Company car home charging in Ireland: what Revenue asks your employer to keep

If you drive an employer-provided electric car and charge it in your own driveway, the electricity comes off your domestic bill and your employer can put that money back without it being taxed. That much is settled. What is less well known is that Revenue attaches two conditions to it, and that the second one is written down more plainly here than in the equivalent British guidance.

This article sets out what the Tax and Duty Manual actually says, separates it from the charge point exemption it is routinely confused with, and explains why the awkward part is not the law but your ESB meter.

What Revenue actually says

The relevant passage sits in Revenue’s Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-01b, in the section dealing with employer-provided vehicles. It is short, and both halves of it matter:

“provided it can be shown that the employer is only reimbursing for the running costs of that employer provided vehicle, it would be reasonable for this reimbursement to be paid free of tax”Revenue, Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-01b, section 10.3

Read the opening words carefully. The relief is not automatic and it is not a concession you claim — it applies where something can be shown. The burden sits with the employer, and it is a burden of demonstration.

The same passage then says what showing it involves, and this is the sentence worth taking to your finance team:

“conditional on the employer retaining sufficient supporting documents to verify the amount of the reimbursed cost”Revenue, Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-01b, section 10.3

Note what is being asked for and what is not. There is no meter in that sentence. No accuracy class, no approved device, no named standard. Revenue states an outcome — documents sufficient to verify the amount — and leaves the method entirely to you.

Nearly the same as the UK, with one addition

Anyone who has read HMRC’s guidance will find this familiar. The British position is that employers “will need to ensure that the reimbursement made towards the cost of the electricity is solely for the company car” — the same requirement of attribution, and the same silence on method. Irish and British practice line up closely enough that advisers frequently cite one while working in the other.

The difference is worth knowing, because it runs in the direction people do not expect. HMRC requires the attribution and leaves the paperwork implied. Revenue requires the attribution and names the record-keeping duty in the text. An Irish employer who kept nothing has therefore missed something written down, not something inferred.

The charge point exemption is a different rule

Since Finance Act 2024 an employer can install a charge point at an employee’s private residence without that installation being treated as a benefit in kind. It is a genuine simplification, and it is regularly confused with the electricity question. They are two different provisions doing two different jobs: one is about the hardware on your wall, the other about the electricity that runs through it.

Two conditions on the charge point exemption catch people out:

• It applies to fully electric vehicles. A plug-in hybrid does not come within it, however much of its mileage is driven on the battery.
• The employer must retain ownership of the charging facility. Buying the charger for the employee, or handing it over at the end of a lease, is a different transaction with a different tax treatment.

And — the point that matters for everything above — the charge point exemption says nothing about the electricity. Having the charger provided tax-free does not discharge the condition on reimbursing what it consumes. The documents are still expected.

Where this gets difficult

The obstacle is not the rule, it is the meter. A domestic supply point measures the house: the immersion, the heat pump, the car, all in one number. Your bill from Electric Ireland or Bord Gáis cannot separate them and neither can an annual statement. If there is a second EV in the household, or a partner’s private car using the same charger, even the charger’s own total stops being the company car’s total.

Which is awkward, because “sufficient supporting documents to verify the amount” is exactly the thing a household bill cannot give you. A flat monthly figure agreed with payroll is not evidence of anything; it is an estimate wearing a suit.

What this means in practice

Most home chargers already record what they delivered, session by session — the reading Revenue’s condition needs exists, it is just sitting in a manufacturer’s app rather than in a form payroll can file. Closing that gap is what ChargeReport does: it connects to the charger once, then produces a monthly statement listing each session with date, time and kWh, plus totals. That is documentation of the amount, per vehicle, which is the thing the manual asks the employer to retain.

Which chargers connect without extra hardware is listed on the brand pages. If you are weighing this against the British position — because your group runs payroll in both — the UK article sets out the corresponding HMRC rules.