Fuel tax cut (Tankrabatt) until New Year's Eve: what it brings and how much gets through

The Bundestag (Germany’s parliament) passed the fuel tax cut (Tankrabatt) on 25 September 2026 (434 votes in favour, 128 against). From 1 October to 31 December 2026 the energy tax on petrol and diesel falls by 14.04 cents per litre. Because 19% VAT is added on top of the tax, at the pump it comes to up to 16.7 cents. This applies equally to Super E5, Super E10 and diesel.

The cut lowers the tax, not the price directly. Whether and how quickly petrol stations pass it on is up to them – the law does not require it. All the more reason to compare: on every city page you will find all petrol stations with their current prices.

The energy tax was already cut by 14.04 cents once before, from 1 May to 30 June 2026. The Market Transparency Unit analysed how much of that reached the pump: 13.8 cents (82.6%) for diesel, 13.0 cents (77.8%) for Super E5. According to the report, the gap arose mainly at the petrol stations rather than in wholesale.

How much gets through this time can only be said afterwards – crude oil price, dollar exchange rate and season all move prices at the same time. For the first cut, the Market Transparency Unit analysed this in its quarterly report.

At the end of the first cut, prices rose from one day to the next: from 30 June to 1 July by around 9.6 cents for petrol and 10.4 cents for diesel, and from 28 June to 1 July even by 16.9 and 19.1 cents. A similar jump at the turn of the year is possible but not certain – if you have to fill up anyway, you are better off doing so before New Year’s Eve than after it. That is a rule of thumb from experience, not a forecast.

For the period afterwards, the federal government and the federal states (Bund und Länder) agreed on 18 September 2026 to talk with the oil industry about a fuel price cap (Spritpreisdeckel) by 1 January 2027 at the latest – along the lines of Luxembourg or Belgium, where the state sets a maximum price. What the cap should look like is still open.

The cut is the same at all petrol stations – the prices are not. Between stations in the same city there are often several cents of difference, on the motorway considerably more (see Filling up on the motorway). Since the 12 noon rule, fuel is usually cheapest in the morning before 12 noon (The best time to fill up), and if you can use E10, you usually save a few cents more (E10 or E5?).

• Deutscher Bundestag: Bundestag passes fuel tax cut (25 September 2026, in German)
• Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office): Quarterly report of the Market Transparency Unit, 10 July 2026 (in German)
• Bundesregierung (federal government): Federal and state governments agree fuel price relief package (18 September 2026, in German)