Skip to content
JungIhr Partner

The Lastenausgleich is history. The article in the constitution is not.

In short: no new Lastenausgleich, Germany's post-war burden-sharing levy, has been passed or planned. The dpa fact check confirmed that. At the same time, the constitutional basis for a “one-off wealth levy” still stands today in Art. 106 GG, in June 2026 the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) demanded such a levy, and the state carries €2,662.2 billion of debt. This text explains what really happened in 1952 and how to tell a demand from a law.

Updated on · Michael Jung, Broker specialising in tangible assets

1952

What was the Lastenausgleich?

After the war, millions of people had lost everything while others had kept house and land. The Lastenausgleich redistributed: anyone who had wealth had to give up half of their taxable wealth, valued under the rules of the wealth tax and after an allowance. It was not paid at once but in 120 instalments over 30 years, calculated so that the instalment could be paid out of income, without anyone having to sell their house. So the law did not require half of the wealth to be given up in real terms.

The Lastenausgleich in four dates. Four years lay between the valuation date and the law. Anyone who moved assets in those years no longer changed what they owed.

  1. 1948

    Valuation date

    Wealth is valued as at 21 June 1948, the day after the currency reform.

  2. 1952

    The law

    Four years later the Bundestag passes the Lastenausgleich: 50% of wealth.

  3. 1979

    The last instalment

    120 quarterly instalments over 30 years, around 1.67% of wealth a year.

  4. 1982

    The balance

    Around DM 115 billion had been paid out by then.

Valuation was in 1948. The law came in 1952. Moving assets helped no one any more.

50%
Wealth levy under § 31 of the 1952 Lastenausgleich Act: half of the taxable wealth after the allowance, payable in instalments over up to 30 years, usually out of income
DM 5,000
Tax-free allowance of the 1952 wealth levy
≈ DM 115 billion
Total spending under the Lastenausgleich up to 1982

Today

Why is the subject back on the table?

Because the state needs money. Public budgets carried €2,662.2 billion of debt at the end of 2025. In March 2025, Art. 143h GG added a special fund of €500 billion, financed entirely by debt. And in June 2026 the DGB demanded a one-off levy of 10% on private net wealth from €10 million, payable over up to 20 years if preferred, with reference to 1952.

To put that in context, so that nothing gets mixed up here: a DGB position is a trade union's demand. It is not a bill, not a decision and not a date. All it shows is that the instrument is back in the political debate.

€2,662.2 billion
Debt of Germany's public sector owed to the non-public sector at the end of 2025, that is €31,887 per resident
€500 billion
Special fund for infrastructure, financed entirely by debt, passed in March 2025 with the new Art. 143h GG. Of this, €100 billion goes to the federal states and €100 billion to the Climate and Transformation Fund.
10%
Demand by the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) in June 2026: a one-off levy on private net wealth from €10 million, payable over 20 years (a demand, not a law)

Calculator

What would that mean for you?

Two models that really exist: the DGB demand of 2026 and the Lastenausgleich of 1952. Neither of them is law in force. The calculator shows what the figures would mean in each case.

€1.5M

Under which model?

Since June 2026 the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has been demanding a one-off levy of 10% on the whole private net wealth once it reaches €10 million, payable at once or spread over up to 20 years. That is a trade union's demand, not a bill.

You would not be affected.

The demand only starts at €10M. Below this limit you would pay nothing under this model. Move the slider higher or switch the model to see the other case.

With €1.5M of wealth: no levy under the “DGB demand 2026” model.

How much of your wealth hangs on one country? Just ask:+49 170 7676706Free of charge, no appointment needed. Consultations in German and English.

A model calculation, not law in force. One model is a demand, the other is history. A new Lastenausgleich, Germany's post-war burden-sharing levy, has neither been passed nor planned. Not tax or legal advice.

The law

Would it even be possible? There is not even agreement on that.

Art. 106 GG assigns the revenue from “one-off wealth levies” to the federal government. That settles who is responsible, no more. The German parliament's research service concludes that the constitutional requirements for such a levy “remain unclear”: it is disputed, for example, whether an extraordinary need for funds is a precondition. Anyone who tells you today that a wealth levy is certain to come, or certain not to, knows more than the Bundestag.

No panic, no date, no law. But no guarantee either that it stays history.

What you can do

Three things that make sense anyway. With or without a levy.

  1. 01

    Know what you own

    Property, accounts, securities, business assets: a levy would start from total wealth. Anyone who does not know their own figure cannot plan.

  2. 02

    Plan for liquidity

    The problem in 1952 was not the amount but the payability: a house cannot be sold in instalments. Income that can carry an instalment is the real protection.

  3. 03

    Not everything in one country

    Wealth that sits entirely in one legal system and one currency carries that risk on its own. A second legal system lowers that dependence. It is not a tax trick.

How we work is set out under Services and About us.

Common questions

Answered briefly.

Is a new Lastenausgleich coming?

None has been passed or planned. The dpa fact check confirmed that too. But the constitutional basis for a one-off wealth levy still stands in Art. 106 of the Basic Law, Germany's constitution, and in June 2026 the DGB demanded such a levy. A demand is not a bill.

Would a wealth levy even be constitutional?

That is open. The German parliament's research service concludes that the constitutional requirements for a wealth levy have still not been conclusively settled. Among other things, it is disputed whether an extraordinary need for funds is a precondition.

Does gold or a property abroad protect against it?

A levy would cover the entire wealth of a taxable person, wherever it sits. No asset on its own is protection. What tangible assets and a second legal system change is the dependence on one market and one currency. The tax liability stays the same.

Read on

More about your wealth. Short, with sources.

Michael Jung

Written and reviewed by

Michael Jung

Broker specialising in tangible assets · Insurance broker

  • 1996Certified Insurance Specialist (Geprüfter Versicherungskaufmann, IHK)
  • 2003Certified Finance Specialist (Geprüfter Finanzwirt, bbw)
  • 2005Master Consultant in Finance
  • 2016–17Senior Consultant, precious metals advisor (Edelmetallberater, GG-Akademie Berlin)
  • 2021Certified under DIN 77230, the German standard for financial analysis (DEFINO)
  • 2023Florida Premium Real Estate certification

Insurance broker licensed under § 34d GewO · German register of intermediaries D-5D7P-3694H-28 · Last reviewed on

Free initial consultation

How much of your wealth hangs on a single country?

Michael Jung goes through your assets with you and shows where the dependence is greatest. Free and without obligation.

+49 170 7676706

Step 1 of 3 · Name

How should we address you?

Book a call

Consultations in German and English.