Reimbursing home charging for company EVs in Switzerland: CHF 60 lump sum or actual costs?

Swiss employers can reimburse home charging of an electric company car in two ways: through the EV electricity allowance, a lump sum of up to CHF 60.– a month set by the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK/CSI), or at actual cost, by reimbursing measured kWh at the employee's real tariff. Either way, if properly documented, the amount remains an expense reimbursement: no income tax and no AHV/AVS social security contributions.

This article is written for HR leads, CFOs and fleet managers, including international teams who are new to Swiss payroll. It walks through the reference texts (the SSK model expense regulations, the ESTV salary certificate guide and the federal AHV directives), compares both methods on a 100-vehicle fleet, and lists the documentation that will stand up if the cantonal tax administration asks questions.

Voltaback measures and documents home charging for more than 200 companies. "Lump sum or actual cost?" is the first question our Swiss customers ask.

The rule in one sentence

Actual expenses, documented item by item, are expenses rather than salary: they are subject neither to income tax nor to AHV/IV/EO contributions.

On the social security side, Art. 9 of the AHV Ordinance (AHVV / RAVS) excludes expense reimbursements from the relevant wage. The federal directives on relevant wage (WML) specify that expenses are generally taken into account at their actual amount, and that the employer or employee must be able to prove them (margin nos. 3001 and 3010). Where the employer follows the tax rules, either against receipts or under approved regulations, compensation funds generally follow the same treatment. Source: FSIO, directives on relevant wage (German).

The tax principle is the same: a reimbursement does not create income if it matches a genuine business expense. So the real question is how to prove the electricity charged at home.

The CHF 60.– lump sum: what the SSK model says

The wording

The SSK model expense regulations (Spesenreglement), updated on 1 January 2026, state in section 2.5 (company vehicle) that where employees are given an electric vehicle, a monthly lump sum of up to CHF 60.– may be paid for charging at their place of residence. The lump sum covers all private electricity consumption linked to the vehicle.

The amount is shown on the salary certificate (Lohnausweis / certificat de salaire) under item 13.2.3 ("Other lump-sum expenses") with the official wording "Stromvergütung E-Fahrzeug" in German, "Indemnité d'électricité pour véhicule électrique" or "Indennità per la ricarica del veicolo elettrico", depending on the certificate's language. The model also states that approved lump-sum expenses are not subject to withholding tax, which matters for B-permit holders and cross-border commuters. Source: SSK/CSI via ESTV, model expense regulations 2026 (German).

The conditions

The lump sum is not automatic. It sits within a set of expense regulations, and the salary certificate guide (Wegleitung) sets several guard rails:

• a lump sum must always be shown as an amount on the salary certificate, even under approved regulations (margin no. 55);
• it must roughly match actual expenses (margin nos. 55 and 57);
• a monthly lump sum must be reduced during any uninterrupted absence of more than four weeks (illness, accident, military service, maternity or paternity leave, garden leave; holidays excluded), otherwise the excess counts as salary;
• approval of the regulations by the seat canton is optional but gives legal certainty (margin no. 59); it is then noted under item 15.

Source: ESTV, salary certificate guide 2026 (German), also available on the ESTV salary certificate page.

Is anything above CHF 60.– salary?

Fiduciaries and the Swiss fleet press regularly point out that any lump-sum amount above CHF 60.– a month is treated as salary. That is correct, but it refers to a flat payment, for example CHF 150.– paid every month without measurement. Source: Zürcher Wirtschaft, Treuhand|Suisse, aboutFLEET.

These sources do not address measured, documented reimbursement at actual cost. In fact, they note that actual-cost billing used to be "very complicated" because there was no measurement at home. That is exactly the gap software-based measurement closes.

Actual expenses: the principle, not the exception

What the model says

Section 1.3 of the SSK model sets the principle: all expenses are in principle reimbursed at actual cost, per expense event and against original receipts; lump sums only apply where the regulations provide for them. The CHF 60.– is therefore a simplification, not a general ceiling.

Neither the model, nor the Wegleitung, nor the SSK FAQ caps the reimbursement of actual electricity costs for the employer's vehicle. If an employee in Basel charges CHF 84.– worth of electricity a month, reimbursing CHF 84.– against receipts remains an expense reimbursement.

How to report it

• Without approved regulations: actual expenses other than travel and meals go under item 13.1.2 "Other actual expenses", stating their nature, for example "Company car charging, actual cost" (margin no. 54).
• With approved regulations that provide for actual-cost charging reimbursement: actual expenses generally do not need to be shown as an amount (margin no. 59).

For the employee-side process and how it differs from a classic expense claim, see our article on charging expense claims.

The 0.9 % private-use share already covers energy

This point is often misunderstood. The private-use share of a company car (Privatanteil / part privée) is 0.9 % per month of the purchase price excluding VAT (minimum CHF 150.– a month) and is declared under item 2.2 of the salary certificate, with box F ticked. For a CHF 50'000.– vehicle, that is CHF 450.– a month.

