Wealth and inheritance

Five myths about the proposed inheritance tax

SPÖ leader Andreas Babler insists on the introduction of an inheritance tax.(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH, Adobe Stock (KI-generiert), Krone kreativ)

"The rich man is either a crook himself or the heir of a crook." Today's SPÖ does not put it quite as drastically as Jerome 400 AD. Nevertheless, it is precisely the super-rich who are being targeted with an inheritance and wealth tax. Krone+ clarifies five points in the SPÖ's tax model.

In Austria, the Constitutional Court overturned the inheritance tax, so in 2008 the governing parties ÖVP and SPÖ simply allowed it to expire. No efforts were made to adapt it. This was also due to the fact that revenues have decreased over the decades. In the 1960s, inheritance tax still accounted for around one percent of total government revenue globally; in 1980 it was only 0.66 percent and in 2020 only 0.33 percent.