(Archived Content)
FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
LS-1080The Treasury Department today announced that a protocol to the estate and gift tax treaty with Germany entered into force on December 14, 2000. The protocol, to which the U.S. Senate gave advice and consent to ratification in 1999, amends the existing estate and gift tax treaty between the United States and Germany, which was signed in 1980.
On December 14, the United States and Germany exchanged instruments of ratification, the final step required to bring the treaty into force. The treaty applies generally with respect to deaths occurring after December 14, 2000. However, the estates of certain persons dying after November 10, 1988, may be eligible for benefits relating to the unified credit and marital deduction, provided that a return or claim for refund asserting those benefits is filed no later than December 14, 2001, or within the otherwise applicable period for filing the return or claim under U.S. law.