New rules for reimbursing home charging costs have applied in Germany since 1 January 2026. The convenient monthly flat rate is gone. Anyone charging an electric or hybrid company car at home now has to document the kilowatt hours precisely. That puts a technical question at the centre of the discussion, and it is the one fleet managers and company car drivers are least sure about: which wallbox do I need for a defensible settlement? Is an MID meter enough, or does the wallbox have to be fully compliant with German calibration law?
This guide separates the two terms, sets out where the law actually stands, and shows which wallbox is genuinely sufficient to settle home charging costs in 2026 tax-free and in a form that survives an audit.
Until the end of 2025, employers could reimburse home charging costs through fixed monthly flat rates of €15 to €70, tax-free and with no technical proof at all. The BMF-Schreiben of 11 November 2025 abolished that simplification with effect from 1 January 2026.
Since then, only the actual electricity costs incurred may be reimbursed tax-free, calculated per kWh. Reimbursement of charging costs the employee has paid personally remains tax-free as Auslagenersatz (expense reimbursement) under § 3 Nr. 50 EStG, provided it is documented correctly.
In practice that means three things:
One point is worth stating plainly, because it is the most common misreading of the 2026 rules: the obligation to measure remains even when the flat rate is used. The flat rate replaces the individual price calculation, not the meter. It is multiplied by the metered volume.
This is where most of the confusion originates. The terms "MID-compliant" and "eichrechtskonform" are often used interchangeably, but they describe two different levels of requirement.
Full compliance with German calibration law (Mess- und Eichgesetz) is the standard that applies when electricity is billed to third parties, for example at a public charge point where electricity is sold. Those charging stations have to do considerably more than measure correctly. They need tamper-proof, cryptographically signed measurement values, transparency software that lets the customer verify the reading, and a complete audit trail for every charging session. The requirements are technically demanding and expensive to meet.
MID stands for the European Measuring Instruments Directive. An MID meter is a conformity-assessed, calibrated electricity meter that guarantees a correct and reliable measurement of the energy delivered. Many wallboxes have one built in as standard. MID meters are also available as separate fixed-installation devices and as mobile units.
The practical difference: an MID meter proves how much was measured. Full calibration law compliance additionally proves that nobody could have altered the reading afterwards. The second requirement exists to protect a paying customer, which is not the situation when an employer reimburses its own employee.
The good news for employers: on the prevailing interpretation, reimbursing home charging costs for a company car does not require a publicly Eichrecht-compliant charging device. A permanently installed, conformity-assessed meter at the grid connection point, an MID meter for instance, is normally sufficient, provided it measures only the energy delivered to the electric vehicle and meets the general requirements of calibration law.
Since 2026 the BMF has also expressly recognised simpler forms of proof: in-vehicle charging data, manufacturer apps, and mobile electricity meters. Wallbox data is therefore usable without full calibration law compliance.
An honest note on legal certainty: how the BMF-Schreiben, which is an administrative instruction, interacts with the Mess- und Eichgesetz is assessed differently by different specialists. Companies that want to remove the question entirely should use a calibrated MID meter, document the metering concept they have chosen, and agree it with their tax adviser and payroll team.
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There are several permitted ways to evidence the volume charged. Which one fits depends on the situation rather than on a single correct answer.
The last row is the one that catches people out. Proof has to relate unambiguously to the energy delivered to the vehicle, which a household meter by definition cannot do.
Once the volume is measured, the price is the remaining question, and here employers have a genuine choice.
The real price per kWh from the employee’s supply contract applies, including the pro-rata monthly standing charge. This is worth the effort where household tariffs are low.
Two conditions are easy to overlook. The standing charge is a mandatory component rather than an optional addition, and an employee’s own written statement of the price is not sufficient evidence. The figure has to come from the supply contract or the tariff app.
The Strompreispauschale is derived from the average total electricity price for private households published by the Statistisches Bundesamt, rounded down to the full cent. For 2026 it is €0.34 per kWh, taken from the first-half 2025 figure of 34.36 cents per kWh.
The BMF’s own worked example: 3,000 kWh × €0.34 gives a maximum of €1,020 in tax-free expense reimbursement for 2026.
The flat rate is available from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030. Because it always draws on the previous year’s first-half figure, the value changes every January and the calculation has to be revisited annually.
