“If I charge my EV at home for work use, am I claiming the right amount, and could the new rate improve my deduction?”

If you use an electric vehicle for work and charge it at home, there is a quiet little tax change coming that could make your claim more generous.

The ATO has increased its standard home-charging electricity rate from 4.20 cents per kilometre to 5.47 cents per kilometre. The new rate applies from 1 April 2026 for FBT purposes and 1 July 2026 for income tax purposes.

That might not sound like much, but across a full year of work travel, it can add up.

Why this Matters

The rate is designed as a shortcut. Instead of tracking every bit of electricity used to charge your car at home, you can use the ATO’s cents-per-kilometre rate to work out the electricity component.

That is useful for:

• Employees claiming work-related car expenses under the logbook method
• Employers providing EVs or PHEVs through novated leases, salary packaging, or company vehicles
• Businesses working through FBT calculations under the operating cost method 

What can it change

For employers, the higher rate can affect:

• The taxable value of the benefit
• Employee recipient contributions
• And reportable fringe benefits amounts

For individuals, it can simply mean a better deduction where the logbook method is being used properly.

The example in the source material is a good one: an employee who drives 25,000 km for work in 2026–27 would have a home-charging cost claim of $1,367.50, up from $1,050 under the old rate.

What records do you still need

The ATO is not asking for anything too dramatic, but you do need some basics:

• Odometer readings
• A valid logbook if you are using the operating cost or logbook method
• At least one electricity bill
• And for PHEVs, petrol records as well, because the petrol component still needs to be calculated separately

Final thought

This is one of those changes that is easy to miss, but it can improve outcomes without making life harder.

If you have an EV in the mix, whether personally or through the business, now is a good time to check you are using the right rate at the right time and not leaving a legitimate claim on the table.