A charging station is not a car expense
This is the most common mix up, and it costs real money. Plenty of freelancers file the invoice for their charge point under car expenses and apply the vehicle deduction rate to it. With an electric car ordered in 2026 that rate is still 100 %, so the mistake stays invisible. With a petrol car capped at 50 %, half the installation vanishes for nothing.
For tax purposes a fixed charging station is a tangible fixed asset, in the same family as a machine or a fit out of a building. It is therefore not deducted in one go but depreciated, and the limit that hits running car costs does not apply to it. This is infrastructure, not travel.
The dividing line is easy to remember: whatever is bolted to the wall or set in the ground is an investment, whatever ends up in the battery is a car expense.
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The unit, its mounting, the cabling and the electrical work: a depreciable investment.
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The electricity that charges the vehicle: a car expense, subject to the vehicle rate.
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Servicing and the monitoring subscription: expenses of the year, outside the car limit.
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The mobile charging cable supplied with the car: an accessory of the vehicle, treated as such.
Have a separate cost account created for charging infrastructure from the very first invoice. Once it is mixed in with car expenses, the unit stays there for its entire life.
What is deductible in 2026
In 2026 the default regime is ordinary depreciation: you recover 100 % of the cost of the station, spread over its expected useful life. No ceiling eats into that amount, as long as the use is professional.
For a sole trader, the professional share decides. A consultant who drives 70 % for the business depreciates the station on that share and carries the remaining 30 % personally. In a company the investment goes into the books in full, and any private use by the director is settled through a benefit in kind.
Three conditions have to hold together for the deduction to survive: the expense serves the business, it was actually borne during the taxable period, and you can prove it. Nothing exotic, but a station installed at a private address with not a word in the file remains a weak file.
Each item and how it is treated
| Item |
Tax treatment |
Subject to the car expense limit |
| Fixed charging station, purchase and fitting |
Investment depreciated over its useful life |
No |
| Cabling, board and electrical work |
Capitalised with the unit, same depreciation period |
No |
| Groundwork, base, protection |
Capitalised with the unit |
No |
| Servicing and monitoring subscription |
Expense of the year |
No |
| Electricity consumed by the car |
Car expense |
Yes, at the vehicle's rate |
| Charging at a public point |
Treated as fuel costs |
Yes, at the vehicle's rate |
Your car's deduction rate is locked to its year of acquisition. The station's is not tied to the vehicle: changing cars does not affect the depreciation schedule already running.
How many years to depreciate a charging station over
The tax code sets no period for charge points. You take the expected useful life of the installation and you have to be able to justify it. In Belgian files a standard wall box is commonly depreciated over five years, an outdoor installation with groundwork rather over ten.
Incidental costs follow the main asset: drilling, conduit, supply cable, distribution board, breakers, concrete base. All of that is added to the acquisition value instead of going straight to expenses. Small companies and sole traders may choose to take those incidental costs in one go, a choice that then applies for the whole financial year.
In the year of installation, a small company takes a full annual charge even if the unit is commissioned in December. Other companies apply a pro rata by day. Write down the commissioning date somewhere, because that is what starts the clock, not the invoice date.
Periods commonly used in practice
| Type of installation |
Period commonly used |
Watch out for |
| Wall box from 7 to 22 kW |
5 years |
The period has to stay defensible, keep the technical sheet |
| Outdoor unit on a base |
10 years |
Groundwork is depreciated with the unit, not separately |
| Direct current rapid charger |
8 to 10 years |
Heavy investment, have the schedule checked before closing |
| Connection upgrade |
Life of the electrical installation |
The grid operator's invoice is capitalised too |
| Mobile cable and small equipment |
Expense of the year |
An accessory of the car, it follows the vehicle rate |
A period that is too short stands out immediately. Depreciating a station that will last ten years over two hands an inspector an easy adjustment across three financial years.
A station installed at the director's or an employee's home
This is the most frequent arrangement and the most poorly documented one. A company pays for the station that will be fitted at its director's house. Nothing stands in the way of that, but the installation leaves company ground for private ground, and the tax authorities watch that area closely.
Three questions need a written answer before the work starts. Who owns the unit once it is fixed to the wall? Who pays for the electricity running through it? What happens to the installation the day the director leaves the company or moves house? A one page agreement on making the unit available settles all three, and it carries real weight the day someone asks.
If the company covers both the station and the electricity for a car that is also driven privately, the flat rate benefit in kind on that car in principle covers the whole arrangement. That reasoning holds as long as the station is tied to the company car. Does it stay behind once the car leaves? You are out of the flat rate and into a different conversation.
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A written and dated agreement signed before the work begins.
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The invoice in the company's name, showing the installation address.
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A clause covering the fate of the unit at the end of the employment contract or the mandate.
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A separate meter or a smart unit that isolates the vehicle's consumption.
An employee who gets a charge point without a company car is in a different position: the benefit is then valued in its own right. Have your payroll office settle that case before you order.
Charging electricity stays a car expense
The energy consumed follows the car, not the station. It is therefore deducted at the vehicle's rate: 100 % for an electric car acquired in 2026, half for a petrol car bought that same year, and so on depending on the year of acquisition.
The difficulty is practical rather than fiscal. At home, charging disappears into the household bill and nobody can say afterwards how many kilowatt hours went into the car. A smart unit that logs every session, or a submeter fitted upstream, settles the question for a few hundred euros.
On the road, the charging card produces a monthly statement that plays exactly the role of a fuel receipt. Keep those statements with the other vehicle expenses, since they are treated the same way.
