The fact that you can save a lot of money with a natural gas car has already been discussed in various articles. Of course, you save several kilograms of environmentally harmful CO2 and the energy costs at the filling station are also lower than with other fuels. In addition, some energy suppliers subsidize the purchase or conversion to a natural gas vehicle. But did you know that you can also save taxes with a natural gas car?? The details can be found here.
How the tax for a natural gas car is calculated?
Since 2009, the emission-based vehicle tax has been used to calculate the taxes you have to pay to the tax authorities for your car. It is paid annually and consists of 3 components:
- Type of drive
- cubic capacity
- Pollutant emissions
to calculate your own car tax, you need to know these 3 factors and maybe also the year of first registration of the car. Vehicles registered for the first time before 2009 may be eligible for special taxation as classic cars.
Is the natural gas car tax-free??
Unfortunately not quite. A basic amount, which you pay for vehicles with gasoline engines (so-called spark-ignition engines), is also due for electric cars. But you can also save money by having a particularly good environmental record.
The calculation of the vehicle tax in detail
What exactly is meant by the 3 factors mentioned above and how they influence the taxes for your natural gas vehicle, we will explain to you below.
Depending on the type of drive you pay higher taxes. Thus, a diesel car is almost 5 times more expensive than a gasoline car or a car with autogas (LPG).
The decisive factor here is the cubic capacity. For every 100 cubic centimeters you pay for a gasoline car and also for a CNG vehicle, you pay 2 euros. For diesel it is 9,50 euro.
CO2 emissions, i.e. pollutant emissions, are added to this basic amount. For their taxation, the vehicles are classified according to the date of their first registration.
- First registration before 1. January 2012these vehicles are allowed to emit 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
- First registration from 1. January 2012: here the value must be below 110 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven.
- first registration from 2014These cars must not produce more than 94 grams per kilometer.
If your car emits more carbon dioxide than the respective limits, the tax office will charge you 2 euros more per gram in vehicle tax.
And this is where the tax on the natural gas car again shows a big advantage: because on average, the combustion of CNG results in emissions of less than 94 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer. This means that, apart from the basic amount, you will not have any additional costs on top of the vehicle tax anyway.
This is how you calculate the taxes for your natural gas car
If you want to know exactly how high the annual vehicle tax for your natural gas vehicle will be before you buy it, take a look at the vehicle tax calculator of the federal ministry of Finance: here you can determine exactly what type of car you have or want to have and find out how high the tax for it will be.
To help you with the calculation, we have provided the following example.
Your car has been registered after 2014 and has 2.000 cubic centimeters of displacement. The CO2 emission is 94 grams per kilometer. A natural gas car is always considered to be powered by a gasoline engine.
according to the car tax calculator, you will pay just 40 euros in taxes per year.
For comparisonan average gasoline car with the same specifications would cost about 220 euro. A diesel car would pay over 270 euros in vehicle taxes per year.
Is only the natural gas car tax favored?
there are some vehicles whose owners can enjoy a reduced tax rate. This includes:
- Natural gas cars, you benefit not only from low pollutant emissions, but also from fuel savings. Because the fuel itself is subsidized by the state. For the time being until 31. December 2026, the reduced tax rate of 13.90 euros per megawatt hour applies to CNG and LPG (autogas).
- classic car, which have an H license plate, i.e. are at least 30 years old, cost only 191 euros per year in vehicle taxes.
- electric cars, between the 18. May 2011 and 31. December 2020 were registered. you are completely exempt from tax for 10 years. This also applies to conversions that took place between 2016 and 2020. After that, a reduced tax of 50 percent still beckons.
The biggest advantages of a natural gas car
- Environmental friendlinessnatural gas vehicles emit up to 25 percent less CO2 and more than 30 percent less hydrocarbons than gasoline or diesel cars. The emission of nitrogen oxides is reduced by up to 95 percent.
- Savings on fuelCNG is subsidized by the government and is therefore significantly cheaper than diesel or gasoline.
- EfficiencyNatural gas car engines are up to 10 percent more efficient than gasoline engines.
- SubsidiesMany gas suppliers pay a subsidy for the purchase of a new natural gas car or for its conversion.
You would like to learn more about the natural gas car? Download our essential guide now!