On Monday 21 September 2026, the Chamber of Employees (Chambre des Salariés - CSL) published a new edition of its EcoNews, examining the more than €400 million in inheritance tax generated by a single estate and the potential of taxing very large inheritances passed down in the direct line.
According to the CSL, the presentation of the State’s financial position as at 30 June 2026 revealed an exceptional situation: inheritance tax revenue rose to €493.1 million, compared with €57.8 million a year earlier — an increase of €435.3 million, or 753.3%. Luxembourg's Minister of Finance confirmed that the rise was linked to one inheritance, left by a person who died without a direct-line heir, which alone brought the State more than €400 million.
The base tax rate applicable to inheritances between unrelated persons is 15%, rising progressively to 48% on the portion exceeding €1.75 million. On this basis, the CSL estimated that the estate behind the approximately €400 million in tax exceeded €800 million.
The CSL said the scale of this case provided a rare indication of the size of the largest fortunes held in Luxembourg and highlighted the potential of a tax on very large direct-line inheritances.
In Luxembourg, direct-line inheritance — most often from parents to children, but also from grandparents to grandchildren — is exempt from inheritance tax on the statutory share. Inheritance between spouses is also exempt. According to the CSL, the vast majority of inheritances in Luxembourg pass through these routes and therefore escape taxation entirely.
Since 2020, fewer than one inheritance in five has been subject to tax. Among those that are taxed, 5% are classified by the tax administration as “extraordinary inheritances” because they generate more than €1 million in tax.
The CSL noted that no systematic public data exists on the size of direct-line inheritances, precisely because they are not taxed. It said this lack of data prevents an assessment of the potential revenue from such a tax, as well as a measurement of the concentration of wealth passed down from generation to generation.
The inheritance reported this summer could be taxed, quantified and reported on because it passed outside the direct line, the CSL explained. Comparable or even larger estates passed down directly within wealthy families with financial or property assets leave no tax record: they are neither taxed nor known to the public. The CSL therefore argued that the €800 million estate may not be exceptional in size; what sets it apart is that it generated tax revenue.
The organisation also linked the attention given to this revenue to the timing of its receipt. Officially confirmed a few weeks after the tripartite agreement reached in early June 2026, the sum offered, in the CSL’s view, a concrete illustration of the public policies that a tax on very large inheritances could finance.
The CSL said the revenue from this inheritance alone would have been sufficient to cover the entire cost of the Resilienzpak. The package provides, among other measures, for an adjustment of income tax brackets from 2027, the reinstatement of the crédit d’impôt conjoncture for 2026 and an increase in the minimum social wage tax credit (CISSM) from €81 to €200 per month.
For comparison, the organisation said the amount could also finance REVIS for almost two years, subsidise nearly 70,000 electric cars, cover almost a year of unemployment benefits or pay for the construction of several large school complexes.
The tax paid on this single inheritance represented approximately 3% of State revenue in the first half of 2026. According to the CSL, it could finance a social package affecting tens of thousands of households. The organisation said this illustrated the budgetary opportunities that would exist if inheritances worth several million euros were systematically taxed, including when passed down in the direct line.
The CSL argued that taxing large direct-line inheritances was relevant to tax fairness, the concentration of wealth and the search for resources to meet budgetary needs. It said the €400 million payment illustrated the sums that can be involved in one transfer — and the revenue forgone when a comparable estate passes down in the direct line, largely without tax.
By introducing a tax on large direct-line inheritances while exempting modest and medium-sized estates, comparable tax revenue could become the norm rather than the exception, according to the CSL. It argued that a tax targeted at very large inheritances could generate substantial returns and help cover, in whole or in part, current or future needs linked to investment and demographic ageing.
The organisation described the exemption of the largest inheritances as a privilege for a minority, whose resulting loss of tax revenue affects society as a whole. It argued that the absence of tax on direct-line inheritance was a political choice that could be reconsidered.
The EcoNews also addressed potential voter opposition to taxing inheritances passed from parents to children. Citing research by Olivera, Schokkaert and Van Kerm based on a representative sample of people aged 50 and over in Luxembourg, the CSL noted that providing information influenced the support expressed for inheritance taxation, including in a context where tax on inheritances from parents to children is zero or low.
The CSL concluded that a discussion on the issue should begin with information about the existing tax system and citizens’ actual positions in the income and wealth distribution. It suggested addressing possible tax rates, explicit exemption thresholds and how the resulting revenue would be used.
