Road tax on electric cars in Europe: the 2026 country-by-country guide for fleets

Electric cars still pay little or no annual road tax in most of Europe, but the exemptions are ending one country at a time. In 2026 a battery electric car pays nothing in Germany or Portugal, a symbolic €30 in Luxembourg, 70 % of the normal rate in the Netherlands, a flat €102.96 in Flanders for new registrations, and £200 a year in the UK, where a pay-per-mile charge follows in April 2028.

This guide helps fleet and finance managers budget the annual tax line of each electric company car, country by country. It explains the three kinds of vehicle tax, compares ten countries and regions with their end dates, shows a worked example for a fleet spread across several countries, and lists what to check before year end. As you will see, tax is a predictable line. Energy, where Voltaback helps fleets, is the bigger one.

Three different taxes, often confused

"Road tax" is used for three different levies. Mixing them up is the most common budgeting error in multi-country fleets.

None of these is the tax on the private use of a company car (benefit in kind), which is charged to the employee and follows different rules. Our overview of electric company car taxation covers that side.

There is no harmonised EU road tax for cars. Each Member State, and sometimes each region or municipality, sets its own. What the EU does is push fleets towards zero-emission cars through other instruments, covered further down.

Electric car road tax in Europe: the comparison table

Sources: § 3d KraftStG, Ondernemersplein, VRT, Wallonie, be.brussels, Guichet.lu, ACI, BOE, Ley de Haciendas Locales, Portal das Finanças via CGD, BAZG, GOV.UK vehicle tax rate tables.

The table reads in two ways. On the annual line, electric cars remain cheap almost everywhere. On the trend, the direction is clear: the UK ended its exemption in 2025, Flanders in 2026, the Netherlands is phasing its discount out by 2030, Switzerland removed the import tax exemption in 2024, and Germany's exemption has a final date of 2035.

Country by country: what fleets need to know

Germany: exempt until 2035 at the latest

Under § 3d of the Motor Vehicle Tax Act (KraftStG), battery electric cars first registered between 18 May 2011 and 31 December 2030 are exempt for ten years from first registration, and in any case until 31 December 2035. A car registered in January 2026 is exempt until January 2036 in theory, but the 2035 cut-off applies first. For a fleet, the annual tax line on a new electric car in Germany is zero until then. Plug-in hybrids pay normal Kfz-Steuer, based on engine size and CO2.

Netherlands: a shrinking MRB discount

The Dutch motor vehicle tax (motorrijtuigenbelasting, MRB) depends on the car's weight and on the province's surcharge. Zero-emission passenger cars paid nothing until 2024, 25 % of the rate in 2025, and pay 70 % of the rate from 2026 to 2028. The share rises to 75 % in 2029 and the discount ends in 2030. Electric vans and plug-in hybrids no longer get a discount.

Because electric cars are heavier than their petrol equivalents, the full rate from 2030 will often be comparable to a petrol car of the same size. A heavy electric SUV can then cost more in MRB than a light petrol hatchback. At registration, electric cars pay only the fixed BPM amount, with no CO2 component.

Belgium: three regions, three regimes

Road taxes are regional in Belgium.

• Flanders ended its exemption for electric cars registered from 1 January 2026. They now pay a flat registration tax (BIV) of €61.50 and an annual tax of about €102.96. Electric cars registered up to 31 December 2025 stay exempt as long as they keep the same owner, so a change of lessor or a sale ends it.
• Wallonia has no exemption. It reformed its registration tax (TMC) on 1 July 2025 with a coefficient linked to energy use, and applies the minimum circulation tax to electric cars.
• Brussels applies the minimum amounts to electric cars.

For company cars, Belgian employers also pay a monthly CO2 solidarity contribution to social security for each car with private use. Electric cars pay the minimum amount, far below what a petrol or diesel car now pays, which matters more to the budget than the road tax itself.

