In consideration of European Court of Justice law, the German Supreme Tax Court has ruled in favour of a Swiss-resident widow and granted the full higher tax-free allowance for spouses of EUR 500,000 irrespective of the total inheritance transferred which also included foreign property not subject to German tax.

As stated by PwC in a note, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has previously held that the German inheritance and gift tax option according to which a higher exempt amount is available where one beneficiary is resident does not fully resolve the conflict with EU ...