The chancellor said he had no trust in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who heads the pro-business Free Democrats and has been part of the coalition along with Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens, the BBC reported.
The move means Scholz's government no longer has a majority in parliament. The confidence vote could lead to early elections by March.
The so-called "traffic-light" coalition has governed Germany since 2021, but internal tensions were bubbling for weeks before exploding into the open on Wednesday night, according to the report.
MNA