Luxembourg: €30 a year, with no end date

Luxembourg calculates its annual vehicle tax from WLTP CO2 emissions, a fuel factor and a progressive coefficient. A zero-emission car pays the legal minimum of €30 a year, against about €117 for a diesel emitting 130 g/km. Cross-border employees often drive Luxembourg-registered company cars from Belgium or Germany, where the Luxembourg tax still applies.

Italy: five years free, then a regional discount

Italy's annual bollo auto is a regional tax based on power (kW). Electric cars are exempt for five years from first registration, then pay 25 % of the equivalent petrol rate. Some regions go further: Lombardy and Piedmont exempt electric cars permanently, and a few others extend or adapt the period. Powerful electric cars can still owe the superbollo on kW above 185, which surprises fleets ordering high-performance models. Source: UNRAE, bollo e incentivi 2026.

Spain: it depends on the town hall

Spain's annual tax (Impuesto sobre Vehículos de Tracción Mecánica, IVTM) is municipal. The state sets minimum amounts by fiscal horsepower, and each municipality may grant electric cars a discount of up to 75 %. Most large cities do, but not all, and the discount may be time-limited. At registration, a car with no combustion engine pays 0 % registration tax.

Portugal: no IUC and no ISV

In Portugal, fully electric cars are exempt from the annual IUC and outside the scope of the one-off ISV. Plug-in hybrids get a reduction, not an exemption, and range-extender cars do not qualify. For Portuguese company fleets, the bigger tax lever is the tributação autónoma on car costs, at 0 % for electric cars up to €62,500.

Switzerland: 26 cantons, 26 systems

The Swiss annual vehicle tax is cantonal and based on weight, power or CO2 depending on the canton. Zurich charges electric cars nothing, while a powerful electric SUV pays several hundred francs in cantons such as Aargau, St. Gallen or Fribourg. Since 1 January 2024, electric cars also pay the 4 % federal import tax (Automobilsteuer). A new federal charge on electric vehicles, either per km or on charging electricity, is under study to replace lost fuel tax; nothing is decided yet. Source: ASTRA.

United Kingdom: VED since 2025, pay per mile from 2028

Since 1 April 2025, electric cars pay Vehicle Excise Duty: £10 in the first year, then the standard rate of £200 a year in 2026/27, plus an expensive car supplement of £440 a year for five years if the list price is above £50,000. From 1 April 2028, an Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) of 3p per mile for battery electric cars and 1.5p for plug-in hybrids comes on top, paid by the registered keeper, which on a lease is the leasing company. Sources: GOV.UK, vehicle tax for electric vehicles, GOV.UK, eVED.

The trend: from exemption to paying per kilometre

Fuel duties fund roads and public budgets across Europe. As fleets electrify, that revenue falls, and governments look for a replacement. Three paths are visible:

1. Ending ownership exemptions: the UK, Flanders, the Netherlands and the Swiss import tax have all done it or scheduled it.
2. Weight-based taxation: the Dutch MRB and several Swiss cantons tax weight, which hits heavy electric cars harder over time.
3. Distance-based charging: the UK's eVED is the first national per-mile charge on electric cars in Europe; Switzerland is studying its own.

What this means for your fleet: per-car mileage becomes a tax base, not only a cost driver. A fleet that already measures each car's distance accurately can estimate future charges, challenge a lessor's estimate and compare countries on facts. Our guide to fleet mileage tracking explains how to collect that data without a box.

The EU level: no road tax, but pressure on corporate fleets

The EU does not set car road tax, but it shapes fleet choices in other ways:

• CO2 standards for new cars push manufacturers towards zero-emission models and drive the supply and pricing of electric company cars.
• The proposed Clean Corporate Vehicles Regulation, presented by the European Commission on 18 December 2025 (COM(2025) 994), would set national targets for 2030 and 2035 for the share of zero- and low-emission vehicles in new registrations by large companies, including leasing and rental fleets. Corporate fleets account for around 60 % of new car registrations in the EU. The text is still being negotiated by the Parliament and the Council in late 2026. Source: European Economic and Social Committee.
• The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive sets minimum charging infrastructure in company car parks; see our guide to workplace charging requirements.

