Defensive offer, or have house prices become so expensive?

The issue with inheritance tax seems to me to actually be a problem where house prices have risen extremely. The example article I referred to reported on Tegernsee, where investors from outside apparently hover over some family estates like vultures. The strategy of one family there was to transfer as much as possible to the (only) child as early as possible.

Does anyone now know how the tax office determines the value at all?

But excuse me: This transfer is far less relevant for inheritance tax than it is especially relevant for CARE: large sums quickly leave the property of the person being cared for, until the house has to be forcibly sold before there is anything to inherit. And this has been the case for a long time. If NOW suddenly someone gets cold feet because of future inheritances, could they have arranged private care(?) or just never really thought it through? So sorry, for me, this is almost a ghost discussion. That you should no longer keep your assets in your own pocket in old age has long been a truism. This is not something new that has emerged since real estate prices skyrocketed.

With all the "tax issues," we can probably be glad we didn't inherit anything... :D

Does anyone know now how the tax office determines the value at all?

It depends on the property. For a single-family house, the comparative value method via the expert committees usually applies. For rented properties, the income value method based on cash flows can also be used. Generally, a comparative value method currently tends to set somewhat lower prices than would be achievable on the market, as it always looks only at the past. Similar problem as with the standard land value and the rent index. If the tax office values a property higher than the actual sale price, the latter will be used as the basis for inheritance tax.

Ok, then there is still the question, where do your 2 million come from?