A new Supreme Court decision looks to shake up inheritance issues in Estonia, reversing a longstanding taxation policy.

For the last 20 years, monetary gains from selling inherited property were subject to full income tax. Yesterday, the court threw that out of the window, reports Postimees.

The case stemmed from a 2011 decision by the Tax and Customs Board to assess a defendant, Adele Tonto, close to 8,000 euros in back taxes for failing to declare the sale of an apartment that was left to her by a relative.

The Supreme Court found that under the principle of equal treatment, the successor has to be taxed in the same manner as the person bequeathing the property, had the deceased sold off the property in his or her lifetime.

The Tax and Customs Board estimates about 1,000 people are under the purview of the decision, although no euro figure was placed on the total value at stake. Other than the now-reversed principle on taxation of capital gains from selling off inherited property, Estonia has no estate tax.

ERR News