Tax on older cars in Germany: the rules before 2021

Before July 2009: engine size times emission class

For older cars, Section 9(1) No. 2(a) KraftStG has no CO2 element. It charges per started 100 cm³ of engine size at one of five rates, chosen by the emissions rules the car meets. The law describes the classes by reference to old EC directives; in everyday terms they line up with the Euro standards:

The range is wide: a petrol car with no recognised emission reduction pays almost four times as much as a Euro 4 car with the same engine, and even the cheapest diesel rate is higher than most petrol rates. Engine size is in field P.1 of the registration certificate; the class follows from the emission key number recorded there.

What the classes mean

The cheapest rate (aa) applies to cars meeting the limits in row A of Directive 70/220/EEC, in practice Euro 3 or stricter, or emitting no more than 90 g of CO2 per km. The second (bb) covers cars recognised as low-emission under Directive 94/12/EC, which is Euro 2. The third (cc) covers low-emission or conditionally low-emission cars of stage C that were exempt from ozone-alert driving bans, broadly Euro 1. The fourth (dd) is for cars not recognised as low-emission but likewise exempt from those old ozone bans under the former Section 40c of the Federal Immission Control Act. Everything else pays the top rate (ee).

A few very old type approvals from before 11 December 1999 keep the earlier version of Section 9 under Section 18(4). For such cases the Finance Ministry calculator is the safest check; our calculator matched it in the Euro 1, 2 and 3 cases we tested.

A worked example

Take a 2001 Euro 2 diesel with 1,896 cm³. That is 19 started blocks of 100 cm³; at €16.05 each the total is €304.95, rounded down to €304 under Section 11(5). Age brings no discount, and a change of owner changes nothing, because the class belongs to the car. A 1998 car and a 2003 car with the same class and engine pay exactly the same.

Importing an older car

People who move to Germany with a car they have owned for years are often surprised by the bill for a pre-2009 diesel. The rate depends on what the German registration office records as the emission class, and Section 2(2) KraftStG makes that record binding on customs. If the foreign papers do not prove the Euro standard, the office may only enter a worse class, and the tax follows. Bring the certificate of conformity or a manufacturer's confirmation. For a 1,896 cm³ diesel, the step from Euro 3 to the no-class rate means €421 more a year.

If a retrofit, such as a particle filter or a catalytic converter, is entered later and lowers the tax, the new amount applies from the change or, at the latest, from the day you receive the amended certificate (Section 5(3)). A historical diesel surcharge under Section 9a ran only from April 2007 to March 2011 and has no effect today.

Tax for cars first registered before July 2009

EnginePetrolDiesel

Engine size

cm³

Emission classEuro 3 – 6Euro 2Euro 1none, ozone-exemptother

Vehicle tax per year

€108

With Euro 3 or better	€108
Surcharge of your class	€0

Open the full vehicle tax calculator →

Late 2008 to mid-2009: the cheaper of two

Cars first registered between 5 November 2008 and 30 June 2009 had a temporary exemption at the time (Section 10a), which ended by 2010 at the latest. Afterwards Section 18(4a) applies the CO2 rule for post-July 2009 cars whenever it gives a lower figure than the emission-class rule. A February 2009 petrol car with 1,998 cm³, Euro 4 and 150 g would pay €135 by class but pays €100 under the CO2 rule. A March 2009 diesel with 1,968 cm³ and 140 g pays €230. The same model registered in October 2008 stays at the class rate. Cars that only benefited through the keeper rule of Section 10a(3) are excluded from this choice.

July 2009 to December 2020: one CO2 allowance per year

These cars pay today's engine rate, €2 per started 100 cm³ for petrol and €9.50 for diesel, plus €2 for every gram of CO2 above an allowance fixed by the year of first registration:

Two identical cars can therefore pay different tax for life, just because one was first registered in December 2011 and the other in January 2014. When buying used, check field B before agreeing a price.

For cars first registered before 1 September 2018, Section 18(5) fixes which test procedure the CO2 figure comes from: the older cycle, which usually gives lower values than today's WLTP test. Nobody re-measures these cars; the figure on the certificate stays.

Laying up an older car

If the car will sit unused for a long spell, deregistering it ends the tax on that day and customs refunds the unused part. Registering it again starts a new liability of at least one month (Section 5(1) No. 1), and the emission class carries over because it is stored with the vehicle data. Under Section 13(2) KraftStG the registration office will not register a vehicle for anyone with vehicle tax arrears of €5 or more, so settle any open amount from an earlier notice first. That rule also catches people returning to Germany after years abroad.

Classic cars on an H plate

A historic plate (H-Kennzeichen) replaces the whole calculation with a flat amount. Section 1(1) No. 4 KraftStG makes the plate itself taxable and Section 9(4) sets €191.73 a year, regardless of engine and emissions. A 1986 petrol car with 1,997 cm³ and no emission class pays €507 on the normal scale, so the plate saves more than half. For a small Euro 1 car the flat rate can be the dearer option. Eligibility, including an expert report on the car's condition, is a matter of registration law.

The same flat amount applies to red plates issued for recurring use, which collectors use to move several vehicles in turn (Section 9(4)). A summer car on a seasonal plate without an H plate is still taxed by class, but only for the months on the plate, at one 365th of the annual amount per day. For a large engine with no class, the H plate can still beat half a year at the class rate, so it is worth doing both sums.

Beyond the tax bill

With older cars, tax is rarely the only issue. Many German cities have low emission zones where the particulate sticker decides whether you may drive in at all; it follows different rules from the tax classes, explained on the low emission zone page. Roadworthiness test fees are on the TÜV cost page. Notices, payment and refunds work as described in the vehicle tax overview, and the vehicle tax calculator handles every class. For diesels, compare the figures on the diesel tax page.