Can I claim for my electric charge from home for company car

[eva]

Hi there
I have a company lease car and have just ordered my Outlander PHEV Gx4h. I do around 30 mph each way per day mainly on the motorway to work and back and have full company fuel BIK. I was wondering whether I can claim the following back from the employer or what everyone else does:
- cost for putting in the charging point at home?
- claim back electricity used (in which case I need a different charging point which is possible)
- claim back for cables that let me charge at public points?
I have fought long and hard to have this environmentally friendly car added to our approved list so I'm the first one getting a PHEV, probably starting a trend. However we don't yet have a charge point at work so the only charge point will be my home charger. I'm happy to pay for the installation and electrics as it's saving me a small fortune in BIK tax anyway but I just wondered what everyone else does who is on a full BIK for both lease car and fuel. I hardly do any business miles so it's mainly private fuel.

Also, does the BIK tax alter the more petrol you use or is it a fixed price based on CO2 emissions presuming you charge it electrically?

Many thanks for any feedback you can provide as this is all very new to me!

 

[user 816]

Hi great choice of car.

There are a few issues you seem confused on so I would advise you to perhaps have a chat with your HR people as its easier face to face and they should be able to explain the tax situation as it applies to you.

The bad news is you will still use a fair bit of petrol if its 30 miles each way to work, especially at motorways speed as that greatly increases the speed the battery is used up, you battery may run out only halfway there and then you will be running more on petrol.

If you can charge at work obviously the same applies on the way home. If you can't charge at work then the entire return trip will be on petrol and you can expect around 35mpg then.

Also be careful, if you charge at work you employer is basically giving you something for nothing so it would be considered by the HMRC as a benefit and you could be taxed on it.

Not many employers will pay for the charger to be installed, until recently that was covered by a government grant but that ran out so its probably going to cost you.

Same with cables, you only actually need your own cables for 'slow' charging stations, and thats hardly worth it as it takes hours just for a few miles worth. For the rapid chargers (which are currently free to use) they have the cables on them already that fit the PHEV and can give you plenty of power in half an hour.

Again, if your employer provides charger or cables its a benefit that you could be taxed on. (one off charge)

When you say your on BIK for fuel, do you mean your taking the private fuel benefit fro myour employer and being taxed on that? that tax rate is quite high these days, for your short commute mileage I would have thought you would be better off dropping that benefit and paying for your own private fuel (unless you do huge amounts of other private miles as well)

In effect on your trip into work you may do half mainly on battery, then half on petrol. First half say 100mpg, second half 35mpg, so in effect an average of 67mpg! not bad for huge 4wd.
Trip back at all 35mpg. That would still only bring your average down to 51mpg so about the same as a good diesel, but a heck of a lot less BIK!!

Reimbursement for electricity used is a difficult point in that the HMRC don't really recognise it as fuel. If your employer tries to reimburse it directly then again its a benefit and you could be taxed on it. (As far as the HMRC is concerned electricity its not fuel and you cant really prove it went in the car and not in your washing machine)

My employer simply reimburses me for all miles at the allowed rate (currently 14p a mile), as I do some of my miles on electricity which costs about 2p a mile to put in the car we both gain, HMRC doesn't care if your running on electricity or petrol or rocket fuel, as long you do the miles and are repaid the approved rate only. I think its the best way and its simpler for all.

Oh yes, BIK is on the CO2 the car was assessed to have so stays the same. Another advantage of the PHEV is depending on your pay range, it adds very little BIK value to your earnings. People on standard rate tax are less likely to be pushed into higher rate.

Another factor, if you have to pay something towards the lease yourself then it can be declared as a PUC (private use contribution) if its notified as a requirement of your employer you have to pay something towards your own use. This payment can be deducted from the BIK liability so the tax you actually pay is even less... I end up paying something stupid like £9 a month in company car tax!

 

[RichardOFB]

Such a simple questions, but there is no simple answer.

or rather as a PAYE employee in the UK, the answer is (probably) "NO"

in my case, I am the employee, and I am also the main decision maker at the employeer, and my business address is also my home address.
so I have the ability to ... arrange my affairs ... to the most tax advantageous ... and after looking at the figures, in my case, the accountant told me to do what Bob suggested, which is DON'T get a fuel card where you pay the stupid BIK on compay provided petrol for personal use.

I was told to pay for all fuel (petrol and electric) out of my own personal funds, and claim business miles at 14p / mile based on a 1401 to 2000cc petrol car

because electric is about 2p / mile
and petrol is more, but still well under the 14p the tax man allows

and since the tax man (currently) says ...
"Hybrid cars are treated as either petrol or diesel cars for this purpose"
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advisory-fuel-rates/advisory-fuel-rates-from-1-june-2015



I'm getting the home charger fitted in a couple of weeks.
I've managed to get one with the ULEV subsidy, so it is going to cost me (personally) about £300.
the small print in the ULEV paperwork says it must be paid for by the person named on the V5 or leasing agreement, or the "main driver that the vehicle is allocated to", not by the business, and the business is not permitted to reclaim the VAT.

my home charger is going to be a type 2 non-tethered, so I will need a separate cable.

The company has already bought a type 2 to type 1 cable, which it will reclaim the VAT on (pending approval from the accountant)
which I've used a couple of times when I've been out and about, but when an hour only gives you 10 miles ....
it's nice to get some "free" electric miles, but you could buy a lot of petrol for the £300 that Mitsubishi want for their cable, or even the £150 for the OEM one that I got


so I would suggest you ask HR nicely about doing an annual review of the fuel card arrangement after each budget.
(you may find you are paying more BIK on the company supplied fuel card than the 1 or 2 tanks of fuel each month)

and ask the person that would have authorised the tow bar or floor mats or upgraded stereo or the tomtom that used to be on the window or the tracker, if the company can buy you a type 2 to type 1 cable. (and hope it doesn't get counted as an accessory and increse the BIK)

 

[simonrh]

Mine is company car and I get company fuel paid.

I am a normal PAYE wage earner.

My charger at home was fitted FOC by OLEV and so has a dedicated meter.

Charger at work was fitted by employer.

Both are untethered type 2 and cable lives with car.

Our company accountants looked into originally and said I should just claim it as a legitamate business expense.

Records are kept to prove it is being done at cost so there is no extra money being made.

Every couple of months I take a photo of the meter's display, submit it with my electricity bill's covering page showing my unit rate and the VAT rate and it gets paid back.

 

[Spiker]

Every couple of months I take a photo of the meter's display, submit it with my electricity bill's covering page.GBWhatsApp APK

It's a good idea. i'll do the same.