According to the Bundeskartellamt, about 80% of the tax relief has been passed on to consumers. The agency noted a price gap of nearly four cents.
The Bundeskartellamt has reported that the fuel tax rebate has largely reached drivers. For diesel, 82.6% of the tax reduction was passed on to consumers, while 77.8% of the cut for E5 gasoline reached them. This tax relief was implemented as a response to sharply rising fuel prices following the onset of the Iran conflict.
The state-granted rebate was approximately 17 cents per liter. However, on average, 2.9 cents for diesel and 3.7 cents for gasoline were not passed on to drivers.
Economists Criticize Fuel Rebate
The Kartellamt President Andreas Mundt stated, “The tax relief was not entirely but predominantly passed on to consumers.” After the rebate expired on July 1, fuel prices rose as expected by 17 to 19 cents, which was within the expected range.
The fuel rebate cost the federal government approximately 1.6 billion euros and faced heavy criticism from economists for not specifically targeting low-income individuals.
Filling Up Before Noon
The Kartellamt also positively assessed the so-called “12 o’clock rule.” Since its introduction, gas stations may only raise prices once daily at noon but can lower them at any time. This rule was intended to increase transparency.
As a result, the number of daily price changes has significantly decreased—from sometimes up to 50 changes to an average of just about eight. According to Mundt, filling up just before noon is typically the cheapest.
In the second quarter of 2026, the reports indicated that there were price increases at other times of the day in only about 2% of instances. Authorities must act against any violations.
