🎁 Germany Gift Tax (Schenkungsteuer) Calculator

Schenkungsteuer is the German tax on gratuitous transfers between living people. It is not a separate tax with its own logic - it is levied under the very same Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz (ErbStG) as inheritance tax, using the identical three tax classes, the identical allowances and the identical progressive brackets. The crucial difference is timing: because gifts happen while both parties are alive, the law watches a rolling ten-year window for each donor-recipient pair.

Every ten years the full allowance refreshes. So a parent can give a child 400,000 euro tax-free, and then - ten years later - give another 400,000 euro, again tax-free. Gifts made inside the same ten-year window to the same person stack: two 250,000 euro gifts three years apart to one child total 500,000 euro against a single 400,000 euro allowance, leaving 100,000 euro taxable. This rolling clock is the single most misunderstood feature of German gift taxation, and the calculator models it directly by letting you enter prior taxable gifts to the same person.

The allowances mirror inheritance tax: spouse 500,000 euro, child 400,000 euro, grandchild 200,000 euro, parent 100,000 euro, and sibling / niece / nephew / divorced spouse / other 20,000 euro. The progressive schedule climbs from 7% (class I) to 50% (class III). Where the inheritance side is modelled in the inheritance tax tool, here the focus is the living transfer and its decade-long reset.

The gift tax works in exactly three steps, the same as inheritance tax, with one extra input for the rolling clock:

1. Taxable base = gift - allowance - other taxable gifts in the last ten years. The allowance depends only on the relationship. 2. Progressive tax. The taxable base runs through the seven-bracket schedule for the relevant class, each portion at its own marginal rate. 3. Effective rate. The tool reports total tax and the effective rate on the taxable base.

Worked example: a parent gives a child 250,000 euro, then three years later another 250,000 euro. The first gift is fully covered by the 400,000 euro allowance. The second gift stacks: 500,000 euro received in the window minus 400,000 euro allowance = 100,000 euro taxable. Class I tax = 75,000 x 7% (5,250) + 25,000 x 11% (2,750) = 8,000 euro. Had the second gift arrived after the ten-year mark, it would have been tax-free. The tool also shows the allowance remaining after the prior gifts, a number the inheritance side does not need.

The allowance refreshes every ten years per donor-recipient pair. Gifts inside one window stack against a single allowance.

Identical to inheritance tax: each portion of the taxable base is taxed at its own bracket rate.

1. Select the relationship between donor and recipient - this sets the tax class and the matching tax-free allowance.
2. Enter the current gift amount in euro.
3. Enter any other taxable gifts the same donor already made to the same recipient within the last ten years, so the rolling allowance is reduced correctly.
4. Click Calculate to see the remaining allowance, the taxable base, the progressive tax and the effective rate.
5. Use the post-tax figure for planning, and for large or business-asset gifts consult a Steuerberater for the binding amount.

Is German gift tax really the same as inheritance tax?

Yes - both are levied under ErbStG with identical tax classes, allowances and progressive brackets (7% to 50%). The only structural difference is the rolling ten-year clock that refreshes the allowance for living transfers; inheritance tax has no equivalent because the transfer happens once, at death.

How does the ten-year rule work?

Each donor-recipient pair gets one full allowance every ten years. Gifts inside the same window stack against that single allowance; once ten years pass since the first gift, the allowance resets and a new tax-free amount becomes available. The tool lets you enter prior taxable gifts so the remaining allowance is correct.

What are the 2026 gift tax allowances?

They equal the inheritance allowances: spouse 500,000 euro, child 400,000 euro, grandchild 200,000 euro, parent 100,000 euro, and sibling / niece / nephew / divorced spouse / other 20,000 euro. The allowance is deducted before any rate applies.

Can a married couple give more?

Each spouse has an independent allowance, so a couple can jointly transfer double the per-person amount to the same child - for example 800,000 euro from both parents to one child within the same decade, tax-free. The tool models a single donor; add the two results for a joint gift.

Are small or regular gifts taxed?

Gifts between spouses and to children that stay within the allowance are free, and there are separate exemptions for modest personal presents and for wedding, birthday or Christmas gifts up to statutory small-gift amounts. Repeated cash transfers above the threshold to one recipient do erode the rolling allowance, however.

Is the result binding?

No. The calculator applies the published 2026 ErbStG allowances and rate schedules for orientation. Business-relief, charitable exemptions, property valuation and treaty issues are not modelled; for a binding figure use the Finanzamt or a Steuerberater.

This tool is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Consult a qualified financial professional for advice specific to your situation.

Plan around the ten-year clock: a donor can legitimately pass the full allowance to the same recipient once per decade, so spacing large gifts just past the anniversary resets the free amount. Married couples each have their own allowance, so a couple can jointly give double the per-person amount to a child.

Remember the allowance is per recipient per donor, not per gift - so multiple small gifts to one child inside ten years all count toward the same 400,000 euro. Household goods and modest wedding or birthday presents are generally exempt under separate small-gift rules, but cash above the threshold is not.

For business shares and real estate the same special valuations apply as on death, and charitable donee relief can zero the tax entirely. Because the gift tax and inheritance tax share one allowance pool per decade, coordinate lifetime gifts with any expected inheritance so the two do not unexpectedly overlap.