Good that we are talking about this again, because misunderstandings arise that way. Specifically, it says:
Or put differently, we don’t have 133K lying around. Therefore, I wouldn’t count myself among the poorest just yet.
My sense of justice and understanding of the law would assume that the tax is calculated only after deducting the compulsory portion.
With 100 oncoming cars, all of which are also blinking, waving, and honking, you could at least take a brief look to see if something might be wrong with your own vehicle. You could.....
Although individual cases are actually unsuitable for a fundamental discussion, nevertheless here is (my) a small report that kept me busy for three hours this morning:
My mother lived unmarried with a man (not my father) for the last 35 years and cared for him at home for the last ten years. He died at the beginning of '21. This man's daughter had broken off contact with him over 30 years ago because, in her opinion, he "destroyed her family". My mother's boyfriend unsuccessfully tried for three decades to reestablish contact with his daughter. Eventually, resigned, he drew up a will four years ago in which my mother was named the sole heir. And now comes the catch: the inheritance tax amounts to 30% with only a €20K exemption, and the daughter's compulsory portion claim exists against the heir (that is, my mother). It is currently unclear to me whether this compulsory portion reduces the taxable estate or not. So if things go really badly, my mother first has to pay 30% tax on the entire inheritance and then pay the daughter's compulsory portion. For the daughter, the inheritance is tax-free.
So much for the topic of unequal treatment.
Even though this concerns a small sum, and neither my mother nor I have a problem with it, it is still a luxury problem compared to most ordinary citizens. The hordes of fellow citizens who work hard and still wonder from the 20th how they will make it to the end of the month. Those who have no chance at all to build wealth that could grow. Those who are being pushed out by us wealthy people from the cities and now even from the suburbs. Who now get hit with the full brunt of inflation. And who will eventually end up in old-age poverty. These fellow citizens—and probably there are more than we think—are the ones who may complain about unequal treatment and injustice.