E-Car Taxation 2026: How Is the Company Car Accounting Correctly Represented in SAP HCM?
The e-car taxation in 2026 brings new rules for electric company cars and, consequently, new challenges for payroll processing in SAP HCM. Since July 2025, electric company cars up to 100,000 euros can be taxed at only 0.25% of the gross list price – an attractive incentive for companies to switch to electric vehicles. What is often underestimated: the technical implementation in SAP HCM does not happen automatically. We show exactly where the pitfalls lie and how they can be overcome.
What will change in the taxation of electric cars in 2026, and why is this relevant?
Before July 2025, the favorable 0.25% regulation was limited to electric company cars with a gross list price of up to 70,000 euros. The increase to 100,000 euros now also opens up expensive electric models for this tax benefit – an important step for companies that want to consistently electrify their fleets.
Plug-in hybrids are also subject to the 0.5% rule, but only if they meet certain minimum ranges or CO₂ limits. Those who do not meet these conditions are taxed at the usual 1%. For the HR department, this primarily means one thing: the correct assignment of vehicle type and tax rate becomes a critical point. A single error in master data maintenance can directly affect the payroll tax certificate and thus also the next audit.
| Vehicle type | gross list price | Monthly rate | Status 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purely electric (BEV) | until 100.000 € | 0,25 % | Favored |
| Purely electric (BEV) | over 100.000 € | 0,5 % | Partially favored |
| Plug-in-Hybrid (PHEV) | arbitrary | 0,5 % | Upon fulfillment of the conditions |
| Internal combustion engine | arbitrary | 1,0% | Standard regulation |
What will happen to the charging electricity costs from 2026 onwards?
This option will no longer be available as of January 1, 2026. Thereafter, two options will be available: billing based on the exact kWh measured by a separate meter or a legally compliant wall box. Until the end of 2025, employers could still reimburse charging costs for company electric vehicles tax-free through monthly flat rates based on the average household electricity price of the previous year.
Both currently used methods require precise documentation and therefore also a correct technical representation in payroll accounting. This is exactly where most problems begin.
Where does the SAP standard reach its limits?
Those who rely on the SAP HCM standard for company car accounting will sooner or later encounter a well-known problem: Infotype 0032 does not offer a natively automated differentiation between the various vehicle types and the corresponding tax rates. The allocation of the gross list price and the correct percentage does not occur automatically.
In practice, this often leads to two typical scenarios:
- Manual pre-calculation:
The clerk calculates the reduced gross list price himself – outside of SAP – and only enters the result. This works in everyday practice, but it makes the calculation difficult to trace and prone to errors.
- Proliferation of Wage Types
More and more customer-specific wage types are being created to reflect the different percentages. Over time, the customizing becomes confusing and maintenance-intensive, especially when legal changes occur.
Attention: Controlling the charging current reimbursements via table T511K requires additional precision to ensure that the statutory flat rates are correctly linked with the billing. An error here can quickly lead to a miscalculation.
How does SMART MOBILITY solve the problem?
This is precisely where our add-on SMART MOBILITY comes into play. The basic idea is simple but effective: instead of manually preloading the tax logic, it is integrated directly into the SAP standard process.
What SMART MOBILITY specifically takes over:
The add-on automatically determines the correct assessment base based on vehicle type and gross list price. Infotype 0032 is thus correctly populated without manual intervention. Legal changes are maintained centrally in the add-on, instead of having to manually adjust the wage type schema each time.
This is especially evident in the differentiation between 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1; three rates that apply differently depending on the type of vehicle, the gross list price, and the time of acquisition. SMART MOBILITY maps this differentiation in the system itself, without the HR department having to remember each rule offhand.
What should you take with you?
The new assessment limit of 100,000 euros makes electric company cars more attractive but also makes billing more complex. Those who rely on manual processes risk having gaps during the next audit. A systemic solution like SMART MOBILITY can significantly reduce this complexity while also ensuring long-term data quality in SAP HCM.
The key lies in not treating tax expertise and technical system knowledge separately, but in combining both in a continuous process.
