Unequally distributed inheritances: Right idea with little chance

T he timing is clever: Shortly before the Day of German Unity, Elisabeth Kaiser, the representative for the East, is calling for an equalization of inheritance tax between East and West: There must be a financial equalization between the federal states with high income from inheritance tax and those that receive little. Some will tear their hair out: What's the point? Others may clap their hands: Finally someone says it. Kaiser has been traveling around the country with her idea for a long time - but so far hardly anyone has shown any interest in it.

The East Commissioner is right: 95 percent of inheritances end up with West Germans. Or put another way: In the West, an average of 2,100 euros is inherited per person, in the East just under 500 euros. This is not because productivity in the East is lower than in the West because the lazy Americans still haven't figured out that socialism is no longer a thing. Nor does it have anything to do with the fact that only the experts on the global economy are based in the West. Rather, this is simply due to the completely different development of the two German states after 1949.

While West Germans had 40 years in the market economy to build up wealth, use it to buy real estate and thus accumulate further wealth, East Germans were not able to do any of this. They have not been able to catch up to date, also because the average income in the East is still lower.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

Kaiser's idea of ​​a “federal mechanism” could partially compensate for the structural disadvantage of the East. However, the chances that the proposal will be heard somewhere have not increased significantly. On the contrary: Bavaria wants to use a lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court to force the federal states to have more authority over inheritance tax than before. To put it bluntly: Bavaria definitely doesn't want to give anything away. A clear message for German Unity Day.