Glossary
Zehnjahresfrist (§ 14 ErbStG)
Zehnjahresfrist (§ 14 ErbStG): Under § 14 ErbStG all acquisitions from the same person within ten years are added together. The personal allowance therefore applies only once per ten-year period and is fully available again afterwards.
What does the 10-year rule do?
So that nobody splits a large estate into many small tax-free gifts, the tax office adds together all gifts from the same person within ten years (§ 14 ErbStG). The allowance is granted only once in that period.
Using allowances more than once
Once the last gift is more than ten years old, the full allowance is available again. If you transfer a property in two steps ten years apart, you can lower the gift tax considerably. The Gift Tax Calculator shows this as a staggered scenario.
This page is for information only and does not replace tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Zehnjahresfrist means ten-year period. In German gift tax it refers to the rule that all gifts from the same person within ten years are added together.
Yes. The tax on the total is reduced by the tax that would fall on the earlier gifts under current law, but at least by the tax actually paid.
Make gifts more than ten years apart. Parents can give each child €400,000 tax-free every ten years.