How much does a charging station cost for a business?

Sustainable investments are supported in the best possible way. The goal is to accelerate and support  the electrification of the vehicle fleet in Belgium. This includes the purchase of an electric charging station. But how much does all of this cost? Time to discuss the tax advantages and give a financial overview of a charging station.

Installing a charging station is fiscally advantageous

At the workplace 🏢

Until 31 August 2024, companies get an increased deductibility of 150 per cent when installing a public charge point. This means the employer can deduct half more than the actual related costs* from taxable income. A public charging station refers to a charging station available to third parties at least during working or closing hours.

To benefit these advantages, the charging station has a couple of other conditions:

• It is a charging station in new condition;
• The charging station is depreciated over five years;
• The charging station is not combined with an investment deduction;
• The intelligent charging station links digitally to a management system, which, among other things, controls the charging time and charging capacity of the charging station.

To apply the increased deductibility every year during the depreciation period, the charging station must remain publicly accessible for one year. However, if this was not the case for one year the increased deductibility for that year can be regained later.

*Purchase, installation, transport and study costs of the charging station and possible electricity works.

At an employee's home 🏡

In case of the employee, a charge point is deductible in line with a company car. That’s 100 per cent for an electric company car. The electricity consumed is 75 per cent deductible.

Employees with a company car will not have to pay any additional benefit in kind, or other tax and NSSO, on the charging station obtained. The electricity consumed is also  refunded untaxed if it is an intelligent charging station. This means that the charging station can communicate the consumption of the company car to the employer or electricity supplier. A charging station that uses a 'split billing' principle is therefore definitely interesting.

Of course, the car policy should also describe that the charged electricity is reimbursed at home.

An employee who has no room for a private charge point, and who has no public charge point available within 250 metres of his home, can apply in Flanders and in Brussels to have a public charge point installed closer to home. In Wallonia, this does not yet apply.

What does a charging station cost?

Besides the purchase cost, installation costs and inspection together determine the cost price of the charging station. Below we list some guide prices you should consider when buying and installing a charging station.

• The purchase of an intelligent charging station is about €1,500. If you prefer a fast charger, you can count on a purchase cost of a minimum of € 10,000.
• The installation cost of a charge point can vary greatly. The closer the charge point can be to the fuse box, the cheaper the installation will be. If, in addition, you increase the electricity, the installation cost is as much as € 2,000. On average, you can expect an installation cost of €700.
• In addition, it is compulsory to have each charging station inspected by an authorised inspector. This inspection costs around € 150.

A good guide price for an intelligent charging station is therefore € 2,350 (excl. VAT). A company that installs a charging station at the workplace can deduct €293.75 from its corporate tax due to the increased deductibility in this example. In other words, you will earn €293.75 back over five years from your purchase!

More on electric company cars? Then read our article on the fiscal advantages.