EV salary sacrifice: how much admin is there really?

Salary sacrifice has a bit of a reputation. For some businesses, it sounds like extra payroll headaches and another thing ready to go wrong at the worst possible moment.

But the truth is, it only gets messy if the scheme is.

Our EV salary sacrifice scheme is totally boring (in the best possible way). Fully HMRC-approved, easy to run, and built to squash all those “uh-oh” what-if worries before they even pop up.

Here are the questions we get asked most, and the straight-up answers to help you decide if it’s right for your business.

Very! We handle the heavy lifting, so there’s no long setup, no complicated system changes, and no need to become a salary sacrifice expert overnight. Once your scheme rules are agreed, we’ll set everything up for you and give you access to your HR dashboard.

From there, it’s ready to go. Employees can start ordering, approvals run smoothly, and payroll gets exactly what it needs each month. Simple from day one, and just as easy to run six months in.

But don’t just take it from us. Estelle, Head of People at Whisper TV, puts it better than we could:

“Within a month it was all set up, all gone through, all the paperwork done,” she says. “It took less than a week for our first employee’s car to be delivered, which was amazing.”

Absolutely! From day one, you’ll have a dedicated account manager guiding you through setup, approvals, billing, and payroll. 

In fact, our people are often one of the things our customers love most about the scheme. 

“The launch was fantastic; there was no pain at all from start to finish,” says Lucy, Global Senior Manager, People Operations at WPP. “The people our employees speak to are very helpful, and the portal's really easy to use. It was super straightforward.”

We’ll talk you (and your team) through every step, answer your questions, and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Very little.

Each month, payroll simply applies the correct salary deductions for participating employees and pays the matching invoices. There’s no complex reporting or manual workarounds – just a clean, repeatable process that fits into existing payroll cycles.

For Sarah Whurr, Head of Sustainability at GB Railfreight, it’s been a lifesaver.

“The setup and maintenance of the scheme was really simple,” she says. “We were given a dedicated customer account manager who has been with us ever since. He talked us through every element – from set up and billing to invoicing – and even brought our payroll team on board.”

If someone leaves without notice, the employer covers that final month’s payment. After that, there’s no ongoing liability. Our scheme includes full leaver protection, so the vehicle can be returned at no cost to the business.

Employees order their car through our simple online platform, choosing from a range of EVs that fit your scheme rules. Pricing, availability, and salary impact are all clear upfront, so there are no surprises later. Once they’ve picked their car, everything else rolls on automatically.

That’s it! No forms. No chasing. No awkward emails to payroll.

When a team member orders a car, you’ll get an email straight away. You can then approve their request online in minutes via your HR dashboard, where you can also track orders and keep an eye on your environmental impact.

All reporting and invoices are available to download from the dashboard (and we’ll email them to you too). Plus, on the 2nd of every month, we’ll send you a salary sacrifice report with everything payroll needs to make adjustments and report to HMRC.

Yes, but it’s nothing to lose sleep over. 

The P11D value (basically the car price plus VAT and delivery) is used to work out your Benefit-in-Kind tax. For EVs, the rate is tiny – 3% in 2025/26 – and our HMRC-approved scheme makes the whole thing painless.

Check out this blog for more info on P11Ds. 

Everyone hates admin - us included. That’s why we’ve made our EV salary sacrifice scheme super simple. Minimal admin, zero stress, and no nasty surprises, so you can focus on the work that actually matters.