Vehicle tax in Germany: what you pay once your car has German plates
Registering a car in Germany makes you liable for Kfz-Steuer from that day, and the date the car was first registered decides the formula.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Your car tax in three inputs
Vehicle tax per year
€98
| Engine-size part | €30 |
| CO2 part | €68.60 |
German vehicle tax, the Kraftfahrzeugsteuer or Kfz-Steuer, is an annual tax on keeping a registered vehicle, and for cars it depends on the date of first registration anywhere. Cars first registered since 1 January 2021 pay €2 per started 100 cm³ of engine size for petrol and €9.50 for diesel, plus a charge for every gram of CO2 above 95 g/km that rises in bands. A 2016 diesel with 1,968 cm³ and 115 g costs €230 a year under the 2009 to 2020 rules; a 2024 petrol car with 1,498 cm³ and 118 g costs €76. The tax is run by German customs (Zoll): the main customs office for your area, the Hauptzollamt, sends a tax notice about two weeks after registration and takes the annual amount in advance by SEPA direct debit. You cannot register a car without signing that mandate. The amount is rounded down to whole euros, and the liability ends when the car is deregistered or re-registered to a buyer.
The date that decides everything
Look at field B of your Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I, the small registration certificate that stays in the car. It shows the date of first registration, and the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (KraftStG) uses it to sort cars into three regimes. For an imported car this is the date it was first registered in its home country, not the date it got German plates. A 2016 car shipped from Spain is taxed exactly like a 2016 car bought in Munich.
| First registered | Basis | Example | Tax per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| from 1 Jan 2021 | engine size + banded CO2 above 95 g | petrol, 1,498 cm³, 118 g | €76 |
| 1 Jul 2009 to 31 Dec 2020 | engine size + €2 per g above a fixed threshold | diesel 2016, 1,968 cm³, 115 g | €230 |
| up to 30 Jun 2009 | engine size by emission class | petrol 2006, Euro 4, 1,598 cm³ | €108 |
How the 2021 formula works in practice
Engine size is counted in started blocks of 100 cm³, so 1,498 cm³ counts as 15 blocks. Petrol cars pay €2 a block and diesels €9.50. On top comes CO2, taken from field V.7 under the WLTP test. Grams up to 95 g/km are free. Beyond that each band has its own rate, from €2.00 per gram for the first band to €4.00 above 195 g, and each rate applies only to the grams inside its band.
This is why large engines get expensive fast. A 2022 petrol car with 2,998 cm³ and 214 g pays €396 a year, of which €336.00 is the CO2 part. People coming from countries where car tax is a flat fee often find the first notice for a big SUV or a pick-up a surprise. Check the figure before you buy, using our vehicle tax calculator.
Cars from 2009 to 2020
Same engine charge, but a single CO2 rate of €2 per gram above a threshold that depends on the year: 120 g for cars registered up to 2011, 110 g for 2012 and 2013, 95 g from 2014. A used diesel from this period is often cheaper to tax than a new one, but its engine charge still dominates; the diesel tax page compares both fuels.
Vehicles taxed differently
Fully electric cars first registered by the end of 2030 pay nothing for ten years, and the electric car tax page shows when that ends for your car. Hybrids are not covered: they are taxed like any petrol or diesel car. Motorbikes pay €1.84 per started 25 cm³, which gives €51 for a 689 cm³ middleweight. Motorhomes and trailers are taxed by permitted total weight.
Customs, not the Finanzamt
Since July 2014 the federal customs administration has run vehicle tax. Your contact is the Hauptzollamt, the main customs office covering your home address. You never file a vehicle tax return yourself: the registration office passes your details and the bank mandate on, and Section 2(2) KraftStG makes the figures it enters binding on customs. The person liable is the registered keeper (Halter), which matters for company cars, leased cars and cars registered in a partner's name.
One consequence for imported cars: customs taxes whatever the registration office records. If the CO2 value or engine size on your new German certificate looks wrong, perhaps because a foreign document gave an NEDC figure instead of WLTP, raise it with the registration office (Zulassungsstelle), not with customs. A corrected certificate leads to a new tax assessment from the date of the change.
Paying: the SEPA mandate
At the registration office you sign a SEPA direct debit mandate; without it Section 13(1) KraftStG does not allow the car to be registered. The customs website confirms that the debit is taken on the due date, once a year and in advance. If you are new to Germany and still waiting for a local bank account, any SEPA account in your name or someone else's will do.
Instalments exist only for high bills. Above €500 a year you may pay half-yearly, above €1,000 quarterly, each with a surcharge of 3 % or 6 % (Section 11(2)). For the large petrol car above, two half-yearly payments would be €203 each.
Rounding
Every amount due is rounded down to the full euro (Section 11(5)). The 2024 petrol example works out at €76.60 and is billed at €76.
When liability starts and stops
It starts on the day of registration, even if the car stays in the garage. The notice arrives about two weeks later and covers the period up to the next due date, so the first amount is often not a full year. It stops on deregistration or, when you sell, on the day the buyer registers the car in their name. Until then you remain liable, so follow up with a private buyer. Moving within Germany does not change the notice; a change of address only has to be reported.
Exemptions an expat may meet
Section 3 KraftStG lists the cases where no tax is due. Three matter to people arriving from abroad. A private car registered in another country and brought in for a temporary stay is exempt for up to a year, but only until it has a regular base in Germany (No. 13). If your normal residence stays in another EU country, the EU rules on temporarily imported private vehicles can keep it tax-free in Germany (No. 12). Cars registered for accredited diplomatic and consular staff are exempt where the sending state grants the same in return (No. 10). For everyone else the tax applies from the day German plates go on.
Buying or selling a used car
When you buy, the re-registration counts as your tax declaration, and you sign a fresh SEPA mandate: customs asks for a new mandate whenever the person liable changes, not an edit of the seller's. Any exemption still running, such as an electric car's, passes to you. When you sell, your liability ends on the day the buyer registers the car; customs then sends a closing notice and refunds the balance. Hand over the car with a written sales contract that records date and time, because until the transfer you remain the keeper on file.
Seasonal plates and several cars
A Saisonkennzeichen, a seasonal plate valid for set months such as April to October, limits the tax to that period. Each day costs one 365th of the annual tax, with 29 February ignored in leap years (Section 11(4)). Customs may not align a seasonal car with your other vehicles. If you keep two or more cars registered all year, you can ask for one common due date instead; the gap is then charged by the day.
Company cars and leasing
With a company car or a leased car registered in the leasing company's name, the tax notice goes to the registered keeper, not to you. It is usually built into the leasing rate or paid by the employer. Only if the car is registered in your own name, as with some private leasing contracts, do you deal with the Hauptzollamt directly.
Your car tax in three inputs
Vehicle tax per year
€98
| Engine-size part | €30 |
| CO2 part | €68.60 |
Checking your bill
Our calculator matched the Federal Finance Ministry calculator to the euro in 21 cases tested on 11 October 2026. If your notice differs, the usual reasons are a part-year first period, a figure on the registration certificate that is not what you expected, or a relief such as the one for severely disabled keepers that only applies after an application.