Can I reclaim VAT on charging my electric company car?
A VAT-registered business can generally reclaim input VAT on public charging of a company electric car used for business, but not on home charging by an employee, which HMRC treats as a supply to the employee rather than the business. The recoverable VAT is one-sixth of the charging cost, and you need a business-mileage log plus charging records to substantiate the business proportion.
Public charging versus home charging
The place of charging changes the VAT position. When a company EV is charged at a public charge point, the supply is made to the business and a VAT-registered business can recover input VAT on the business-use proportion. When an employee charges the same car at home, HMRC treats the electricity as supplied to the employee, so the business cannot recover that VAT. Sole traders charging their own vehicle have separate treatment. Knowing which miles were powered where, and why they were driven, is what makes any claim defensible.
How much VAT can you actually recover?
VAT is charged at 20%, so the VAT element of a charging cost is one-sixth of the gross amount. On the public Advisory Electricity Rate of 14p per mile in force from 1 September 2025, that works out at roughly 2.33p per business mile. You can only recover the business proportion, so an accurate, contemporaneous business-mileage log is essential — it is the record that turns a total charging spend into a supportable business claim.
There is no VAT Fuel Scale Charge for an EV
For petrol and diesel cars, businesses can reclaim all fuel VAT and pay a fixed Fuel Scale Charge to cover private use. That scale charge is tied to CO2 emissions bands and does not apply to a pure-electric Tesla, because electricity is not treated as road fuel. In practice that means EV drivers recover VAT on the business proportion of charging and rely on mileage records rather than a scale-charge shortcut.
What records HMRC wants you to keep
To support a charging VAT reclaim, keep your charging receipts and invoices alongside a business-mileage log showing the date, start and end postcodes, purpose and distance of each journey. VAT records must be retained for six years. If the records do not stand up, HMRC can disallow or claw back the input VAT, so the log is not just paperwork — it is the difference between a valid claim and a denied one.
FAQ
Can my business reclaim VAT on my home charging?+
Generally no. HMRC treats home charging by an employee as a supply to the employee, so the business cannot recover that VAT. Public charging of a company car used for business is recoverable on the business proportion.
How long must I keep charging and mileage records for VAT?+
VAT records must be kept for six years. Keep charging receipts alongside a contemporaneous business-mileage log so the recoverable proportion is easy to evidence.
Is there a fuel scale charge I can use instead of a log for an EV?+
No. The VAT Fuel Scale Charge is based on CO2 emissions and does not apply to a pure-electric car, so you recover the business proportion of charging VAT and support it with a mileage log.
VAT on EV charging rewards good records and punishes gaps. Odoproof keeps a contemporaneous, postcode-level mileage log from your Tesla so your business proportion is always ready to prove — join the waitlist for early access.
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