According to margin no. 21 of the Wegleitung, this rate assumes the employer bears all costs, with the employee paying only fuel or energy for longer private trips at weekends or on holiday. Reimbursing electricity for everyday use is therefore consistent with the private-use share and creates no additional taxable benefit.

Conversely, an employee who pays for their own charging does not reduce their private-use share. Margin no. 23 states that bearing only EV charging costs is not enough to waive the 0.9 %. Not reimbursing charging means the employee pays twice. The full calculation is in our article on the taxable benefit of an electric company car.

Worked example: 100 vehicles, lump sum or actual cost

Assumptions

A fleet of 100 electric company cars at 18 kWh/100 km, around 10 % charging losses and 70 % of charging done at home. Three driver profiles. Price: Swiss median 2026 of 27.7 Rp./kWh excluding VAT, or about 29.9 Rp. including 8.1 % VAT (ElCom).

What that means over a year

With the lump sum, the company pays CHF 72'000.– a year. At actual cost, it would pay around CHF 75'400.–. The overall gap looks small, but it hides two imbalances:

• about CHF 12'000.– a year overpaid to the 40 low-mileage drivers, even though lump sums must roughly match actual expenses;
• about CHF 15'400.– a year left for the other 60 employees to cover, who then have every reason to charge at fast chargers on the company card, at CHF 0.60 to 0.80 per kWh.

The canton effect

The same average driver (233 kWh a month at home) does not cost the same everywhere. Using ElCom's 2026 cantonal medians, including VAT:

Source: ElCom, 2026 electricity prices by municipality and canton. Cantonal medians hide even larger differences between municipalities; our analysis of the price per kWh for EV charging explains how the price is built. For your own fleet, use the home charging solutions simulator.

Securing actual-cost reimbursement

Actual-cost reimbursement follows directly from the texts. To our knowledge, however, no canton has yet published a written position specifically on measured home charging. We therefore recommend one of these two routes.

1. A clause in your expense regulations, approved by the tax administration of the seat canton. Example wording: "Home charging of company vehicle: reimbursement of actual costs based on measurement (kWh charged × employee's electricity tariff), with a monthly statement."
2. Written confirmation from the cantonal contact for expense regulations, based on a description of the measurement method. The SSK publishes the list of contacts by canton.

Remember that each legal entity has its own regulations approved by its own seat canton. An AG in Zurich and its subsidiary in Geneva file two requests. Source: SSK, cantonal contacts for expense regulations, SSK, salary certificate FAQ 2026 (German).

The operational rollout (policy, payroll, cross-border staff, multiple entities) is covered in our guide to managing fleet home charging in Switzerland.

Documentation that stands up

Actual expenses are defended with evidence. For charging electricity, a robust file contains:

• kWh per charging session, with date, time and vehicle;
• the employee's real tariff taken from their electricity bill: energy, grid, levies and VAT, with high and low tariff if the contract distinguishes them;
• special cases: the internal tariff of a self-consumption community (ZEV / RCP) or a local electricity community, solar self-consumption, dynamic tariffs, or a foreign tariff in euros for cross-border commuters;
• a monthly statement per employee, combining kWh and tariff, kept with payroll records.

How does Voltaback measure charging? Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter. Measurement accuracy has been audited by an independent third party: 1.22 % relative error.

The method also works when the household does not yet have a smart meter: see our article on charging without a smart meter.

Three common mistakes

In our discussions with payroll teams, the same pitfalls come up again and again:

1. Combining the lump sum and actual-cost reimbursement. Paying CHF 60.– flat and also refunding charging receipts reimburses the same electricity twice. Choose one method per vehicle category.
2. Continuing the lump sum during long absences. For illness, military service or maternity leave longer than four weeks, the lump sum must be reduced. With actual cost, the issue disappears.
3. Using a cantonal average instead of the contract tariff. An average is not a documented expense. Only the tariff from the employee's own electricity bill meets the "actual cost against receipts" principle.

What about plug-in hybrids?

The SSK model only refers to "electric vehicles". We found no official text extending the CHF 60.– lump sum to plug-in hybrids. To be safe, treat it as applying to fully electric vehicles only, unless your seat canton confirms otherwise.

Reimbursement of measured kWh at actual cost, on the other hand, works for any plug-in vehicle, fully electric or hybrid. For a mixed fleet, it is often the simplest option.

What Voltaback does for you

Voltaback measures every home charging session, applies each employee's real contract tariff and produces the monthly statement and payroll export, with the correct salary certificate item. The solution is software only, compatible with more than 48 car brands, ISO 27001 certified and designed in line with the nDSG / nLPD; the company never receives drivers' location data.

Learn more about home charging reimbursement.

Move to actual cost, without the paperwork

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