Reimbursement of costs for electric (company) cars

Hypothesis 1: The employee is provided with a company car for personal use (benefit of any kind in payroll) 

When an employer makes an electric company car available to an employee, the RSZ and tax authorities consider that all benefits related to the use of the electric company car are excluded from the definition of salary. This concerns, for example, the costs for the installation of the electric charging station at the employee's home or the reimbursement of this, the use of the charging station at the employer's premises, the electricity used (if the charging station is only used for the company car) and the (smart) cable. Only a CO2 contribution is due. 

 

Points of attention for reimbursement of costs 

When the employee has a charging card at his disposal or charges for free at a charging station in the company car park, the actual cost is clear. No additional benefit of any kind is due in these cases. 

Reimbursing home charging is less straightforward. 

 
Viewpoint RSZ 

For the costs of electric charging, the RSZ’s position is that the employer must be able to prove the actual costs related to home charging. When the vehicle is charged at the employee's home, the employer must be able to prove that he is only reimbursing the electricity used in connection with the electric company car.  

In the absence of a modern variant of a charging station or smart charging cables, the employee will only have one global electricity bill for his personal electricity consumption and that of the electric charging. In such a situation, the RSZ does not accept the allocation of a fixed compensation. If it’s not possible to clearly distinguish the part of the electricity consumption for the company car from the general electricity consumption of the employee, the employer must be able to demonstrate (e.g. on the basis of the kilometres travelled and the average consumption) that the compensation does not exceed the actual costs incurred by the employee. In the latter case, it is absolutely necessary that the employee systematically charges the vehicle at home (and not at the employer's premises). 

 

Position of the tax authorities 

In case the employer reimburses the electricity costs for home charging, no additional benefit of any kind is charged when the employer: 

  • in addition to an electric company car, also makes a home charger (Wallbox) or an electric charging station available to his employee; 
  • who has a specific communication system that communicates to the employer how much electricity is being used; 
  • and the applicable car policy also provides for the reimbursement of the electricity "refuelled" with the home charger. 

It’s important to note that this reimbursement must be based on the 'market price' so that no additional benefit of any kind must be charged. At this stage of the legislation, it’s not automatically accepted to work with one fixed rate, the charged rate must reflect the actual cost. The employer can consider applying for a ruling and, if necessary, obtaining an agreement from the tax authorities if his estimate of the loading costs is based on serious standards (e.g. using the average cost price of the VREG). However, the RSZ does not have to take into account this ruling from the tax authorities. 

When the employee owns the charging station and does not have a charging card, the reimbursement of the recharged electricity will follow the tax and social security regime of the trips made with the recharged electricity: service trips (exempt), commuting trips (EUR 430 in income year 2022 tax exempt/fully exempt from social security) and private trips (additional benefit). 

 

Points of attention when the employer bears the costs for charge points installed at the employee's premises 

There is no additional benefit of any kind to include when this is already being charged for the company car. This does not apply to the use of the charging station.  

However, a charging station installed at the employee's home and which is not removed at the end of the lease period must always be considered a benefit in kind according to the RSZ. The tax authorities are more lenient in this respect and are of the opinion that a transfer of ownership of the charge point more than four years after the installation of this charge point does not entail any additional taxable benefit for the employee. 

 

Hypothesis 2: The employee does not have a company car available for personal use 

When an employee uses his own electric car, the benefits that the employer makes available to his employee and that are linked to the use of this electric car are considered as benefits in kind. An exception to this is the reimbursement for journeys made using the employee's own car, whereby the kilometre flat rate of 0.3707 EUR/km (from 1/7/2021 - 30/6/2022) and 0.4170 EUR/km (from 1/7/2022 - 30/6/2023) is used. Important in this case is that it is a reimbursement per kilometre, not linked to the reimbursement of electricity. 

Please note that there is no benefit for the employee when he pays for the refuelling. This cost must then be equal to what the employee would normally have paid for this electric recharging. If it is lower, the benefit of any kind amounts to the difference between: 

  • The market price; 

  • Reduced by the amount paid by the employee. 

This 'market price' indeed depends on various parameters. As mentioned above with regard to reimbursement, it’s simply not accepted to work with one fixed rate, the charged rate must reflect the actual cost. 

*     *     * 

If you have any questions about the reimbursement of costs within the framework of green mobility, don’t hesitate to contact one of our experts.