Fiscalidad sucesoria y desigualdad en Europa: efectos sociales y económicos de los modelos impositivos sobre herencias

Inheritance taxation and inequality in Europe: social and economic effects of inheritance tax models

Elena Cioinac

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Inheritance taxation has become a key yet controversial element of European fiscal policy. National systems that once seemed stable are now facing new pressures from increased cross-border mobility, demographic change, and rising wealth inequality. Despite decades of integration, Europe still lacks a harmonized framework for taxing wealth transfers, resulting in wide disparities in tax rates, exemptions, and the treatment of heirs. This study provides a comparative analysis of inheritance tax legislation across Northern, Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, examining five key dimensions: tax rates and thresholds, exemptions and deductions, progressivity, differentiation in family relationship, and redistributive outcomes. Drawing on OECD and EU data, and recent reforms, the analysis highlights regional patterns and underlying philosophies. The results suggest that a unified European approach remains remote, yet regional contrasts reveal the profound influence of divergent legal traditions and welfare ideologies on wealth transfer taxation.

Keywords: inheritance taxation; fiscal policy; wealth transfer; OECD; tax rates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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