Comment: The absurdity of German tax debates becomes apparent when it comes to inheritance tax

While the judges at the Federal Constitutional Court are still digging through data and opinions, politicians and large parts of the public have long since made their decision on inheritance tax. In a class-war tone, the SPD, the Greens and the Left are calling for higher taxes on rich heirs. The Union is somewhat despondent in defending the existing rules - not because it is convinced of them, but because it does not trust itself or its coalition partner to implement sensible reforms.

Instead of pragmatically working to reform a complicated and sometimes unfair system, ideological simplifications dominate the debate. In this case they are particularly loud from the left: it gives the impression that the state is simply waiving taxes for rich heirs who have tens of millions of euros in their accounts.

The privileges in question are aimed solely at business assets that are in the inherited companies. They are also linked to requirements regarding jobs and wage levels. The request that the inheritance does not lead to the sale of the company or to lower investments in order to pay the tax is also in the interest of the general public.