Germany
The famous LASTENAUSGLEICH of 1948 is one that no history book mentions.
The Lastenausgleich was one of the most extensive transfer operations in German history. By 1978, more than 110 billion DM had been paid. [click on the image to the left for more]
The ``Lastenausgleich'' taxed all German households that survived the war and those profiting from eradicating debts in the currency reform in 1948. Apart from a small allowance, the wealth levy constituted a quasi-flat 50% tax on households' net wealth in 1948.
Between 1939 and 1948, millions of Germans lost most or all of their property due to bombings from Allied attacks or expulsion from their homes outside of Germany; others lost all their wealth due to the currency reform. More than ten million Germans had been expelled from Eastern Europe alone. Those impoverished by or from the war argued for a Lastenausgleich: that West Germany must equally divide the burden of the war by confiscating 50% or more of the surviving wealth from those "undamaged" by the war and redistributing it among the war-damaged, restoring the pre-war distribution of wealth and, by extension, moral order.
The law required all "undamaged" Germans to pay the equivalent of one-half of their property value and other assets, as assessed on the day of the 1948 currency reforms, payable in installments over thirty years. Payments were spread out from 1954 to 1979. By the end of 1954, the plan had paid nearly 3 billion Deutsche marks (DM), mainly to new arrivals.
German citizens had to list all their belongings and send the list to the government (Like Greek citizens had to do during the crisis in 2009). They were taxed 50% of the total value. If they could not pay it at once, the real estate property they owned was taken into guarantee, and they could pay the amount in monthly installments. The property of those who failed payments was seized and sold, and the funds were sent to the German government.
Many German Baby Boomers have experienced this legal theft firsthand, which is why the German real estate market has been underperforming over the past decade.
February 12, 2024 - German house prices are in freefall
After a decade-long house price boom, Germany’s housing market is struggling, as higher mortgage interest rates and rising inflation have compounded affordability constraints.
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