Apply for motor vehicle tax exemption for severely disabled persons

If you are the registered owner of a motor vehicle and are a person with a severe disability, you must pay less or no motor vehicle tax under certain conditions. To do this, apply for a motor vehicle tax relief.

If a motor vehicle is registered to you as a private individual, you generally have to pay tax for this vehicle from the date of registration. If you are severely disabled and the registered keeper of a motor vehicle registered in your name, you may be eligible for a motor vehicle tax concession in the form of a complete tax exemption or a tax reduction under certain conditions.

The type of tax relief is determined by which symbols are included in your severely disabled person's pass.

With a tax exemption, you do not have to pay motor vehicle tax. You will receive a complete tax exemption if your severe disability ID card contains at least one of the following special symbols:

• H = Helplessness in performing activities of daily living
• Bl = Blindness or severe visual impairment
• aG = severe walking disability

If, as a person with a severe disability, you were already exempt from motor vehicle tax as of May 31, 1979, you may also be eligible for a tax exemption if your severe disability card contains the following codes:

• War-Injured (Persons Severely Injured in War under the Federal Pension Act)
• VB = entitlement to care (severely disabled former soldiers of the German Federal Armed Forces, civil service conscripts, or former political prisoners of the former GDR)
• EB = Eligibility for Compensation (Victims of Nazi Persecution)

With a tax reduction, you must pay half of the usual motor vehicle tax. You will receive a 50 percent tax reduction if

• Your severe disability ID card is provided with an orange surface print and contains at least one of the following special symbols:
  • G = Physical disability
  • Gl = Deafness
• You have waived your right to free transportation on public transit. Therefore, the supplementary sheet attached to your severe disability ID card must not contain a corresponding token.

If you are still a minor and have a severe disability, the vehicle must be registered in your name.

If, as a person with a severe disability, you do not drive your motor vehicle yourself, the journeys must serve your mobility or household management.

If you use your motor vehicle temporarily or permanently for other purposes, you must immediately notify the competent main customs office of this so-called “non-intended use.”.

The tax benefit is suspended for the duration of the unauthorized use, but for at least one month.

An example of unauthorized use is when a vehicle eligible for tax benefits

• for the carriage of goods, excluding hand luggage,
• for the transportation of passengers for a fee, except for occasional rides or
• is used by other people for trips that are not related to the severely disabled person's mobility or the management of their household.

You can apply for a tax reduction or tax exemption online through the Customs Portal or in writing on paper.

Apply Online for a Motor Vehicle Tax Exemption

• Go to the website www.zollportal.de
• You must register before using the customs portal for the first time.
  • As a private individual, you create a citizen account using your ELSTER account, identity card, or BundID.
  • As a business, you can create a business customer account using your ELSTER account or add a user account to an existing business customer account on the Customs Portal.
• If you have already created an account in the Customs Portal, log in using ELSTER, your ID card, BundID or Customs ID.
• Select the service ″Motor vehicle tax″
• Go to "Manage tax relief".
• Select "Apply for tax relief".
• Fill in the necessary fields.
• Upload the supporting documents.
• You can agree to receive the response to your application digitally via the customs portal.
• After processing, you can access the decision on your application there electronically.

Submit an application for motor vehicle tax exemption in writing:

• You can submit the application for a motor vehicle tax exemption for people with severe disabilities either at the time of vehicle registration or at a later date at the appropriate main customs office or at the nearest contact office (motor vehicle tax).

Written application to the licensing authority:

• You can fill out Application Form 3809 "Application for a Tax Exemption for Severely Disabled Persons under Section 3a of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (KraftStG)" online on the Customs website at www.zoll.de and submit it to the registration office once it has been printed out and signed.
• Alternatively, you can have the registration office give you the form when registering your vehicle, fill it out on-site, and sign it.
• If you are represented by a third party, that person generally needs a valid power of attorney.
• You can submit the form, along with the required supporting documents, directly to the registration authority for forwarding to the appropriate main customs office.
• The main customs office will then review your application and you will receive feedback.

Written request to the Main Customs Office:

• You can fill out the application form 3809 "Application for tax relief for severely disabled persons pursuant to Section 3a of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (KraftStG)" online on the customs website at www.zoll.de, print it out, and sign it.
• If you are represented by a third party, a valid power of attorney must generally be presented
• Send your application along with the required documents (as copies) by mail or fax to your competent main customs office, or drop off the documents at one of the contact points (motor vehicle tax) near you.
• The Main Customs Office will review your application, and you will receive a response.

The tax benefit remains in effect until the eligibility requirements are no longer met or until you deregister your vehicle.

You must notify your local main customs office immediately—either online via the customs portal or in an informal written notice—if:

• the requirements for your tax benefit are no longer met,
• Your tax-advantaged vehicle is temporarily used for purposes that are not eligible for the tax benefit.

• Appeal: Detailed information on how to file an appeal can be found in your tax assessment.
• An objection can also be filed online in the customs portal.
• Action before the finance court, generally after the appeal proceedings.