Can foreign family foundations also benefit from the tax class privilege?

The establishment of a foreign family foundation is subject to inheritance or gift tax in Germany amounting to 30 or even 50 percent of the transferred assets. In contrast, there is a so-called tax class privilege for domestic family foundations, which results in a significantly lower tax burden. In a recent ruling, the Cologne tax court expressed doubts about the compatibility of this unequal treatment with European law and referred the case to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling. Dr. Michael Feldner explains the current legal situation in the DB Steuerboard.