Pay motor vehicle tax

Once your motor vehicle has been registered, you generally have to pay motor vehicle tax. The amount you have to pay depends on the technical assessment bases of your vehicle.

If a motor vehicle has been registered for you as a private individual or for your company, you generally have to pay motor vehicle tax for this vehicle from the date of registration.

The following vehicles are subject to motor vehicle tax:

• Passenger car,
• Motorcycles,
• RVs,
• Motor vehicle trailer,
• Commercial vehicles, for example
  • Truck,
  • Tractors,
  • Buses;

• Light vehicles (3-wheeled and light 4-wheeled motorcycles), for example
  • Quads,
  • Buggies,
  • Trikes.

The amount of tax you have to pay depends on various criteria, including:

• the type of vehicle,
• the initial registration date,
• the type of drive system, meaning the engine of your vehicle,
• Engine displacement in cm³, i.e., the swept volume of the engine,
• carbon dioxide test value, i.e., the CO2 test value in g/km,
• whether the vehicle has a seasonal license plate,
• for commercial vehicles, motorhomes and motor vehicle trailers, the weight of the vehicle;

For historic vehicle license plates and red license plates for recurring use, you pay a fixed flat-rate annual tax, which is lower for motorcycles than for motor vehicles and trailers.

You can calculate the estimated amount of motor vehicle tax for your vehicle using the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) motor vehicle tax calculator.

As the registered keeper of the vehicle, you are the tax debtor and must pay the motor vehicle tax. If you do not pay the motor vehicle tax, for example due to insufficient funds in your account, the main customs office will take measures to collect the money from you. This also includes enforcement measures.

Under certain circumstances, you have to pay less or no motor vehicle tax. This applies, for example, to

• People with severe disabilities,
• foreign vehicles,
• battery electric vehicles as well as
• Cars that emit particularly low emissions.

You must notify your main customs office of the following changes to the account holder:

• Change of name,
• Change of address as well as
• Change of bank details.

You must report the following changes directly to the vehicle registration office:

• Changes to the vehicle owner's data

• Technical modifications to your vehicle

When registering a motor vehicle with the vehicle registration authority, you must also submit the form for the SEPA direct debit mandate at the same time. To do this, proceed as follows:

• You can fill out the form "SEPA Direct Debit Mandate for the Collection of Motor Vehicle Tax" online on the customs website at www.zoll.de and present it, already printed and signed, to the vehicle registration office when registering your vehicle.
• You can also obtain, fill out, and sign the form on-site at the vehicle registration office.
• With this, you give your consent for the motor vehicle tax to be debited from your account.
• After your vehicle has been registered, your registration authority will transmit all necessary data and the SEPA direct debit mandate to the competent main customs office.
• Based on this data, your motor vehicle tax assessment will be issued.
• Your tax assessment notice will be sent to you by mail.
• Provided you have agreed to this, you can also view the notice online in the customs portal.
• You can find the amount of tax under the ″Assessment″ section in your motor vehicle tax notice.
• The "Payment Request" section states:
  • the amount,
  • the day the amount will be debited from your specified account.
• This amount will be debited from the specified account on the same date in subsequent years.
• As a rule, you will not receive another tax assessment or another request for payment.
• You generally pay the motor vehicle tax in advance for a period of one year each time.
• If the annual tax exceeds EUR 500.00, you can also pay the tax in installments over shorter periods.
• If you have any questions regarding your tax assessment, please contact the office indicated on your tax assessment notice.

You must notify your main customs office of the following changes to the account holder:

• Change of name,
• Change of address as well as
• Change of bank details.

You must report the following changes directly to the vehicle registration office:

• Changes to the vehicle owner's data

• Technical modifications to your vehicle

If you want to change the SEPA Direct Debit Mandate for a vehicle that is already registered, you can also do this online in the customs portal:

• 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 company, you create a business customer account with your ELSTER account or add a user account to an existing business customer account in 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″
• Under the "Manage Bank Information" section, you can now set up a new SEPA mandate, modify an existing mandate, or reactivate your SEPA mandate.
• You will need this for that:
  • Your motor vehicle tax assessment and
  • Your owner data

If you wish to submit a change to the SEPA Direct Debit Mandate by mail or fax:

• Write an informal letter that includes the following information:
  • License plate of your vehicle
  • Mandate reference number from your motor vehicle tax assessment
  • IBAN of the payer
• The letter must be signed by the account holder.
• Send the letter to your competent main customs office.

If you want to notify us of a new account holder by post or fax:

• Download the form “SEPA Direct Debit Mandate for the Collection of Motor Vehicle Tax” from the Customs website and fill it out.
• Print out the form.
• The account holder must sign the form.

Send the form to your competent main customs office.

• You must pay the motor vehicle tax no later than the due date stated in your motor vehicle tax assessment notice.
• You have to pay motor vehicle tax for as long as your vehicle is registered for use on public roads in Germany, but for at least one month.
• As soon as you deregister or transfer the registration of the vehicle at the vehicle registration office, you no longer have to pay motor vehicle tax.

• 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.