Claim EV salary sacrifice if not offered by employer

I am wondering if it's possible to claim the effect of an EV salary sacrifice scheme if it's not offered by an employer, possibly through a self assessment. The fact pattern is that the employee (who's only income comes from working for one employer) has been offered and accepted an EV lease vehicle as a company car, and has opted to make a monthly contribution through a salary deduction to benefit from a more expensive model (the contribution is not the full value of the monthly lease cost). The agreement to make the salary deduction will last the length of the car leasing agreement, four years. The employer is taking the contribution out of net pay, and has confirmed that they will not adjust this so that it is taken from gross pay, as they currently do not offer an EV salary sacrifice scheme. Is it possible to claim a refund of tax back, equal to the EV salary sacrifice savings, if the employee was to prepare a self assessment, or are there any alternative ways in which the employee can recognise this benefit? Thanks in advance

Hi uk-tax-res1,
Having an EV company car would not meet criteria for Self Assessment. If you are making a payment to obtain a more expensive model then this would not reduce the benefit as not a payment for private use in the car.
Thank you.

Thanks for the reply, HMRC Admin 21. I’m fine with the benefit element, it’s more about whether my contribution as an employee qualifies for the optional remuneration arrangements exemption (as a contribution to an EV lease car) and if so, and my employer does not process the contribution I’m making out of gross salary, whether there are any other ways I can obtain the tax savings outside of PAYE.

Hi uk-tax-res1,
For assistance you would need to contact our helpline as it may need to be a technical adviser that would advise.
You can contact HMRC:
Income Tax: general enquiries
Thank you. 

Hi, I am not a HMRC Admin but may be able to answer. Salary sacrifice is a contractual matter between you and your employer so sadly there is no way to claim this from HMRC. However the contributions you are making from net pay will be reducing the benefit in kind value reported on your p11d. So it saves you tax that way.

Thanks everyone. I’m not sure the BIK value reduction offsets the benefits of salary sacrificing completely, so I guess we will continue to negotiate with the employer on taking the contribution from gross pay