Workplace EV Charging: A Guide to Business EV Charging, FBT and Staff Charging
Whether you're planning your first workplace chargers or already offer staff EV charging, here's what you need to know about setup, fringe benefits tax (FBT) and keeping it simple.
Note: Infinity EV is not a tax adviser. This guide is general information only, so please seek your own professional tax advice.
More Australians are driving electric vehicles, last month Electric Vehicles out sold Petrol and Diesel engine types! With that, more employees are asking their employer about EV charging for work. For businesses, workplace EV charging helps attract and keep staff, supports sustainability goals, and makes company, novated lease and EV fleet vehicles practical to run.
It also raises EV charging FBT questions that catch plenty of businesses out. This guide comes in two parts. Jump to the one that fits you:
Stream 1: Adding Business EV Charging for Your Staff
What's involved in workplace EV charging
A good business EV charging setup covers more than hardware on a wall. Plan for:
A site assessment. Can your switchboard and power supply handle the new load? Many sites need load management so chargers don't push you over your supply limit or into higher demand charges.
The right chargers. Most workplace EV charging uses 7–22 kW AC chargers. Cars are parked for hours, so you rarely need expensive DC fast charging.
Smart, networked chargers. You'll want to see who is charging, which vehicle is plugged in, how much energy it uses and what it costs. Without that data, managing FBT, cost recovery and EV fleet reporting is guesswork. See Pulsepoint
Licensed installation and ongoing support. Chargers are business infrastructure. They need monitoring, fault response and maintenance to stay reliable.
A clear staff EV charging policy. Decide who can charge, which vehicles, when, and whether charging is free or billed.
EV charging FBT: free or billed?
For workplace charging, the FBT question comes down to two things: whose car is plugged in, and whether the driver pays for the electricity.
Company, EV fleet and novated lease EVs
When an eligible electric car is provided to an employee as a car benefit, the ATO treats the electricity used to charge it as a car expense (fuel). That charging is exempt from FBT, including when the car is charged at your workplace. For these drivers, free workplace charging generally doesn't create an FBT cost.
One exception to watch: from 1 April 2025, plug-in hybrids no longer qualify for the exemption. Free charging for those cars may no longer be FBT-free.
Staff-owned private EVs
This is where free charging gets risky. The car-expense exemption only applies to cars the employer provides. Free electricity supplied to an employee's own car sits outside that exemption and may be a taxable fringe benefit, with FBT payable by the business.
Billing staff for their charging
If staff pay for the electricity they use, there is generally nothing given for free, so there is no fringe benefit to tax. Billing private drivers is the simplest way to offer staff EV charging without creating an FBT exposure.
The takeaway: once employee EV charging starts at your site, you need to know who charged, which vehicle, and how much. Then you can keep exempt charging free and bill the rest.
How Pulsepoint solves the FBT challenge
Pulsepoint by Infinity EV is built for this problem. It's an easy-to-use, fully monitored workplace EV charging platform that:
records every charging session by driver and vehicle
separates exempt corporate EV fleet from novated charging/private staff EV charging
supports reimbursement to the site host/employer charging
bills private EV drivers directly, so free charging doesn't create an FBT exposure and remits that revenue back to the site-host/employer.
is monitored end to end, so faults are picked up and fixed quickly
Infinity EV takes you from site assessment and charger selection through to installation and ongoing Pulsepoint management. You get one partner and one system for business EV charging, without the admin headache.
Stream 2: You Already Provide Employee EV Charging
If staff EV charging is free, check your FBT position...yesterday!
Many businesses installed chargers a few years ago and simply let staff plug in for free. It's a generous perk, but the EV charging FBT outcome depends on which cars are using it:
Eligible EV fleet: free charging is generally an exempt car expense.
Staff-owned EVs: free electricity may be a taxable fringe benefit.
Plug-in hybrids: many no longer qualify from 1 April 2025, so free charging for them may now attract FBT.
Mixed sites: when all of these share the same chargers, you can't show which charging is exempt without session data.
As more staff switch to EVs, those untracked free sessions add up. The government is also due to review the electric car exemption by mid-2027, so good charging records now will make any future changes easier to handle.
Driver pays: a simpler way to run staff EV charging
Pulsepoint offers a driver-pays arrangement. It's a clean way to keep offering employee EV charging without the FBT risk:
Staff pay for their own charging through the platform, so free charging isn't creating a fringe benefit.
No billing platform to fund. Your company doesn't have to finance or run its own charger billing system. Pulsepoint handles it.
You get your power costs back. The business simply receives the cost of the electricity used, so charging costs you nothing to run.
Staff still benefit. They get convenient, reliable EV charging for work.
EV fleet and novated/private cars can be managed separately, so exempt charging stays free.
Your workplace EV charging stays a staff perk and stops being a hidden liability.
Talk to Infinity EV about Business EV Charging
Whether you're starting from scratch or tidying up an existing setup, Infinity EV can help you design, install and manage workplace EV charging that works for your people, your EV fleet and your books.
Lean more about Pulsepoint here
Disclaimer:
This information is provided in good faith and may not be 100% accurate or up to date with the latest ATO rulings or lease provider policies. It is not financial advice, tax advice or a recommendation to enter any lease arrangement. You should always seek independent professional advice from a qualified financial adviser, accountant or your chosen novated lease provider before making any decisions. Rules around FBT exemptions, reimbursement methods and reportable fringe benefits can change, so please verify everything directly with the ATO and your provider.
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