Reimbursement of home-fueled electricity for company cars

Benefit in kind? 

As everyone knows, a benefit in kind is taken into account in the name of the employee/director for the private use (including commuting) of a car put at his disposal. This benefit in kind also includes the fuel that is paid with a fuel card provided by the employer/company.

However, the reimbursement of electricity that is refueled at home cannot simply be equated with a fuel card. In this case, indeed there is no question of fuel/electricity ‘made available’ by the employer/company.

Thus, in principle, a separate benefit in kind must be taxed for the reimbursed electricity for the amount reimbursed insofar as this relates to commuter traffic or purely private displacements. For commuting, an employee can however benefit from a tax-free amount of EUR 420.00. 

Administrative tolerance
However, due to an administrative tolerance, no separate benefit in kind should be taken into account if the following conditions are cumulatively fulfilled.  

• The reimbursement of home-fueled electricity is included in the employer's/company's car policy;
• The charging station at home is equipped with a specific communication system that communicates to the employer/company how much electricity is being consumed;
• The employer/company itself is responsible for the installation of the charging station.

In connection with the second condition, the Minister has meanwhile nuanced that another form of communication can also be used, insofar as this can be verified, for example by means of an intermediate counter. It is of course the intention that only the electricity refueled for the company car will be reimbursed. 

Conclusion
The last has not yet been said about this topic. The Minister has therefore announced that a Circular is on its way.