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ECONOMY

Drivers in Germany face record fuel costs

Diesel is more expensive than ever at gas stations in Germany, while petrol prices are also approaching record highs.

Published: 18 October 2021 12:27 CEST
A driver fills his car with Diesel
A driver fills his car with Diesel at a German petrol station. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Carsten Koall

As of Sunday, the national price of a litre of Diesel was €1.555, according to the European motor association ADAC. This is just above the previous record price of €1.554 per litre set on August 26th, 2012.

For drivers of non-Diesel cars, there’s also little reason to celebrate, as petrol prices also look set to exceed previous records in the coming weeks.

The price of Super E10, a type of petrol with organic components, stood at €1.667 per litre on Sunday – just 4.2 cents short of its previous record price of €1.709, which was reached on September 13th, 2012.

Germany’s fuel prices have been on an upward curve for months. 

The main driver of this is the price of oil, which rose after last year’s Covid slump to hit multi-year highs on Monday.

In the case of Diesel, the problem has been compounded by the demand for oil for heating houses, which tends to rise in autumn and winter. Since the beginning of the year, the government’s CO2 tax – which currently stands at €25 per tonne – has also added around 6 to 8 cents to the cost of a litre of Diesel. 

READ ALSO: Why everything is suddenly getting so expensive in Germany

The development is particularly drastic when compared with the previous year. At that time, oil and fuel prices sunk dramatically due to the Covid crisis, before the trend started to reverse at the beginning of November 2020.

Debates over tax cuts

With consumer prices rising across the board in Germany, politicians are debating how best to ease the burden on cash-strapped households. 

Most recently, the outgoing transport minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) called on the government to prepare short-term countermeasures – such as tax cuts – if energy and fuel prices continue to rise sharply.

A large part of the fuel price at the pump is taxes and duties. For Diesel, at the current price level, these include €0.25 VAT, around €0.47 mineral oil tax and the 6 to 8 cents from the CO2 tax.

With heating and energy costs placing pressure on households, the outgoing government is already looking for ways to ease the tax burden on companies in order to limit the price hikes.

On Thursday it announced plans to cut the EEG levy in order to provide relief for struggling energy consumers from next year. 

READ ALSO: Germany slashes electricity levy as energy prices surge

The EEG levy currently adds 6.5 cents onto the price of a kilowatt hour of electricity in Germany. This is used to support to support businesses in the renewable energy sector.

From 2022, however, the levy will be reduced to 3.72 cents per kilowatt hour, with the difference partially made up by goverment subsidies. 

If a similar thing is done in for car drivers, this could see prices fall once more – though the change would not take effect immediately, as the savings for providers would take a while to be passed on to consumers. 

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INHERITANCE

EXPLAINED: How to write a will in Germany

German succession law is pretty clear on what happens to your assets if you die without a will. But there are some big advantages - particularly for foreigners - of writing one.

Published: 26 April 2024 10:19 CEST
EXPLAINED: How to write a will in Germany

First and foremost, the largest advantage when it comes to writing wills as a foreigner in Germany – is the option to decide which country’s law applies when you write your will.

“Foreigners living in Germany have a huge advantage over German citizens, because you can choose the law of your own country for your will – even if you live in Germany,” says Andreas Moser, a Chemnitz-based immigration and family lawyer who runs a popular blog on German citizenship and family law. “Dual citizens who are German and have another nationality also have this advantage.”

READ ALSO: Everything you need to know about German inheritance law

Whether you want to do this of course, depends highly on the other country concerned and its law – and how much it differs from German law.

In specific detailed cases, you may want to consult a lawyer who specialises in wills and estates. One example of how German law may differ though is that many countries don’t have “forced heirship”, which requires you to leave certain shares of your estate to certain immediate family members.

By contrast, Germany has forced heirship. If, however, you would like to get around this for some reason, you can specify that your will should go under the other country’s law – if, for example, that country doesn’t have forced heirship.

This is unlikely, however, to result in people resident in Germany you leave assets to being able to get around inheritance tax, as this counts towards the receiver’s tax and not the deceased’s. However, there are other cases when using either country’s estate law might have different implications for certain assets – something a specialised lawyer can give you more information about.

If you want your other country’s rule to apply, make sure you specifically state that in your will.

EXPLAINED: The rules around inheritance tax in Germany

When should you definitely have a will?

Moser suggests that foreigners in Germany who want their native country’s law to apply write a will and specifically state that as their wish.

He also recommends wills in particular for those who have “patchwork” families, where one or both spouses have been married before or have children from previous marriages – in order to avoid complicated proceedings over who gets what.

A family sit at a lake.

Foreigners in Germany – even if they are dual German citizens – can choose the succession law they want to apply in their will. Image by Eva Mospanova from Pixabay

How should I write a will?

When it comes to composing a will, you have three main options:

The first is to write an international will that’s valid in your home country and that specifically states that you want the law of your home country to apply. 

The disadvantage of this approach is that your heirs may have to later pay to have it translated into German. You can also arrange to have an official German translation of it done.

Your second choice is to handwrite a will and sign it. This is known as a holograph will or Eigenhändiges Testament in German. It can be in any language, although again – your heirs may have to pay to have it translated later.

This option also avoids certain expensive legal fees – and you can state which country’s law you want to apply. However, for it to be valid, it must be entirely handwritten and include the date and place of signature. It cannot be typed and signed. If you’re concerned about the will going missing, you can deposit it with your responsible probate court for a fee of €75.

The final option is to write a public testament – which is prepared by a German notary. These wills are pretty ironclad but can be expensive – with fees that differ depending on the size of the estate. Once prepared, the notary will then file it with the public registry – so there is always a record of it.

READ ALSO: Do foreigners in Germany owe tax on money that is inherited from overseas?

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