1. What has been decided, and what has not
On Friday 25 September 2026 the Bundestag passed the temporary energy tax cut by 434 votes to 128 with no abstentions; the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition voted in favour, the opposition against (bundestag.de, printed paper 21/6561). The Bundesrat approved the law the same day at its 1068th plenary session (bundesrat.de). The tax rates on petrol and diesel fall by 14.04 cents a litre each; VAT is charged on the net price, so the arithmetic comes to 16.7 cents, “up to 17 cents per litre” in the Bundesrat's wording. The rebate runs from 1 October to 31 December 2026, 92 days. The bill puts the revenue loss at 2.485 billion euros of energy tax plus 293 million euros of VAT (bundestag.de); Berlin and the states share the burden half and half (Netz-Trends, 19 September 2026). It followed the federal-state agreement of 19 September and cabinet approval by written procedure (ZDFheute).
Both chambers adopted the law; the articles on the tax cut have applied since 1 October 2026 and run until 31 December 2026 (bundesrat.de). The law contains no obligation to pass the cut on in full; how much reaches drivers is up to the oil companies and stations (Bundesrat).
Heating oil is excluded: the law cuts the energy tax on petrol and diesel only, while light heating oil stays at €61.35 per 1,000 litres, about 6.1 cents a litre (Energy Tax Act, section 2). Today's heating oil price for Germany is on our page Germany heating oil price forecast.
2. How much reaches the pump
As of 4 November, the first month in figures: Super E10 averaged €2.114 a litre in October, 15.2 cents less than in September, and diesel €2.261, 12.5 cents less (ADAC monthly review, 2 November). The ADAC sees the cut “largely” passed on for petrol and only partly for diesel, and calls the overall price level “too high”. The cheapest E10 day was 30 October at €2.068, the dearest diesel day 27 October at €2.289. In the weekly comparison of 28 October E10 stood at €2.084 and diesel at €2.289, more than 20 cents above petrol; the ADAC points to the higher oil price, Brent around $114, and the strained international diesel market. One caveat: October against September also contains the move in world crude and diesel prices, not only the tax cut; an adjusted analysis by the market transparency unit like the one for the spring rebate was not available on 4 November. The first days are set out in the next paragraph.
Day one as a daily average: according to the ADAC, Super E10 averaged €2.114 and diesel €2.262 a litre on 1 October 2026, 14.5 and 15.2 cents less than on 30 September (dpa-AFX via onvista, 2 October, 09:00; Reuters summarised the ADAC figures as “around 13 cents”). Measured against the 16.7 cents that were arithmetically possible, 86.8 per cent reached drivers on E10 and 91.0 per cent on diesel on the first day (our calculation from the figures quoted). At 08:00 on Friday 2 October, prices of €2.098 (E10) and €2.248 (diesel) were 3.6 and 3.9 cents above Thursday 08:00 again, but 10.9 and 11.3 cents below Wednesday 30 September at 08:00; the ADAC said the energy tax cut was “still not fully reflected” and that there was “still room for lower fuel prices” (dpa-AFX). The interim readings of 1 October differed by time of day and comparison value: dpa reported €2.052 and €2.197 up to 11:45, the ADAC 14 to 15 cents less than the day before at 12:15, Bundeskartellamt chief Mundt about 18 cents since midnight (dpa via finanzen.at, 1 October, 17:58), and benzin.jetzt 12.7 and 13.3 cents at 431 stations by 11:00 (Kurier-Verlag citing dpa, 2 October). For comparison, for the spring rebate the Bundeskartellamt found 13.8 cents on diesel and 13.0 cents on Super E5, a different grade from the E10 quoted now (report of 10 July 2026).
The spring rebate is the best guide. Between 1 May and 30 June 2026 the energy tax was cut by 14.04 cents (about 17 cents gross, 1.6 billion euros), and the Bundeskartellamt's market transparency unit reported on 10 July 2026 that 13.8 of 16.7 cents reached diesel buyers, 82.6 per cent, and 13.0 cents or 77.8 per cent reached Super E5 buyers (Netz-Trends). Station margins rose by about 3.3 cents a litre on diesel and 1.9 cents on E5 over the same weeks. ZDFheute rounds the outcome to “about 80 per cent”.
Applied to October, that pattern would leave drivers with 13 to 14 of the 17 cents. The ADAC motoring club is demanding full pass-through and a seat at the table when the price cap is designed (ADAC, September 2026). The ADAC October balance opens this section.
| Rebate | Period | Energy tax | Gross | Passed through (diesel) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2026 | 1 May–30 June 2026 | −14.04 ct | ≈ 17 ct | 13.8 of 16.7 ct (82.6%), Bundeskartellamt 10 July 2026 |
| Autumn 2026 | 1 Oct–31 Dec 2026 | −14.04 ct | ≈ 17 ct | ADAC daily average 1 Oct: E10 −14.5 ct, diesel −15.2 ct vs 30 Sep, i.e. 86.8% and 91.0% of the 16.7 ct (our calculation); 2 Oct 08:00 again 3.6/3.9 ct above the day before (dpa-AFX); October average E10 −15.2 ct, diesel −12.5 ct on September, market moves included (ADAC, 2 Nov 2026) |
Our glossary entry on the pass-through effect explains why tax cuts and crude moves rarely arrive one-to-one at the pump.
3. What it means for one tank and one quarter
At the full 17 cents, a 50-litre fill saves €8.50; at the spring's 13.8 cents it saves €6.90. A driver using 375 litres a quarter, 1,500 litres a year, saves between €51.75 and €63.75 over the three months. The reference point is the record of 17 September 2026: Super E10 at €2.308 and diesel at €2.471 per litre (ADAC). Diesel at €2.47 would fall to €2.30 with full pass-through, or €2.33 on the spring pattern. Meaningful, but not large: diesel rose 10.1 cents in the single week to 15 September (ADAC).
Three practical points. The rebate applies up to and including 31 December; whether fuel gets dearer on 1 January depends on whether the price cap is in place by then, which was still open on 4 November. Compare stations and use the time of day: the ADAC advises filling up shortly before noon, when prices are usually lowest (28 October). And do not count on the rebate outlasting the crude market: at a euro-dollar rate of 1.14 (HeizOel24.at, 22 September 2026) 17 cents a litre is worth roughly 30 dollars a barrel, and Brent gained more than that between 1 July and 18 September 2026, from $71.57 to $104.33 (Wikipedia, Fortune).
See what the rebate does to your annual fuel budget in a minute: mileage, consumption, fuel type.
Calculate my fuel costs4. The 2027 price cap: what is known
The government wants a fuel price cap in place by 1 January 2027 at the latest, following Luxembourg and Belgium (ZDFheute, 19 September 2026). In both countries the state sets maximum pump prices from Rotterdam product quotations that retailers may not exceed. According to ZDFheute on 3 November, economy minister Reiche has tabled a draft bill for it; we could not confirm the cap level or a date for votes in the Bundestag and Bundesrat by 4 November. In September the ministry had stressed two conditions: the cap must be temporary, and security of supply must be guaranteed.
Economists criticise both the rebate and the cap as poorly targeted, because they help heavy drivers with large cars more than households without a car (ZDFheute). They are price instruments, not social policy. Households heating with oil get nothing from either; our German heating oil forecast covers the winter outlook for them.