Whichever option is chosen, it applies uniformly per employee for the entire calendar year.
Employees charging from their own photovoltaic system may use their regular household electricity tariff for the reimbursement. No split between grid electricity and solar electricity is required, and the PV share does not have to be evidenced. The BMF simplified this deliberately.
With dynamic electricity tariffs, where the price follows the exchange hourly, the average monthly price per kWh may be used instead of evidencing every individual price point. The statutory flat rate remains available as an alternative in both cases.
Charging at a public charge point while travelling is settled separately, by receipt or charging card. Keeping the two channels apart is worth doing: home charging standardised through the meter record, public charging through invoices. Reimbursement of documented actual costs for third-party charging runs alongside the flat rate rather than being displaced by it.
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Get infoThe metering question dominates the discussion, and three conditions sit underneath it that decide whether the reimbursement is tax-free at all.
The vehicle has to be a company vehicle. Tax-free Auslagenersatz under § 3 Nr. 50 EStG covers home charging for a company car. Where an employer reimburses charging costs for an employee’s privately owned vehicle, the payment is taxable wages. No metering setup changes that.
The reimbursement has to come on top of salary. The additionality requirement under § 8 Abs. 4 EStG applies. Salary waiver and salary conversion arrangements are excluded.
Under the 1-%-Regelung, employer-supplied electricity is already covered. Where the benefit in kind for private use is determined on the flat-rate basis under § 8 Abs. 2 Satz 2 EStG, charging electricity provided by the employer is treated as already accounted for. This is a different question from reimbursing costs the employee has paid, and the two are regularly confused.
In practice, tax-free reimbursement tends to fail at the same four points.
Relying on the household meter. It cannot isolate the charging session. A separate stationary or mobile meter is required, whether in the wallbox, as an intermediate meter, or in the vehicle.
Still paying the old monthly flat rate. It has been impermissible since 1 January 2026 and applied for the last time to wage payment periods ending before that date.
Switching method mid-year. The choice between actual costs and the flat rate has to hold for the full calendar year.
Forgetting the standing charge. Where the actual tariff is used, the pro-rata monthly standing charge has to be included alongside the working price per kWh. Leaving it out short-changes the employee and leaves the documentation incomplete.
A fifth problem is organisational rather than technical. Manual administration in spreadsheets stops working as the fleet grows. It is error-prone and it does not produce an archive that survives an audit.
The rules are clear. The manual work behind them is not. Checking plausibility by hand, receipts arriving by email in ten different formats, and spreadsheets covering 50 or more vehicles cost time and create tax exposure.
Providers such as NAVIT covers the process digitally:
Does a company car need a fully calibration-law-compliant wallbox?
No. Reimbursing home charging costs for a company car does not require a fully Eichrecht-compliant charge point. A conformity-assessed meter such as an MID meter, measuring only the energy delivered to the vehicle, is normally sufficient.
Which wallbox do I need at home to settle charging costs?
A wallbox with a built-in MID electricity meter is the most convenient option. A separate or mobile MID meter, or the in-vehicle charging data from the car itself, also works.
What is the difference between MID and full calibration law compliance?
An MID meter guarantees a correct, calibrated measurement. Full calibration law compliance additionally requires tamper-proof signed data and transparency software, and it is only mandatory when billing third parties, for example at public charge points.
Can I charge a company car with an ordinary wallbox that has no meter?
Charging yes, settling no, at least not without additional proof. Without a built-in meter you need a separate or mobile MID meter, or the in-vehicle charging data as evidence.
Is the standard household meter sufficient as proof?
No. It records total household consumption and cannot isolate the company car’s charging session. Proof has to relate unambiguously to the energy delivered to the vehicle.
Does the flat rate of €0.34 per kWh remove the need to measure?
No. The flat rate concerns the price only. The volume charged still has to be metered, and the flat rate is applied to that metered figure.
Which electricity price applies in 2026?
There is a choice: either the actual price per kWh including the pro-rata standing charge, or the statutory flat rate of €0.34 per kWh. The method applies uniformly per employee for the full calendar year.
Is home charging reimbursement tax-free for an employee’s own car?
No. Tax-free expense reimbursement under § 3 Nr. 50 EStG applies to company vehicles. For a privately owned vehicle, the same payment is taxable wages.
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