Autumn Budget fails businesses making electric switch
Venson Automotive has claimed that the Autumn Budget last week will not support businesses wishing to go electric.
The budget did not announce any changes to the 20% VAT imposed on public charging while eVED, a pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicles, is still planned to be introduced in April 2028.
Samantha Roff, managing director of Venson, said: “The budget hasn’t helped provide businesses with a joined-up, long-term plan that makes going electric add up.
“The budget documents confirm that VAT on public and workplace charging will stay at 20% and that EV company car tax will rise again, to 10% by 2030. They also leave open the potential for reforms to EV salary sacrifice, without any detail. That’s an uncertainty for employers running schemes and their employees who are planning vehicle choices for the next four years.
“On eVED, the government is still planning for April 2028, with the Treasury saying it has listened to the consultation. The changes are all about how it works in practice mileage estimation, connected-car reporting and promised but no confirmed date for the guidance that fleet operators need so that the necessary planning can start to take place.
“But the fundamental problem remains in that a flat pay-per-mile charge hits hardest the business drivers who cover the most miles. Yet these are the very drivers whose switch to electric makes the biggest difference to cutting emissions and a charge that penalises them.
“We’d urge the government to use the time before 2028 to review how eVED treats business mileage and to give clarity on salary sacrifice, so that fleets and their drivers aren’t left in limbo and potentially carrying the cost of EV transition.”
