Gift Tax for Self-Employed in Germany 2026: Allowances, Rates & Reporting

If someone gifts you cash, real estate or GmbH shares, the Finanzamt may take a share. For self-employed people and founders, gift tax (Schenkungssteuer) gets interesting the moment business assets change hands: succession in your own company, a transfer of UG or GmbH shares, or a so-called "mixed" sale to family below market value. This guide walks through the 2026 allowances and rates, the business-asset relief that can wipe out tax — and the three-month reporting deadline you must never miss.

What counts as a gift in 2026?

Under the German Inheritance and Gift Tax Act (ErbStG), a gift is any voluntary transfer between living persons that enriches the recipient at the giver's expense. Typical examples:

• Cash or bank transfers
• Real estate and land
• Shares in a GmbH, UG or partnership
• Valuables — cars, jewellery, art
• Waivers of debt or assumption of someone else's liabilities
• Mixed gifts — e.g. selling a business clearly below market price

Tax-free: customary occasional gifts (birthday, wedding), maintenance, support for education and the family home transferred between spouses (§ 13 ErbStG).

2026 allowances by relationship

Every recipient has a personal tax-free allowance (Freibetrag) that resets every ten years (§ 14 ErbStG).

• Spouse / registered civil partner: €500,000 (tax class I)
• Children, stepchildren, adopted children: €400,000 per parent (class I) — €800,000 in total from both parents
• Grandchildren: €200,000 (class I); €400,000 if the mediating parent has already died
• Parents and grandparents (for gifts): €20,000 (class II)
• Siblings, nieces, nephews, parents-in-law: €20,000 (class II)
• Unmarried partners, friends, business contacts: €20,000 (class III)

The 10-year rule: Multiple gifts within the same ten-year window to the same recipient are added together. Stagger transfers across ten-year cycles to use the allowance more than once.

2026 tax rates — the three tax classes

Above the allowance, the progressive tariff in § 19 ErbStG applies to the taxable amount (gift value minus allowance):

• Class I (spouse, children, grandchildren): 7% up to €75,000 — 11% up to €300,000 — 15% up to €600,000 — 19% up to €6m — maximum 30%
• Class II (siblings, nieces, nephews): 15% up to €75,000 — 20% up to €300,000 — 25% up to €600,000 — 30% up to €6m — maximum 43%
• Class III (everyone else): 30% up to €6m — 50% above

Example: You gift your child €500,000 in cash. Allowance €400,000, taxable €100,000, class I → 11% = €11,000 in gift tax.

Gifting business assets: §§ 13a/13b ErbStG relief

This is where things get interesting for founders and managing directors. If you gift a sole proprietorship, partnership interests or shares in a corporation (over 25%), you can choose one of two reliefs:

• Standard relief 85%: 5-year holding period, payroll floor of 400% (for more than 15 employees), administrative assets under 90%.
• Option relief 100%: 7-year holding period, payroll floor of 700%, administrative assets under 20%.

For transfers of qualifying assets above €26m, an additional needs-based test or a tapered model applies. None of this works without a clean valuation of the business — meaning a proper balance sheet or EÜR is the price of entry for any relief claim.

Reporting duty: the 3-month deadline

Under § 30 ErbStG, every gift must be reported in writing to the responsible Finanzamt within three months — even if no tax is ultimately due. The notice includes:

• Names, addresses and tax IDs of giver and recipient
• Relationship between the two parties
• Date, type and market value of the gift
• Any prior gifts within the last ten years

Notarised gifts (real estate, GmbH share transfers) are reported by the notary. Otherwise, you do it yourself — and the Finanzamt usually finds out anyway, through banks or the land registry.

Common mistakes by self-employed and managing directors

• Mixing private and business: Personal gifts are not business expenses and don't belong in your EÜR. Money to family is booked as an owner's draw.
• Hidden distribution (verdeckte Gewinnausschüttung): If a GmbH transfers value to shareholders or their relatives below fair price, it can trigger both corporate income tax and gift tax.
• Skipping the 10-year planning: Transferring €800,000 to a child in one go costs much more than two €400,000 gifts spaced ten years apart.
• Breaking the holding period: Selling or liquidating the gifted business within the 5- or 7-year window claws back the relief on a pro-rata basis.

Planning gifts the smart way

• Stagger gifts: use the full allowance every ten years.
• Use chain gifts (e.g. father → mother → child). Tax offices look closely, but if each step is clean they hold up.
• Plan business succession early — before the next big jump in your company's value.
• Keep your bookkeeping current: only a fresh year-end or solid EÜR will support a defensible business valuation.

How Norman helps

Gift tax isn't a recurring task — but it depends on numbers you can stand behind. With Norman's AI bookkeeping, your year-end or EÜR is always up to date, which is the basis for any business valuation. For GmbH founders, Norman also handles corporate, trade and VAT filings. You report the gift itself in writing to the Finanzamt — with Norman's data, that takes minutes instead of days.

Related articles

• Client and Employee Gifts in a GmbH 2026 — the €50 deductibility cap for business gifts.
• Owner's Draw for Self-Employed in Germany 2026 — how to take money from your business for private use.
• GmbH Tax Optimization 2026 — legal strategies that also matter for succession planning.
• Taxes for Freelancers in Germany 2026 — the complete guide to the German tax system for freelancers.

Bottom line

Nothing changes for 2026: allowances and rates stay put. Frequent givers plan in ten-year cycles. Founders transferring a company test the 85% or 100% relief under §§ 13a/13b — and make sure the valuation holds. And no matter the amount, the three-month reporting duty is mandatory. Clean books turn the duty into a formality instead of a fire drill.