How to keep an HMRC mileage log for a Tesla company car
To keep an HMRC-ready mileage log for a Tesla company car, record every business journey contemporaneously with its date, start and end postcodes, purpose and distance, and log home-to-workplace commuting as private. You need this log to reimburse business charging at HMRC's Advisory Electricity Rate and to support VAT recovery on public charging. Your benefit-in-kind is fixed at 4% of list price for 2026/27 regardless of mileage, so the log does not reduce it.
What does HMRC expect a company-car mileage log to contain?
For each business journey HMRC expects a contemporaneous record showing the date, the start and end locations including postcodes, the purpose of the trip and the distance travelled. Odometer readings help support the totals. Commuting between home and your normal workplace must be recorded as private mileage. HMRC accepts electronic, GPS and telematics records, so a log captured automatically as you drive meets the standard far better than a spreadsheet reconstructed at year-end.
How is a Tesla company car taxed for benefit-in-kind?
A company car available for private use is a taxable benefit reported on form P11D or payrolled (payrolling of company car, car fuel, van, van fuel and medical benefits becomes mandatory from 6 April 2027, and most other benefits follow from April 2028). For a pure-electric Tesla the appropriate percentage is just 4% for 2026/27, rising to 5% in 2027/28, 7% in 2028/29 and 9% in 2029/30. The taxable benefit is the list price times the appropriate percentage, and you pay income tax on it at your marginal rate. It is not reduced by how many business miles you drive, so your mileage log does not lower the benefit itself.
Why is there no Car Fuel Benefit Charge on a pure-electric Tesla?
HMRC does not treat electricity as a 'fuel', so the Car Fuel Benefit Charge (which can catch petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid drivers whose private fuel is not fully reimbursed) simply cannot arise for a fully electric company car. The VAT Fuel Scale Charge, which is tied to CO2 bands, likewise does not apply. This removes a major risk EV drivers sometimes worry about. A mileage log is still needed for the other regimes below.
Where the mileage log actually earns its keep
Business mileage in a company Tesla is reimbursed using HMRC's Advisory Electricity Rate. HMRC introduced a separate public charging rate on 1 September 2025. From 1 September 2026 the rates are 7p per mile for home charging and 15p per mile for public charging, reviewed every quarter. A clean business-mileage record substantiates every reimbursed mile, and it also underpins any VAT recovery your employer claims on public charging. Without it, reimbursements and VAT claims can be challenged on enquiry, where the burden of proof is effectively on the taxpayer.
FAQ
Does a bigger business-mileage share reduce my company-car tax?+
No. Benefit-in-kind on a company car is fixed at list price times the appropriate percentage (4% for an EV in 2026/27) and is not reduced by your business-use split. The mileage log matters for reimbursement and VAT.
Is commuting business mileage?+
No. Travel between home and your normal workplace is private mileage for HMRC purposes and must be logged as private, even in a company car.
Do I still need a log if I never claim charging back?+
Keeping a contemporaneous log is still the safest practice, because it evidences your business-versus-private use if HMRC opens an enquiry and lets you reclaim reimbursement and VAT you are entitled to.
A Tesla enjoys one of the UK's lowest company-car tax rates, and HMRC still expects you to prove your business-versus-private split. Odoproof turns your Tesla's own trips into that log automatically. Start your 7-day free trial to keep every mile enquiry-proof.
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