268. Constitutionality of German Gift and Inheritance Tax

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268. Constitutionality of German Gift and Inheritance Tax

by Dr. Dietrich Ostertun, KPMG Hamburg, and Frank Heidemann, KPMG Mannheim

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1. FTC rules inheritance and gift tax unconstitutional

On 14 August 2002, the German Federal Tax Court (FTC) released the text of a decision that has attracted great attention and may have far-reaching impact on German inheritance and gift tax law (ruling of 22 May 2002 - IIR 61/99 - DStR 2002, 1438). In this decision, the FTC takes the position that both the Inheritance and Gift Tax Law and the Valuation Law are partially unconstitutional. The court accordingly referred the issue of the constitutionality of the relevant provisions to the Federal Constitutional Court f...

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