The German Bundestag and Bundesrat approved a temporary tax reduction on petrol and diesel on September 25, Tagesschau reports. The launch of the discount (Tankrabatt) is scheduled for October 1, but the legislation still requires the formal signature of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
According to Tagesschau:
- The reduction is scheduled for three months — from October 1 to the end of December 2026; the Federal President’s signature remains pending.
- The energy tax on petrol and diesel is set to drop by 14.04 cents per litre, yielding an overall tax cut of 16.7 cents when factoring in VAT.
- Oil companies are under no statutory obligation to pass the full tax cut on to filling station customers.
Timeline and Financing
According to Tagesschau, the Bundestag voted 434 to 128 in favour of the measure. The Bundesrat chose not to convene the mediation committee (Vermittlungsausschuss). The relief measure is set to remain in effect from October 1 until year-end, subject to presidential sign-off.
Tagesschau reports that expected tax revenue shortfalls will reach up to €2.5 billion. The federal government and the federal states plan to share this shortfall equally.
Tax Relief and Fuel Station Prices
As SPIEGEL clarifies, reducing the energy tax also lowers the VAT calculated on top of it. Taking this combined effect into account, total tax relief amounts to 16.7 cents per litre — rounded to roughly 17 cents. While Tagesschau notes the ruling coalition expects petroleum firms to pass the savings to consumers, the adopted statute contains no binding legal obligation to do so.
Tagesschau references an analysis by the Ifo Institute evaluating the previous Tankrabatt during May and June: for Super E5 and Super E10, the tax cut was passed on almost entirely, whereas for diesel it averaged roughly 12 cents per litre out of the 16.7-cent tax reduction. Those figures reflect that earlier measure.
Political Reactions and Future Strategy
Tagesschau reports that Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katharina Reiche described the Tankrabatt as a non-ideal compromise, while pointing to acute price pressures confronting drivers and small businesses. In contrast, economist Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) criticized the measure as expensive, poorly targeted, and counterproductive to fuel-saving incentives.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister-President Manuela Schwesig stated that a tax discount alone was insufficient and advocated for a fuel price cap mechanism, Tagesschau reports. According to the broadcaster, the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups agreed to establish such a cap as a crisis tool scheduled for early 2027, though Tagesschau notes the exact calculation formula remains undecided.