VAT Recovery on a Tesla and on EV Charging in Ireland
A VAT-registered Irish business can reclaim up to 20% of the VAT on a qualifying passenger motor vehicle, such as a Tesla, if it is used at least 60% for business, tested over a two-year period. VAT on the electricity used to charge the car for business is also recoverable, apportioned by the business proportion of your mileage. In both cases the business/private mileage split is the evidence Revenue relies on, so a contemporaneous logbook is what makes the recovery stand up.
Can you reclaim VAT on a Tesla in Ireland?
A Tesla is a qualifying passenger motor vehicle. A VAT-registered business can recover up to 20% of the VAT incurred on it, but only where the car is used at least 60% for business purposes. That business-use threshold is tested over a two-year period, and if usage falls below 60% the recovered VAT can be clawed back. The percentage of business use is measured by mileage, which means your kilometre records are the direct basis for the claim.
How is VAT on charging electricity recovered?
The VAT on electricity used to charge an EV for business is recoverable, apportioned by your business-versus-private mileage split. For a business charging its own vehicles, or for sole traders and partners (including home charging used for business), the business proportion of the charging VAT can be reclaimed. One important limit: an employer generally cannot recover VAT where an employee charges a company car at home. Because the recoverable share is set by the mileage apportionment, an accurate log is what turns your charging costs into a defensible VAT claim.
Why the mileage log is the audit evidence
Both the 60% vehicle test and the charging-electricity apportionment come back to one number: the proportion of your driving that is business. Without a contemporaneous record of business journeys — date, from/to, distance in kilometres and purpose — that proportion is an assertion, not evidence, and reclaimed VAT is exposed to clawback with interest and penalties on a Revenue intervention. Records must be retained for six years, and the two-year VAT testing window means you need a continuous history, not a snapshot.
How Odoproof supports your VAT position
Odoproof captures every Tesla journey automatically and keeps a running business-kilometres total, so the business-use percentage behind your 60% vehicle test and your charging-electricity apportionment is always current and exportable. When your accountant prepares your VAT return, or Revenue reviews the two-year business-use test, you produce one clean, timestamped logbook rather than piecing figures together from memory.
FAQ
How much VAT can I reclaim on a Tesla?+
Up to 20% of the VAT on a qualifying passenger motor vehicle, provided it is used at least 60% for business over the two-year test period.
Can an employer reclaim VAT on an employee charging a company Tesla at home?+
Generally no. Employer recovery of VAT on employee home-charging of a company car is not allowed. The recoverable charging VAT applies to the business's own charging and to sole traders and partners.
What if my business use drops below 60%?+
The 20% VAT recovery on the vehicle can be clawed back. Because the test runs over two years, a continuous mileage record is essential to show you stayed above the threshold.
VAT recovery on your Tesla and its charging stands or falls on a mileage split you can prove. Join the Odoproof waitlist to keep that evidence automatic and audit-ready.
Join the waitlist