Apply for relief from energy tax for agricultural and forestry enterprises

As an agricultural or forestry business, you can apply for tax relief under certain conditions if you consume gas oil, i.e. agricultural diesel.

Energy tax is a consumption tax levied on coal, gas, oil and other energy products. The energy tax is a self-assessment tax. This means that if you have to pay the tax, you must submit a tax return to the relevant main customs office and calculate the energy tax yourself. You must also calculate any tax relief yourself.

As an agricultural and forestry business, you can have part of the energy tax already paid on gas oil refunded or reimbursed.

One of the prerequisites for tax relief is that you have used the gas oil for which you wish to apply for tax relief for your daily work in agriculture and forestry. This applies, for example, if you use your agricultural tractor or other machinery and vehicles for agricultural or forestry purposes. The following relief rates apply for this so-called agricultural diesel relief:

• until 29.02.2024 EUR 0.2148 per liter of gas oil
• from 01.03.2024 to 31.12.2024 EUR 0.12888 per liter of gas oil
• from 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025 EUR 0.06444 per liter of gas oil

There are two restrictions for gas oil:

• Businesses that carry out agricultural and forestry work for other businesses do not receive tax relief on gas oil. Beekeeping businesses can receive tax relief for a maximum of 15 liters of gas oil per bee colony.

The tax relief for gas oil expires on 01.01.2026. If you use gas oil for agricultural and forestry purposes after this date, you will no longer receive tax relief.

• Receipts or delivery certificates for the agricultural diesel purchased, for both preferential and non-preferential purposes, including the following information:
  • Addresses of the recipient and the person making the delivery
  • date of delivery
  • quantity delivered and
  • amount to be paid
• if you as the applicant are obliged to do so:
  • Records for all beneficiary vehicles and machinery clearly showing the following:
    • Date and extent of the work carried out
    • Volume of energy products consumed
• for apiaries:
  • a colony report as proof of the number of bee colonies, form ZSA 143
• Certificates on contract work and neighborly help and the gas oil used in the process, form ZSA 148

Forms: yes
Online procedure possible: yes
Written form required: no
Personal appearance required: no

• Your business must be active in agriculture or forestry, i.e.
  • Your business cultivates agricultural or forestry land, also in connection with animal husbandry or
• you operate
  • a beekeeping business or
  • a transhumance sheep farm or
  • a pond farm or
  • a pumping station for the irrigation and drainage of agricultural and forestry land or
• Your business carries out work for one of these businesses, for example as a:
  • Contract farming,
  • cooperative farm,
  • operation of a machine pool or as a
  • water and soil association.
• The tax relief is considered state aid. You must therefore meet the relevant requirements under state aid law.
• The total amount of relief for gas oil must be at least EUR 50.00 per calendar year.
  

• Objection

Further information on how to lodge an objection can be found in the notification of your application for agricultural diesel relief.

If you want to receive tax relief, you must apply for it online via the customs portal:

• You call up the customs portal.
• If you do not yet have an account there, you must register on the customs portal.
• You also need an ELSTER business account for the service. You can select the ELSTER business account when you register, but you can also add it later in the customs portal.
• You log in and select the "Agricultural diesel relief" service.
• Within the customs portal, you decide whether you need to complete a simplified application or the full application by means of the preceding questions.
• You send the application. You can view the processing status of your application in the customs portal in the process overview.
• In the customs portal, you can contact the customs administration online, for example to submit the necessary documents. If the assessment differs, you will receive digital notifications of relief here.

To avoid undue hardship, the use of the paper application may be permitted in justified individual cases. For further information, please contact your local main customs office.

You must apply for tax relief online in the customs portal by December 31 of the year following the calendar year in which the gas oil was used.

Depending on the time of application (January to September), about 3 months on average. Online applications are processed preferentially.

Fee free of charge