Some companies reimburse home charging at the employee's own supply tariff, based on the readings from the unit. That kind of reimbursement follows its own rules, worth revisiting with your accountant each year.
VAT: two treatments for one installation
The station is not a vehicle, so the 50 % cap that applies to cars does not touch it. VAT on the purchase and the installation is recovered according to the actual professional use of the infrastructure. A unit in a workshop used entirely for the business gives a full right to deduct.
The electricity charging a mixed use car, on the other hand, stays in the vehicle's orbit: its VAT follows the limit that applies to car expenses. One installation therefore produces two regimes, one for the hardware and one for the energy flowing through it.
One more technical point not to miss: a unit permanently fixed to a building counts as work on immovable property. Depending on the contractor and the building, the reverse charge or a reduced rate for a dwelling older than ten years may come into play. Check the wording on the invoice before you pay it, because a mistake is far easier to correct at that moment.
Mixed taxable person, or exempt under the threshold? Your right to deduct on the station follows your general pro rata, not the use of the car.
Incentives and what is left of them
Between 2021 and 2024 Belgium pushed hard on charging infrastructure, on one side with an increased deduction for companies that opened their station to the public, on the other with a tax reduction for private individuals fitting one at home. Both measures ran out on 31 August 2024, and quotes still circulate today using those arguments.
What remains in 2026 is quieter but genuinely useful: the thematic investment deduction, carbon free mobility strand, which covers charging infrastructure acquired from 1 January 2025 onwards. The increased rate is reserved for investments listed by the regions and requires a certificate issued by the region concerned. The application has a deadline, and a file submitted late is a file lost.
In short, do not let an incentive drive your decision, but have your installation checked before you close the financial year. A file that qualifies for the thematic deduction changes the return on the investment noticeably.
What has ended and what is still open
| Measure |
Period covered |
Status in 2026 |
| Increased deduction of 200 % for publicly accessible stations |
1 September 2021 to 31 March 2023 |
Ended |
| Increased deduction of 150 % for publicly accessible stations |
1 April 2023 to 31 August 2024 |
Ended |
| Tax reduction for a station at a private home |
1 September 2021 to 31 August 2024 |
Ended |
| Thematic investment deduction, carbon free mobility |
Investments from 1 January 2025 |
Open, with a regional certificate |
| Ordinary depreciation |
No time limit |
The default regime today |
Regional lists and rates shift from one financial year to the next. Ask your accountant to check eligibility at the time of the investment, not at the time of the accounts.
Record the installation once and move on
A charging installation is rarely a single invoice. The electrician sends one, the equipment supplier another, the grid operator sometimes bills a connection upgrade, and the monitoring subscription lands every month. Once those documents scatter, nobody will reconstruct the acquisition value three years later.
In Novadesko you file those costs under a dedicated charging infrastructure account, separate from vehicle expenses, with the documents attached to each line. Invoices received in the Peppol format land straight in the file, without manual entry. When the depreciation schedule is set, your accountant has the exact amount and the supporting documents in a single export.
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A cost account reserved for charging infrastructure, apart from the vehicle account.
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The invoice for the unit, the electrician's and the related work in the same file.
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The commissioning date noted on the document, since it sets the starting point.
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Charging card statements filed with the vehicle expenses.
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The export to your accounting firm, account by account, at closing.
Photograph the rating plate on the unit and attach it to the invoice. The power output and the model are exactly what you will be asked for if the thematic deduction comes into play.
Frequently asked questions
Is a charging station tax deductible for a freelancer in Belgium?
Yes, to the extent of its professional use, but not all at once. The station is a fixed asset: you depreciate it over its expected useful life, often five years for a wall box. A sole trader first applies the professional share, while a company puts the full investment in its books.
Is a charging station subject to the car expense deduction limit?
No. That limit targets the running costs of the vehicle, not the infrastructure. A station installed in 2026 is fully deductible over its depreciation period, even when the car plugged into it is capped at 50 %. It is the electricity consumed that follows the vehicle's rate.
Over how many years should a charging station be depreciated?
No statutory period applies: you take the expected useful life and you have to be able to justify it. In practice a wall box is depreciated over five years and an outdoor installation with groundwork rather over ten. Keep the technical sheet for the equipment in the file, it supports your choice.
Can my company pay for the station installed at my home?
Yes, provided you write it down. You need an agreement on making the unit available, signed before the work, the invoice in the company's name showing the installation address, and a clause settling what happens to the unit when you leave the company. Without those documents the deduction stays fragile in an audit.
Is VAT on a charging station fully recoverable?
The 50 % cap that applies to cars does not cover the station, so VAT is recovered according to the actual professional use of the installation. VAT on the electricity charging a mixed use car does stay limited like other car expenses. A mixed taxable person applies their general pro rata on top of that.
Does the increased deduction for publicly accessible stations still exist?
No, it ended on 31 August 2024, as did the tax reduction for individuals installing a station at home. Since 2025 the thematic investment deduction for carbon free mobility can take over, subject to a regional certificate and to the application deadlines.
How do you prove which share of the electricity goes into the car?
With a smart unit that logs every session or a submeter fitted upstream. An estimate based on mileage rarely survives an inspector, especially when the station sits at a private address. The device pays for itself quickly when it avoids an argument spanning three financial years.
Should the electrical work be capitalised with the station?
Yes, incidental costs follow the main asset: cabling, conduit, distribution board, protection devices and base all add to the acquisition value. Small companies and sole traders may choose to expense them in the year itself, but that choice then applies to the whole financial year.
Read next
This guide is for information only. Thresholds and amounts are indexed every year, so check them with the FPS Finance or with your accountant before you act on them.
