Motorhome tax in Germany: weight and emission class
A motorhome registered in Germany is taxed on its permitted total weight, and its emission class sets the rate.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Motorhome: tax by weight and emission class
Vehicle tax per year
€240
| With class S 4 | €240 |
| Extra cost of your class | €0 |
Motorhomes (Wohnmobile) are taxed in Germany under Section 9(1) No. 2a of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act on each started 200 kg of permitted total weight, at a rate set by the emission class. With class S 4 or better the first 2,000 kg cost €16 per 200 kg and every block above costs €10, up to €800 a year. With S 3, S 2 or S 1 the rates are €24 and €10, capped at €1,000. Vehicles without one of these classes pay €40 per 200 kg up to 2,000 kg and rising rates above, with no cap. A typical 3,500 kg camper therefore pays €240 with S 4, €320 with S 3 and €480 without a class. Engine size and CO2 do not matter, but the vehicle must be registered as a motorhome. A converted van left registered as a passenger car pays car tax instead. A towed caravan counts as a trailer and pays €7.46 per 200 kg, at most €373.24.
Weight, not engine size
Germany taxes motorhomes differently from cars. Section 8 No. 1a KraftStG bases the tax on permitted total weight plus pollutant emissions, and Section 9(1) No. 2a sets the rates. Engine size and CO2, which drive car tax, are ignored. The weight that counts is the permitted total weight in field F.2 of the Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, the registration certificate, not the empty weight and not what the camper weighs fully loaded on the ferry.
Weight is counted in started blocks of 200 kg. The emission class then picks the rate per block:
- S 4 or better: €16 per 200 kg up to 2,000 kg, €10 above, at most €800 a year;
- S 3, S 2 or S 1: €24 up to 2,000 kg, €10 above, at most €1,000;
- none of these: €40 up to 2,000 kg, €10 to 5,000 kg, €15 to 12,000 kg, €25 above, with no cap.
What typical motorhomes pay
| Permitted total weight | S 4 or better | S 3 to S 1 | no class |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,800 kg | €200 | €280 | €440 |
| 3,500 kg | €240 | €320 | €480 |
| 4,250 kg | €280 | €360 | €520 |
| 5,500 kg | €340 | €420 | €595 |
| 7,490 kg | €440 | €520 | €745 |
S 4 and S 3 differ by exactly €80 a year at every weight, because only the rate for the first 2,000 kg changes. The real jump is to the no-class group: at 3,500 kg the tax doubles compared with S 4, and at 7,490 kg it reaches €745 against €440.
A worked example without a class
Take a 7,490 kg motorhome with no S class. The first 2,000 kg are ten blocks at €40, which is €400. From 2,000 to 5,000 kg come 15 blocks at €10, adding €150. The last 2,490 kg are 13 started blocks at €15, adding €195. The total is €745. With S 4, every block above 2,000 kg would cost €10, and the bill would drop to €440.
The caps rarely matter. With S 4 the €800 ceiling is reached only from 14,800 kg, with S 3 to S 1 the €1,000 ceiling from 17,200 kg. Converted coaches and the heaviest liners get there; ordinary campers do not.
Bringing a motorhome when you move
Expats sometimes arrive with a camper registered in the UK, the Netherlands or Scandinavia. When it is registered in Germany, the registration office records two things that settle the tax: the vehicle class and body type, which decide whether it is a motorhome at all, and the S emission class under annex XIV to Section 48 StVZO, in the version of 1 September 2023 that the tax law refers to. Section 2(2) KraftStG makes both entries binding on customs. Recent motorhomes built on a van chassis usually meet at least S 4; vehicles from the 1990s often end up in S 1 or in the no-class group.
If the foreign papers do not show the emission standard clearly, the office may record a worse class than the vehicle actually meets, and the tax follows the record. It is worth bringing the manufacturer's certificate of conformity to the appointment. If a retrofit later earns a better class, the tax changes from the day of the change or, at the latest, from the day you receive the amended certificate (Section 5(3)).
Motorhome: tax by weight and emission class
Vehicle tax per year
€240
| With class S 4 | €240 |
| Extra cost of your class | €0 |
Leaving Germany with the motorhome
If you move on and take the camper with you, deregistering it ends the tax liability, and customs refunds the unused part of the year by the day. Export plates (Ausfuhrkennzeichen), used to drive a vehicle out of the country, are taxed for as long as they may be used, with a minimum of one month (Section 5(1) No. 4). Check that the refund account you gave customs will still work after you leave; a closed German account is the usual reason refunds go astray.
Reading the certificate
Before buying a used motorhome in Germany, look at the registration certificate rather than the advert. Field F.2 gives the permitted total weight, and the emission key number shows the class the registration office recorded. Together they tell you which column of the table above applies. A seller's claim that the vehicle is cleaner than its entry does not change the tax until the entry itself is changed.
Self-built camper vans
For tax purposes a motorhome is a vehicle of class M1 with the special purpose motorhome (Section 8 No. 1). Whether a converted van has that status depends on the registration entry, not on the bed and the cooker in the back. A van that stays registered as an ordinary car pays car tax on engine size and CO2, which for a big diesel is expensive: a 2022 van with 2,287 cm³ and 215 g would pay €558, compared with €240 as a 3,500 kg S 4 motorhome. A van registered as a goods vehicle (N1) is taxed by weight under the general rule instead. The diesel tax page shows how quickly the car formula adds up.
Caravans
A towed caravan is a trailer. Section 9(1) No. 5 charges €7.46 per started 200 kg of permitted total weight, capped at €373.24 a year. A 1,500 kg caravan pays €59, a 2,500 kg one €96. No emission class applies. Section 10, which lets some trailers with green plates go untaxed behind certain towing vehicles, expressly excludes caravans.
Seasonal plates
Motorhomes are the classic case for a Saisonkennzeichen, a plate valid only for set months each year. Tax runs only within that window, at one 365th of the annual amount per day (Section 11(4)), and the season repeats automatically every year. With a March to October season, the 3,500 kg S 4 camper pays roughly two thirds of €240. Deregistering each winter instead means at least one month of tax for every new registration (Section 5(1) No. 1) and a new notice each time.
Heavy motorhomes
The same rule covers motorhomes above 3.5 tonnes, and for S 4 and S 3 the rate per block above 2,000 kg does not rise. That makes heavy campers cheap to tax as long as they have a class: 7,490 kg with S 4 costs €440 a year. Licence category, inspection intervals and tolls abroad are a different matter above 3.5 tonnes; inspection prices are on the TÜV cost page. Showmen's motorhomes above 3.5 tonnes used only for the fairground trade are exempt under Section 3 No. 8(b).
Paying and checking
Motorhomes follow the general procedure: customs collects the tax through the local Hauptzollamt, by SEPA direct debit, once a year in advance, rounded down to the euro. Half-yearly payment is allowed only above €500 a year, which a no-class motorhome can exceed. The vehicle tax overview explains notices and refunds, and the vehicle tax calculator gives your figure; it matches the Finance Ministry calculator in our tests.
The S class used for tax is not the same thing as the particulate sticker needed for German low emission zones. An S 4 motorhome does not automatically get a green sticker; the low emission zone page explains what applies there.