, 15, 16, 19, 29
- Valuation Act (BewG), §§ 13 to 16
- BMF letter of 21 October 2025, multipliers for valuation dates from 1 January 2026 (GZ IV D 4 - S 3104/00002/013/003)
- Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (GrEStG), § 3; Civil Code (BGB), § 2325
- Federal Constitutional Court, press releases no. 48 and 49/2026
The calculator does not replace tax advice or advice from a notary.
Frequently asked questions about gift tax on property
Each child has an allowance of €400,000 from each parent, so both parents together can give a child €800,000 tax-free. The allowance covers all gifts within ten years and is fully available again afterwards. Grandchildren have €200,000, or €400,000 if their parent has died.
If you keep a usufruct when transferring the property, its capital value is deducted from the value of the gift. It is the annual value, usually the local annual rent, multiplied by a factor based on age and sex. For a 65-year-old woman the 2026 factor is 12.583. With €24,000 of annual rent that is about €302,000 that is not taxed. The younger the right holder, the bigger the deduction.
With a usufruct you can use the property yourself or let it and keep the rent. A right of residence only allows you to live there yourself, often in just part of the house. For tax both are valued the same way, but for a right of residence only the space you use counts. Which right fits depends on whether you want to let the property later and who bears the costs.
All gifts from the same donor to the same recipient within ten years are added together (§ 14 ErbStG), so the allowance applies only once in that period. A gift older than ten years no longer counts. If you transfer a property in two steps ten years apart, you can use the allowances twice.
No. Gifts are exempt from real estate transfer tax (§ 3 no. 2 GrEStG), and transfers to spouses and direct relatives such as children and grandchildren are exempt anyway. Only if someone outside that circle receives the gift and takes over debts or pays something can transfer tax apply to that paid part.
That is open. The Federal Constitutional Court has scheduled the oral hearing on inheritance and gift tax for 12 and 13 October 2026. It concerns the federal government's competence for the valuation of real property, the allowances and the tax rates (1 BvF 1/23) and the relief for business assets (1 BvR 804/22). When the court will decide is not yet known. Until then the current law applies.
What counts is the Grundbesitzwert set by the tax office under the German Valuation Act, using the comparison, income or cost approach depending on the property. Since 2023 this value is usually close to market value. If it is clearly too high, you can prove a lower value with an expert report.
Only if you reserved that right in the deed or a statutory ground applies, such as gross ingratitude or later impoverishment. Typical rights to reclaim apply, for example, if the child dies before you, sells the property or becomes insolvent. If the gift is returned for such a reason, the gift tax lapses retroactively (§ 29 ErbStG).
Yes, once the gift exceeds €20,000. On a gift, parents and grandparents are in tax class II with only a €20,000 allowance, while children have €400,000 the other way round. On inheritance they are in tax class I with €100,000. In that case the calculator shows both figures.
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