A recent Ipsos poll indicates that the majority of Germans believe lowering the electricity tax is the best response to the high prices of gasoline and diesel. According to the report in the newspaper “Spiegel”, 79 percent of respondents agreed that the government should lower the electricity tax due to soaring fuel prices, while only 8 percent opposed this measure. The broad support for lowering the electricity tax remains consistent across various age and education groups, as well as spanning gender and regions, regardless of political affiliation. Consequently, this electricity tax reduction is considered more popular than any of the ten measures proposed, and is notably more popular than the fuel price discount introduced on October 1st.
In comparison, 46 percent of respondents welcome the reduction in the energy tax, but 35 percent reject it. As a result, this measure is less favored than an overall speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour on motorways, which could reduce fuel demand and thus alleviate price pressure.
The tank price cap, which the government plans to introduce before the end of the year, received the second-highest level of approval at 76 percent. Taking third place is a special profits tax aimed at tapping into the high profits of mineral oil companies resulting from the crisis, garnered 73 percent support.
In recent weeks, organizations such as the ADAC automobile club, the German Trade Union Confederation, the VdK social association, and the Federal Consumer Centre Association have been calling for reduced taxes on electricity. Regional politicians, including Saarland Minister President Anke Rehlinger (SPD) and Hesse counterpart Boris Rhein (CDU), have joined these demands.
The federal commitment by CDU/CSU and SPD in their Coalition Agreement from May 2025 was to lower the electricity tax from the current 2.05 cents per kilowatt-hour to the European minimum set at 0.05 cents. However, in June 2025, they retracted this promise for private households, stating that they first needed to find adequate financial breathing room. At that time, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) estimated that this change would burden the federal budget by 5.4 billion euros annually. This year, however, there is more than four billion euros of leeway available for the fuel price discount, which is currently only in effect for five months: May/June and October through December.