For a large company, the likely direction is more electric cars, not fewer, whatever happens to national road tax.

Worked example: a 40-car electric fleet in five countries

Take a group with 40 battery electric company cars registered in 2026: 10 in Germany, 10 in Luxembourg, 10 in Flanders, 5 in the canton of St. Gallen (powerful SUVs) and 5 in the UK (list price under £50,000, 12,000 miles a year).

Our calculation from the official rates above; St. Gallen figure for a powerful electric SUV under the 2026 cantonal rules (sg.ch). Rates are indexed, so treat these as orders of magnitude.

Two lessons. First, the same car can cost nothing or several hundred a year depending on where it is registered. Second, even the highest line stays in the hundreds per car. Compare that with energy, below.

Hybrids and combustion cars for contrast

Electric cars remain the cheapest powertrain on road tax almost everywhere:

• In Luxembourg, a diesel at 130 g/km pays about €117 a year against €30 for an electric car.
• In the UK, a new petrol car emitting 151 to 170 g/km pays £1,410 in its first year, a plug-in hybrid at 1 to 50 g/km £115, an electric car £10.
• In Germany, plug-in hybrids pay normal Kfz-Steuer, electric cars nothing.
• In Spain, a diesel emitting 130 g/km pays 4.75 % registration tax, an electric car 0 %.

Who pays road tax on a leased company car?

The registered keeper or holder pays, and on a lease that is the leasing company. It then passes the cost on in the monthly rental, sometimes with a margin. Three consequences for fleet managers:

• When an exemption ends or a rate changes during the contract, check whether your lease allows the lessor to revise the rental.
• A change of holder can end a grandfathered exemption, as in Flanders.
• For per-mile charges such as the UK's eVED, ask how the lessor will estimate mileage and reconcile it at year end.

Year-end checklist for fleet managers

Before each budget round and each tax renewal, check:

1. Registration country of each car: which annual tax applies, and when its advantage ends.
2. Grandfathered exemptions (Flanders, Germany's 2035 limit): which cars lose them on a change of holder or date.
3. List prices and power of cars on order: UK supplement above £50,000, Italian superbollo above 185 kW.
4. Lease contracts running past 2028 or 2030: how tax changes are passed on.
5. Mileage data per vehicle: reliable enough to estimate per-km charges and to compare countries.
6. Total cost: combine this line with depreciation and energy in your fleet total cost of ownership, and see how capital allowances on electric cars work.

The real saving is energy, not tax

Road tax on an electric company car sits between zero and a few hundred euros a year. Energy sits in the thousands, and it varies enormously with where the car charges.

A company car covering 15,000 km a year uses about 3,000 kWh at the plug. Charged at home at a Belgian night rate of about €0.24 per kWh, that is about €720; at the German household average of about €0.32, about €960. On ad hoc public fast chargers, which averaged around €0.56 per kWh across Europe in 2025, the same energy costs about €1,680, and well over €2,000 in countries where fast charging is dearest. Sources: Destatis, EV Powered, European charging prices.

The gap between home and public charging is several times the highest annual road tax in the table. That is where Voltaback helps fleets. As a 100 % software platform, with no hardware to install and more than 48 car brands supported, it measures each home charging session of each company car and reimburses it at the driver's real tariff, in every country where the fleet operates. Drivers charge at home because they are paid back fairly, and the cost per km falls. Model it for your own fleet with the home charging cost simulator.

Budget the tax, then cut the energy bill

Road tax on electric cars is now a known, plannable cost in every European country, even where it is rising. The variable that still decides your fleet's running cost is energy. To see how much your fleet can save by moving charging home and reimbursing it at the real cost, book a demo with Voltaback.