![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vwg.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/20180118_Pensioen-1024x384.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The amount of inheritance tax you have to pay depends on how close your family relationship is to the deceased.<\/p>\n
In this regard, it is the bloodline that is decisive, not how close your relationship with the deceased was. That question has been raised in a case<\/a> on which the Court of Appeal in The Hague recently ruled.<\/p>\n In 2014, \u201cGrandma\u201d passed away; in her will, she had named a second cousin as her sole heir. This second cousin argued before the Court that, for the purposes of calculating the inheritance tax due on the estate, she should be treated as if she were a grandchild. However, the Court ruled that, for the purposes of the tax assessment of the relationship, only the actual bloodline should be taken into account. The fact that the grandmother had raised the second cousin as a grandchild was not taken into consideration.<\/p>\n In this case, the difference lies, on the one hand, in the exemptions that apply under inheritance tax. On the other hand, there is a difference in the rate.<\/p>\n The deceased\u2019s spouse or registered partner is entitled to a substantial inheritance tax allowance (in 2018: \u20ac 643.194<\/em>, which amount is reduced to take account of any entitlement to pension and annuity payments arising from the death). Under certain conditions, a cohabiting partner may also be eligible for this high allowance. For the purposes of inheritance tax, a distinction is made between three groups:<\/p>\n Descendants (Group II) are people in the testator\u2019s direct line of descent. This therefore includes the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the deceased. In the case before the Court of Appeal in The Hague, the second cousin will be the child of a child of a brother or sister of the grandmother who is the testator. This second cousin\u2019s inheritance will therefore be subject to inheritance tax at the Group III rate.<\/p>\n The difference in rates is considerable. For 2018, the inheritance and gift tax rates are as follows:<\/p>\nInheritance tax exemption and rate<\/h4>\n
\nIf parents inherit in 2018, their acquisition is \u20ac 48.242<\/em> exempt. Children and grandchildren are exempt from \u20ac 20.371<\/em> (seriously ill and disabled children: \u20ac 61.106<\/em>). And all other recipients will have to make do with a mere \u20ac 2.147<\/em> exemption. The exemptions apply per recipient, but tax partners are treated jointly as a single recipient.<\/p>\n\n