From Blockade to Understanding: The Berlin Governance Platform will bring business, politics and civil society together from October 2026 to develop viable corridors for reforming the inheritance tax.
Berlin, October 14, 2026 - Berlin, October 12, 2026 – Germany faces fundamental tax policy decisions. The debate over the financing of state tasks, the distribution of tax burdens, and the future of the inheritance tax is gaining in importance. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to discuss these issues objectively beyond partisan reflexes, media tensions, and organized advocacy. In particular, the inheritance tax touches on key issues such as merit, property, equal opportunity, entrepreneurship, family businesses, and social cohesion.
Against this backdrop, the Berlin Governance Platform is conducting the „Heritage and Common Good” trialogue series from October 2026 to February 2027. Representatives from business, politics, and organized civil society are jointly seeking solutions to break existing obstacles to the inheritance tax issue. The aim of the bipartisan series is to develop areas of understanding for a viable reform. The inaugural event will take place this Saturday, October 17, 2026, in Berlin.
The Berlin Governance Platform has more than ten years of experience with multi-stakeholder processes. In around 40 trialogues, conflict-prone societal issues have been addressed – including climate protection, work-time flexibility, and European energy policy.
„The Trialog series creates a protected process of understanding where different social interests come together and Possible reform options can be jointly explored before political decisions are made,” explains Prof. Gesine Schwan, founder of the Berlin Governance Platform. „The goal is not to anticipate parliamentary decisions, but to develop viable consensus and recommendation corridors that can be fed into the democratic legislative process.”
The basis of the process is the Chatham House Rule. It enables confidential exchange by not attributing statements to individual persons. Names and positions are not published, but the relevant arguments, conflict lines, and understanding results are.
Members of the German Bundestag’s political parties, representatives of ministries, associations and civil society organizations have agreed to take this path together and to develop a broad basis for reforming the inheritance tax ahead of the upcoming parliamentary decisions.
About the Berlin Governance Platform: For over ten years, the Berlin Governance Platform has been organizing dialogue and participatory processes on socially conflict-prone issues. In around 40 trialogues, it has brought together actors from politics, business, and civil society to work together to develop viable solutions.
Contact: Lukas Stolz · Project Manager Heritage & Public Welfare · lstolz@governance-platform.org