Charging a company car at home: tax-free reimbursement, AER and MID meters

If you drive an electric company car, you probably charge it at home and pay for the electricity yourself. Getting that money back without a tax bill depends on two things: the method your employer uses, and whether your charger can prove how much went into the car.

The tax position

HMRC accepts that when an employer reimburses the part of a domestic energy bill used to charge a company car or van, the payment falls within the exemption in section 239 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 – the same exemption that covers other costs of a company vehicle ^1,2. The condition is evidence: you need to be able to show the electricity was used to charge the company vehicle ².

This applies to company cars and vans. If you drive your own car for business, the approved mileage allowance payments apply instead and there is no separate charging reimbursement.

Two ways to reimburse

HMRC publishes the AER alongside the advisory fuel rates and reviews it quarterly, with separate rates for home and public charging ³. The AER is simple, but it is an average: on a cheap overnight EV tariff you may be over-reimbursed, on a standard tariff under-reimbursed. Actual cost is fairer, but only works if your charger records every session.

Time-of-use tariffs

If you are on an EV or time-of-use tariff, the rate for each session depends on when it ran. Ask your employer whether they reimburse at the off-peak rate, a blended rate or the actual rate per session, and whether your charger’s app or back office can export that.

What the charger needs to do

• Log every session with date, time and kWh, and let you export it or pass it to an employer back office.
• Separate company and private charging. An RFID card per car, or per-vehicle recognition in the app, keeps a second household car out of the claim. 55 of the 67 chargers in our database have an RFID reader.
• Connect to a back office if required. Many fleets and leasing companies read sessions directly via OCPP.

Where a MID meter comes in

A MID-certified meter has been assessed under the measuring instruments rules that apply to electricity meters used for billing ⁴. The smart charge point regulations only require a charger to measure energy to within 10% accuracy ⁵. That is good enough for scheduling, but a certified meter is stronger evidence if the numbers are ever questioned.

Of the 36 chargers in our database where we know, 30 have a MID-certified meter: see EV chargers with a MID-certified meter.

Getting the charger through the grant or employer scheme

Some employers fund or install a home charger for company car drivers. If the charger stays the employer’s property, ask who owns the data and whether the charger is linked to the employer’s back office. If you rent or live in a flat and pay for the charger yourself, the EV chargepoint grant may cover part of the installation cost; see our installation guide.

Step by step

1. Ask your employer which method they use (actual cost or AER) and what evidence they want.
2. Choose a charger that logs sessions, ideally with a MID-certified meter and OCPP.
3. Separate the company car’s sessions with an RFID card or per-vehicle setting.
4. Keep your tariff details, including off-peak and peak unit rates.
5. Submit monthly, matching the claim to the charger’s log.

Compare chargers and their metering on the EV charger overview. This guide is not tax advice; your employer’s payroll team or adviser has the final word.