Company Car Tax Calculator for Germany
Work out the geldwerter Vorteil and the real monthly net cost of your company car under the 2026 rules — 1% rule, 0.25% electric rule and the commute add-on included.
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Calculator
Your company car
Describe the car and your pay.
Two required fields to start; everything else is a sensible, editable assumption. The result updates as you type.
The car
1%Taxed on the full list price: the standard 1% rule.
Pay & tax
Fine-tune the model
Payroll details and special cases. The defaults reflect the most common situation: statutory health insurance at the 2026 average additional rate.
Your result
What the car really costs you.
Enter the list price and your salary
The two highlighted fields are all the model needs. Your marginal tax rate makes the difference, so there are no fabricated numbers before you type.
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Transparent by design
A Firmenwagen calculator that shows its working.
A company car provided for private use is taxed as a benefit in kind (geldwerter Vorteil): a flat share of the gross list price is added to your monthly pay and taxed like salary. This calculator applies § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 and § 8 Abs. 2 EStG exactly, then runs the 2026 payroll maths so you see the real net cost, not just the benefit.
Benefit formula
Monthly benefit = 1% of the gross list price (0.5% or 0.25% for electrified cars) plus 0.03% of the list price per km of one-way commute. Example: a €45,000 petrol car with a 15 km commute adds €450 + €202.50 = €652.50 to taxable pay each month.
Official 2026 parameters
Income-tax tariff, solidarity-surcharge exemption, contribution rates and ceilings come straight from the 2026 statutes and regulations — every value is listed below with its legal source.
Marginal, not average
The model computes your payroll twice — with and without the benefit — and shows the difference. That is your true marginal burden, which is what the car actually changes.
Acquisition dates matter
The 0.25% cap moved from €70,000 to €100,000 for EVs acquired after 30 June 2025, and plug-in hybrids acquired from 2025 need 80 km WLTP range or max. 50g CO₂/km. The calculator handles both regimes.
Every 2026 parameter, with its source
These are the statutory values the model uses. Nothing is tuned or estimated — if a value changes, the methodology note below records the review.
| Parameter | 2026 value | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag) | €12,348 | § 32a Abs. 1 EStG |
| Solidarity surcharge exemption (single) | €20,350 income tax | § 3 Abs. 3 SolzG |
| Health & care contribution ceiling | €69,750 / year | SV-Rechengrößenverordnung 2026 |
| Pension & unemployment ceiling | €101,400 / year | SV-Rechengrößenverordnung 2026 |
| 0.25% rule cap for electric cars | €100,000 list price (acquired after 30 Jun 2025) | § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 EStG |
| Plug-in hybrid eligibility (0.5%) | max. 50g CO₂/km or min. 80 km WLTP range | § 6 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 Satz 2 Nr. 5 EStG |
| Average additional health rate | 2.9% | BMG announcement for 2026 |
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The rules that set your number
Six rules decide what a company car costs you.
German company-car taxation is a small set of flat-rate rules. Knowing which ones apply to your car — and which options you can elect — often changes the outcome by thousands of euros a year.
The 1% rule
Private use of a combustion company car adds 1% of the gross list price to taxable pay every month. The list price at first registration counts — discounts and used-car prices do not change it.
0.25% for electric cars
Fully electric cars acquired after 30 June 2025 with a list price up to €100,000 are assessed at a quarter of the list price. A €60,000 EV is taxed like a €15,000 car.
0.5% for hybrids and premium EVs
Electric cars above the €100,000 cap and qualifying plug-in hybrids (max. 50g CO₂/km or min. 80 km WLTP range) are assessed at half the list price.
The commute add-on
Driving to a fixed workplace adds 0.03% of the list price per km of one-way distance each month. Below roughly 15 office days a month, electing the 0.002%-per-trip valuation is cheaper.
Contributions cut the benefit
A monthly Zuzahlung to your employer reduces the taxable benefit euro for euro, down to zero. Paying €200 towards a €652 benefit means only €452 is taxed.
The logbook alternative
A Fahrtenbuch taxes actual private use instead of the flat rate. It pays off with little private driving, a high list price or a fully depreciated car — at the cost of documenting every trip.
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Questions fleet drivers actually ask
Company car tax, answered.
If you can use a company car privately, the tax office treats that as extra income: the geldwerter Vorteil. Under the standard method it is 1% of the gross list price per month, plus 0.03% per km of one-way commute, added to your gross pay and taxed like salary — including social contributions while your pay is below the ceilings.
A flat-rate valuation: instead of tracking actual private trips, 1% of the car's gross list price at first registration is added to taxable pay each month. It applies automatically unless you keep a proper logbook (Fahrtenbuch) and elect that method instead.
For fully electric cars acquired after 30 June 2025 with a gross list price up to €100,000, only a quarter of the list price counts as the assessment base — effectively 0.25% per month. Cars acquired between January 2024 and June 2025 keep the previous €70,000 cap; above the cap, half the list price applies.
Plug-in hybrids acquired from 2025 to 2030 qualify for the halved assessment base if they emit at most 50g CO₂/km or manage at least 80 km of electric range (WLTP). Otherwise the full 1% rule applies, like a combustion car. Mild and full hybrids without a plug never qualify.
Commuting to a fixed workplace adds 0.03% of the list price per km of one-way distance per month. If you drive to the office fewer than 15 days a month, you can elect the per-trip valuation of 0.002% per km and actual trip instead — capped at 180 trips a year. For hybrid workers this is often several hundred euros a year cheaper.
The flat rate wins with lots of private driving and an average list price. A logbook wins when private use is small, the list price is high, or the car is already depreciated — then actual costs prorated by private share can be far below the flat rate. The catch: the logbook must be complete and tamper-proof, or the tax office falls back to the 1% rule.
Yes. Monthly payments you make to your employer for the car — and per-km private-use charges — reduce the geldwerter Vorteil euro for euro, down to zero at most. One-off contributions to the purchase price can also be spread over the benefit in following years.
Usually yes when the employer covers fuel, insurance, maintenance and depreciation: those costs typically dwarf the tax on the benefit. A quick check: this calculator's net cost per month versus what leasing, insuring and fuelling the same car privately would cost. For electric cars at 0.25%, the comparison is rarely close.
Yes. The assessment base is always the domestic gross list price at first registration, rounded down to full €100 — regardless of what the employer actually paid, discounts, or the car's age. That makes nearly-new used cars relatively unattractive under the flat-rate method.
The big change came mid-2025: the list-price cap for the 0.25% electric-car rule rose from €70,000 to €100,000 for acquisitions after 30 June 2025. For 2026, the income-tax tariff and contribution ceilings were updated (basic allowance €12,348, health ceiling €69,750, pension ceiling €101,400) — all reflected in this calculator.
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Beyond the tax question