Diesel car tax in Germany: why diesels pay more
In Germany each started 100 cm³ of a diesel engine costs almost five times the petrol rate, and lower CO2 rarely makes up for it.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Diesel versus petrol: same engine, different tax
Diesel per year
€286
| Petrol, same figures | €136 |
| Diesel surcharge | €150 |
A diesel car in Germany pays €9.50 of vehicle tax (Kfz-Steuer) per started 100 cm³ of engine size, while a petrol car pays €2. That rate applies to every car first registered since July 2009. The CO2 charge on top works the same way for both fuels, so with identical engine size and CO2 the diesel costs exactly €7.50 more per 100 cm³ block. A 2024 diesel with 1,968 cm³ and 140 g of CO2 pays €286 a year; a petrol car with the same figures pays €136. The petrol car would have to emit about 52 g/km more before both cost the same. For cars registered before July 2009 the diesel rate depends on the emission class and reaches €37.58 per 100 cm³. Euro 6 status, particle filters and mild-hybrid systems do not change the rate for newer diesels. If you are bringing a large diesel to Germany, expect the tax to be noticeably higher than for a comparable petrol car.
One rate explains most of the bill
Under Section 9(1) No. 2 KraftStG, every car first registered from July 2009 pays a charge per started 100 cm³ of engine size: €2 for a petrol engine, €9.50 for a diesel. That is 4.75 times as much. The engine size is in field P.1 of your Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, the registration certificate, and the fuel in P.3. A 1,968 cm³ engine counts as 20 blocks, so the engine part alone is €190 for a diesel and €40 for petrol.
The CO2 charge is identical for both fuels. For cars first registered since 2021, each gram above 95 g/km costs between €2.00 and €4.00, rising in bands. Diesels tend to emit less CO2, which narrows the gap, but rarely closes it.
Same figures, different fuel
To isolate the effect of the fuel, the table gives both versions the same engine size and the same CO2 value, first registered in 2024:
| Engine | CO2 | Diesel | Petrol | Diesel pays more |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,499 cm³ | 115 g/km | €182 | €70 | €112 |
| 1,598 cm³ | 125 g/km | €214 | €94 | €120 |
| 1,968 cm³ | 140 g/km | €286 | €136 | €150 |
| 2,993 cm³ | 180 g/km | €494 | €269 | €225 |
The extra cost is €7.50 per block, so it grows with the engine. With a three-litre unit the diesel pays over two hundred euros a year more than a petrol car with the same CO2. In every row the CO2 part is the same; at 140 g it is €96.50.
The break-even point
In real life the diesel usually has the lower CO2 figure. For the 1,968 cm³ diesel at 140 g, a petrol car with the same engine size would need about 192 g/km before its tax matched, around 52 g more. Big, heavy cars can reach such gaps; small ones almost never do, which is why small diesels are rarely the cheaper choice on tax. Enter both candidates in the vehicle tax calculator with their real figures.
Working through the 2.0-litre example
Here is the 2024 diesel with 1,968 cm³ and 140 g, line by line. Engine: 20 started blocks at €9.50 make €190.00. CO2: nothing for the first 95 g; grams 96 to 115 at €2.00 add €40.00; grams 116 to 135 at €2.20 add €44.00; the last five grams at €2.50 add €12.50. The total is €286.50, rounded down to €286. A petrol car repeats the CO2 steps exactly, but its engine part is only €40.
Importing a diesel when you move
Many people moving to Germany bring a diesel from countries where diesel is taxed lightly or not at all at registration. In Germany the annual tax follows the car for as long as it has German plates, and the first registration date decides which formula applies, wherever that registration happened. The CO2 value used is whatever the German registration office enters from your documents. If your foreign papers only show an older NEDC figure, the office records that; a later WLTP value for the same model does not change an existing car.
Diesels from 2009 to 2020 pay the same engine rate plus €2 per gram above a fixed threshold: 120 g for cars registered up to 2011, 110 g for 2012 and 2013, 95 g from 2014. A 2015 diesel with 1,598 cm³ and 105 g pays €172; the petrol twin pays €52. Cars registered before July 2009 are taxed by emission class instead, from €15.44 to €37.58 per 100 cm³ for diesel; a 2006 Euro 4 diesel with 1,896 cm³ pays €293. See the page on older cars for every class.
Diesel versus petrol: same engine, different tax
Diesel per year
€286
| Petrol, same figures | €136 |
| Diesel surcharge | €150 |
Rules you may read about but can ignore
Two diesel-specific provisions are still printed in the law but no longer bite. Section 9a added €1.20 per 100 cm³ for diesels without a particle reduction level between April 2007 and March 2011. Section 3b exempted early Euro 6 diesels first registered in 2011 to 2013 until the saving reached 150 euros, and ended in 2013 at the latest. Neither affects any tax notice issued today.
Euro classes, particle filters and AdBlue systems likewise make no difference to the tax of a post-2009 diesel. They do matter for access to low emission zones, which follow environmental law rather than tax law; the low emission zone page explains the stickers.
Diesel vans and campers
The heavy diesel rate applies to passenger cars (vehicle class M1) only. A van registered as a light goods vehicle (class N1) is taxed by permitted total weight under Section 8 No. 2 KraftStG, whatever the fuel: a 3,000 kg panel van pays €172 a year even with a big diesel. Motorhomes follow their own weight and emission class rules, covered on the motorhome tax page. What counts is the class the registration office enters in field J, not how the vehicle looks. Tradespeople and families who move with a van sometimes find this the cheaper route, but the class is set by the vehicle's approval, not by choice.
Seasonal plates for a second car
If the diesel only comes out in summer, for towing a caravan or for the drive south, a seasonal plate (Saisonkennzeichen) limits the tax to the months shown on it. Each day costs one 365th of the annual amount (Section 11(4)), so six months cost roughly half. Outside that period the car may not be driven or parked on public roads.
Hybrids with a diesel engine
A diesel hybrid, mild or full, is taxed as a diesel car: full rate per 100 cm³ plus the CO2 bands. The electric car exemption requires a drive by electric motors only, so it is out of reach. The hybrid system helps only if it lowers the official CO2 figure. A diesel plug-in with a very low test value ends up paying little more than the engine part, which for a diesel is the expensive part anyway.
Putting the numbers in context
A current two-litre diesel typically costs two to three hundred euros a year in tax, a comparable petrol car less than half that, and an electric car nothing until 2035 at the latest. Whether a diesel still pays off depends on fuel prices and mileage more than on tax. The amount on your notice is rounded down to the euro and taken by SEPA direct debit once a year, as described in the vehicle tax overview. Our calculator gives the same result as the Finance Ministry calculator: for a 2023 diesel with 1,968 cm³ and 145 g, both show €299.
The tax stays with the car for its whole life and does not fall with age, so the next owner pays the same. If you plan to sell before leaving Germany, a buyer will look at the same figures. If you plan to keep the car for many years, the diesel premium adds up: over a decade, the 2.0-litre example above costs €1,500 more than its petrol twin with identical CO2.