Income tax trap with the matrimonial property regime swing - current BFH ruling

If assets within a family are distributed unequally between the spouses, the so-called Marital property swing Assets can be transferred free of gift tax from the economically more successful spouse - often the husband - to the economically less successful spouse - often the wife, who takes care of the children and the household.

Wie die Güterstandsschaukel funktioniert

This works if

• the spouses in the matrimonial property regime of Community of accrued gains live and
• one spouse has earned more than the other during the marriage.

Then the Change of matrimonial property regime from the community of accrued gains to the separation of property, the equalisation of accrued gains is triggered. Since the equalisation claim of the (stereotypical) wife against the (stereotypical) husband has its legal basis in family law and is therefore not generous, this is not a gift in the sense of inheritance tax. The Wife securedwhich Liability risks optimised within the family and the gift tax rules are Allowances of the children for future gifts from both parents.

Die ertragsteuerliche Falle

But Caution: Die Ausgleichsforderung geht auf Geld. Wird stattdessen ein Gegenstand, wie etwa eine Immobilie oder eine GmbH-Beteiligung, übertragen, liegt Income tax one Disposal of this subject matter, which Taxation of profits of the hidden reserves.

BFH-Urteil vom 09.05.2025 (IX R 4/23)

The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) recently dealt with such a case. With Judgement vom 09.05.2025 (IX R 4/23) entschied er, dass die Steuer auf den Veräußerungsgewinn rückwirkend entfallen kann, wenn die Übertragung aufgrund eines Irrtums über die steuerlichen Folgen rückabgewickelt wird und dieser Irrtum die Geschäftsgrundlage des Vertrags bildete. Im Streitfall vereinbarten die Kläger, die notarielle Vereinbarung der Gütertrennung zu ändern, und bestimmten statt der Anteilsübertragung eine Geldzahlung. Das Finanzgericht erkannte die retroactive change of the marriage contract. The capital gain was cancelled with tax effect for the past. The BFH confirmed the view of the lower court: The Reversal can be treated for tax purposes as if the share transfer had never taken place if the Error is shared by both contracting parties, it already existed when the contract was concluded and falls within the sphere of risk of both contracting parties. The couple received tax advice and relied on the - incorrect - statement that no income tax would be payable on the transaction. A Liability case for the tax consultant and luck for the couple with regard to the error!

Conclusion

Der Fall konnte also „repariert“ werden. Allerdings weist der BFH darauf hin, dass die Voraussetzungen für die Anerkennung einer steuerlich rückwirkenden Änderung entsprechender vertraglicher Abreden streng bleiben und nur für Exceptional cases gelten. Daher sollten Sie sich bei derartigen Fällen von kompetenten Steuerberatern und Rechtsanwälten beraten lassen. Am besten von TAXGATE.