CRA indicates that the free provision a home electric charging station for an employment-required vehicle may be non-taxable

A free charging station is provided at an employee’s home for a car used in performing employment duties. CRA considers that “in many cases the employer would likely be the primary beneficiary, provided that ownership of the charging station is not transferred to the employee, and that its cost (including installation) is reasonable in the circumstances,” such that the provision of the station would not be a taxable benefit. As the charging station draws on the employee’s electricity, the employee effectively bears a portion of the operating costs. In this regard, CRA stated that “if an employer reimburses an employee for reasonable employment-related electricity costs paid by the employee, the reimbursement will not generally give rise to a taxable benefit.”

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of 14 September 2017 CPA Alberta Roundtable, Q.17, 2017-0703881C6 under s. 6(1)(a), s. 6(1)(k) and s. 8(1)(h.1).