The Government is committed to encouraging more and more people to drive electric cars and have reduced or eliminated the income tax benefits of providing electric company cars or charging points for employees. Since 6 April 2019 there has been no taxable benefit for employees where they use an electric charging point at their place of work, provided the facility is available to all staff. But what are the VAT implications of the supply of electricity and what if public charging points are used?
HMRC have issued Revenue and Customs Brief 7 (2021) which explains HMRC’s policy concerning the VAT treatment of charging of electric vehicles when using charging points situated in various public places.
The brief clarifies that supplies of electric vehicle charging through charging points in public places are charged at the standard rate of VAT. It also explains when input tax can be recovered for charging electric vehicles for business purposes.
The HMRC brief confirms that input tax can be recovered on electricity used to fuel a car intended for business use where:
- The charging takes place at the business premises of the VAT-registered business
- The charging is at the home of a sole proprietor
VAT cannot be recovered where the charging is at the home of an employee as the supply is then not made to the company.
Where employees charge an employer’s electric vehicle (for both business and private use) at the employer’s premises the employee needs to keep a record of their business and private mileage so that the employer can work out the amounts of business use and private use for the vehicle.
It is hoped that a simpler system can be found such as a scale charge similar to that used for the supply of fuel for private use.