The countdown is running: On December 31, 2025, the existing tax-free flat rates for home charging of e-company cars will end. From January 2026, companies and their employees must prove the actual charging costs exactly to the kWh for tax-free billing. What the new letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) means for your billing and how you start legally secure into the new year, we clarified in our expert webinar.
On December 4, together with Juri Preis (Tax Expert, Smarta), Benedikt Middendorf (Director Automotive Mobility, Deloitte), and René Braun (CEO, NAVIT), we analyzed the new legal requirements. The good news first: Although companies are confronted with more proof obligations, implementation becomes significantly more flexible and ultimately simpler for companies through a new right of choice and digital solutions.
In case you missed the webinar, you can find the most important insights and all answers from our Q&A session summarized here. You can watch the full recording here.
From 01.01.2026, a tax-free reimbursement of home charging costs (§ 3 No. 50 EStG) is only permissible if the actual consumption (kWh) is proven. The previous monthly flat rates without proof will cease to apply. Those who do not adapt their processes risk wage tax risks.
To reduce bureaucracy, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) now allows two ways to determine the electricity price:
For tax recognition, expensive, calibration law-compliant wallboxes are no longer mandatorily required. An MID-compliant wallbox will suffice in the future. The BMF also accepts charging data from vehicle apps or mobile electricity meters. For companies, this means: You do not have to invest massively in new hardware to bill home charging costs in a legally secure manner.
The tax changes are not just a topic for accounting but have direct strategic implications for fleet management. Benedikt Middendorf (Deloitte) highlighted three central fields of action in the webinar:
With the elimination of flat rates without proof, the liability risk for companies increases. If tax-free reimbursements are paid out without correct receipts (kWh proof), severe additional payments threaten during wage tax audits. The previous practice of "it will fit somehow" or manual Excel lists are no longer an option from 2026. The employer is obliged to ensure the plausibility of the data.
Home charging at approx. 32 cents/kWh is still around 50% cheaper than public charging (~60 cents/kWh). However, if the billing process becomes too bureaucratic for employees (e.g., manual collection of meter readings), they will switch to expensive public charging stations for convenience. A simple, digital home charging solution is therefore a direct lever for lowering the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Companies must now review their company car guidelines (car policies). Define which reimbursement model (exact billing or flat rate) you prefer and introduce caps if necessary to avoid cost explosions. Even if the law permits unlimited tax-free reimbursements, internal budgeting is advisable to keep cost control.
During the webinar, numerous questions reached us regarding practical implementation. We have collected the most important answers for you here.
Are calibration law-compliant wallboxes mandatorily required?
No. The BMF letter contains an opening clause. Since plausible records suffice, data from vehicle apps or non-calibration law-compliant wallboxes (e.g., MID-compliant) can also be used.
Does the elimination of the calibration law obligation also apply to dynamic electricity contracts?
Yes. Since average values (monthly average price or official flat rate) are often used for simplification, a highly complex, calibration law-compliant time recording of every single kilowatt-hour is not mandatorily necessary for tax purposes.
Does the new regulation apply only to pure electric cars or also to hybrids?
No, it applies equally to pure battery electric vehicles (BEV) and externally chargeable hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV), provided they meet the statutory minimum requirements (e.g., electric range).
What happens with dynamic electricity tariffs (e.g., Tibber)?
Here, an average monthly electricity price (incl. base fee) may be determined. Alternatively, the official electricity price flat rate applies. In the NAVIT solution, the employee can simply prove price changes via screenshot.
What if the employee's real electricity price is higher than the official flat rate?
The employer can decide to reimburse the actual costs (exact billing) if these are higher than the flat rate (e.g., 38 cents real vs. 34 cents flat rate). Our software can check in the background which way is cheaper or fairer.
Is there an input tax deduction for the employee's electricity price?
No. Since the electricity contract runs privately on the employee, no input tax deduction is possible for the company. The gross costs are reimbursed as tax-free expense reimbursement.
Can reimbursement amounts be capped?
Yes. Although the law permits unlimited tax-free reimbursement of actual costs, companies can define their own upper limits (caps) in their car policy to protect budgets.
How is proof provided separately if charging also takes place in the office?
Charging in the office runs via the company meter and is separately tax-free (§ 3 No. 46 EStG). For home charging reimbursement, digital tools use GPS data to automatically categorize charging sessions as "Home," "Public," or "Work."
Must the employer keep the receipts themselves?
Yes, the employer has a duty to provide proof and must add the receipts to the payroll account. Decentralized storage with the employee is not sufficient. Digital solutions like NAVIT store this data centrally and audit-proof for you.
Can proof also be provided via the income tax return?
Yes, if the employer does not reimburse, the employee can claim the costs as income-related expenses. However, the tax office is expected to require individual proofs here as well from 2026. Direct reimbursement via the employer is usually more worthwhile.
January 1, 2026, is coming faster than expected. Those who rely on an automated solution now not only save administrative effort but also secure themselves against tax risks.
Would you like to see how billing works in practice?
Book a demo here or watch the webinar recording
