1 Background
After the failed draft bill on modernisation and bureaucracy reduction in electricity and energy tax law in 2024, the current federal government is now making a new attempt. The draft bill for a third law amending the Energy and Electricity Tax Act, presented by the Federal Ministry of Finance on 5 August 2025, essentially incorporates the changes proposed by the traffic light coalition. The law is intended to adapt electricity and energy tax law to current developments, consider the amended provisions in EU state aid law and promote the reduction of bureaucracy. The new law is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2026.

2 Changes to energy tax law
Here are the most important planned changes:

• Designer fuels that consist predominantly of gas oil are defined in Section 1a para. 1 No. 13b of the draft Energy Tax Act (EnergieStG-E). This is intended to ensure that genuine technical oils are not included and that honest businesses are not burdened. A levy on designer fuels in the tax territory is considered a fuel levy under Section 23 para. 1 sentence 4 EnergieStG-E and results in the tax being levied. This should put an end to the abusive trade in such products.
• Section 2 para. 4, sentence 7 EnergieStG-E allows the application of the reduced tax rate to vegetable oils, even if they do not fall under the legal definition of biofuels within the meaning of energy tax law.
• The tax-exempt use of energy products in watercraft, pursuant to Section 27 para. 1 sentence 1 EnergieStG-E, will be extended to include, among other things, the customs tariff numbers for hydrogen, anhydrous ammonia, methyl alcohol, FAMAE and biodiesel. As a result, these marine fuels can be used in commercial shipping with immediate tax exemption. A previously taxed supply and subsequent relief under Section 52 of the Energy Tax Act (EnergieStG) will, in future, no longer apply.
• The tax exemption for gaseous energy products, pursuant to Section 28 EnergieStG, will be adjusted to the EU requirements amended in 2023. Furthermore, only gases that are directly used or directly supplied and not fed into the natural gas grid are covered by the tax exemption. All other energy products can be exempted from energy tax, in accordance with Section 37 or Section 53 EnergieStG, if they are used to generate electricity.
• According to Section 39 para. 5 EnergieStG-E, the taxpayer must notify the responsible main customs office of estimates of the expected annual tax liability by 15 January and 30 June of each year. According to Section 64 No. 5 EnergieStG-E, an administrative offence is committed if the taxpayer deliberately or recklessly fails to make these notifications, or makes them incorrectly or late.
• The tax relief for dispatch from the tax territory for commercial purposes or for export also applies to test petrol, special petrol and medium-weight oils, in accordance with Section 46 para. 1 sentence 1 No. 5 EnergieStG-E, if these are not transported as bulk goods. Under the current legislation, it is only possible to transfer or export these goods to another Member State without taxation under the tax exemption procedure if the conditions for general permission, under Annex 1 to Section 55 of the Energy Tax Regulation (EnergieStV), are met. Transport under tax suspension is not permitted for these goods.
• The tax relief in Section 47 para. 1 No. 4 EnergieStG-E is extended to include verifiably taxed, self-produced energy products when used for the purposes of own consumption, specified in Section 26 or Section 44 para. 2 EnergieStG. This is intended to cover cases where the necessary permission was not obtained and taxation was required. The possibility of tax relief restores the mandatory tax exemption provided for under EU law.
• Section 53 EnergieStG-E uniformly regulates the tax relief for energy products used to generate electricity. If the electricity generated is subject to preferential electricity tax treatment due to EU state aid rules, this does not preclude this tax relief. The tax relief under Section 53a EnergieStG-E is now only available for uses that do not fall under Section 53 EnergieStG. In addition, the full tax relief under Section 53a EnergieStG is no longer applicable.
• The tax relief in the event of insolvency of the recipient of the goods, pursuant to Section 60 EnergieStG of the Energy Tax Act, is completely abolished.
• According to Section 64 No. 1a and 1b EnergieStG-E, an administrative offence is committed if the taxable person, when claiming a tax reduction or exemption, fails to notify the tax authorities of a non-compliant recovery order for EU aid, or does not file it correctly or in a timely manner, or if, when applying for tax relief, he does not correctly file a declaration that no outstanding recovery claims exist.
• The definition of ‘installation’ in Section 9 EnergieStV now refers to the newly defined term in Section 12b of the Electricity Tax Regulation (StromStV).
• Energy products in a tax warehouse are not considered removed or withdrawn under the new Section 23 para. 2 No. 2 EnergieStV, even if the withdrawal is only temporary for the purpose of maintenance, repair or cleaning of pipelines and storage facilities. In this case, no energy tax is levied. The main customs office must be notified in advance of any such proposed actions.

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