The Advisory Electricity Rate (AER) for electric company car mileage reimbursement has been split in two by HMRC, to cover home and public charging.
Where currently there is a single 7p per mile rate, from 1 September the rates will be 8p when the vehicle is charged using a home charger, and 14p when a public charger is used. (Note: HMRC initially announced a public charger rate of 12p, which was subsequently updated)
The rates have been announced alongside the latest Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs) for combustion-engined cars – although these are mostly unchanged, save for some increases for diesel cars.
Hybrids are treated as either petrol or diesel cars for AFR purposes.
The new rates will apply from 1 September, but the old rates can still be used for up to one month from that date.
The new rates per mile are as follows:
Petrol:
1,400cc or less: 12p
1,401cc to 2,000cc: 14p
Over 2,000cc: 22p
Diesel:
1,600cc or less: 12p (up by 1p)
1,601cc to 2,000cc: 13p
Over 2,000cc: 18p (up by 1p)
LPG:
1,400cc or less: 11p
1,401cc to 2,000cc: 13p
Over 2,000cc: 21p
Electric:
Home charger: 8p
Public charger: 14p
Reacting to the AER announcement, BVRLA director of policy and public affairs Thomas McLennan said: “It is encouraging to see that HMRC continues to listen to the sector. The BVRLA and AFP have collaborated on this topic since 2021. Since then we’ve seen a regular review of AER introduced, plus today’s news that public and private rates will be split. Both were core changes we have pushed for.
“Policy change is rarely rapid, but this is a great reminder that change does come when we work together.
“Focus now turns to ‘rapid charging’ as the current 12p is not reflective of what many drivers will be experiencing.”
