Charging an electric vehicle at a public charge point is standard rated at 20%, and HMRC is maintaining that position despite a 2026 tribunal loss. Electricity supplied to a home is charged at the domestic rate, which in Great Britain is a temporary 0% from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 and 5% in Northern Ireland. A business can reclaim VAT on the business share of charging at work or at public charge points, but not on electricity an employee buys for their own home.

Why is public charging standard rated?

Fuel and power is standard rated unless it is supplied for a qualifying use, which means domestic use or charity non business use, or falls within the de minimis limits that are deemed domestic. VAT Notice 701/19 says the recharging of electric vehicles at public charging points is always standard rated, regardless of the quantity of electricity supplied. HMRC’s reasoning is that the supplies are made at car parks, petrol stations and on street bays rather than to a person’s house or building, and are not usually an ongoing supply to one person.

The de minimis limit for electricity is an average of 33 kilowatt hours a day or 1,000 kilowatt hours a month to one customer at any one of the customer’s premises. Most individual charging sessions are well under that, which is why the point has been litigated.

What did the Charge My Street case decide?

Revenue and Customs Brief 4 (2026) reports that the First tier Tribunal found in favour of Charge My Street Limited (appeal reference TC/2024/01983). The tribunal held that Note 5(g) to Group 1 of Schedule 7A to the Value Added Tax Act 1994 covers supplies of electricity to an identified person at any identifiable premises, provided the total does not exceed 1,000 kWh in a calendar month. It said the premises need not be owned or controlled by the customer and need not be a building, so a public car park can qualify.

HMRC has applied for permission to appeal, and the brief states that its policy remains that charging at public charge points is standard rated. Charge point operators should continue to charge 20% while the appeal runs. Any operator thinking about a claim for VAT already paid should take specialist advice first.

What rate applies to charging at home?

Electricity supplied to a dwelling is a qualifying domestic supply. Normally that is reduced rated at 5%. Notice 701/19 records that on 21 July 2026 the government announced a temporary zero rate for Great Britain, applying from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 to domestic supplies of electricity and other supplies for qualifying use. In Northern Ireland qualifying electricity stays at 5%. The temporary rate covers all qualifying electricity, so it applies to the power used by a home charger in the same way as to the rest of the household supply.

Supplies of batteries, battery recharging or exchanging charged batteries for discharged ones are not supplies of electricity and are standard rated.

Can a business reclaim VAT on charging costs?

Section 8 of VAT Notice 700/64 sets out HMRC’s position:

Where the vehicle is charged Who receives the supply Can the business reclaim?
At the business premises The business Yes, on the business use
At a public charge point, by the business or an employee The business or employer Yes, on the business use, subject to normal rules
At home, by a sole trader or partner The business owner Yes, on the business share, using mileage records
At home, by an employee The employee No

The table applies whether the vehicle is a company car or the employee’s own car. For an employee charging at home, paragraph 8.3 says the overall supply of electricity is made to the employee, not the employer, so the employer cannot recover VAT even if it reimburses the cost. HMRC said in Revenue and Customs Brief 1 (2022) that it was reviewing how VAT is claimed on charging for business purposes and how private use is accounted for, and paragraph 8.4 of the notice still describes reimbursement of employees’ home charging as under consideration. Until HMRC publishes a change, employers should not claim this VAT. While the temporary zero rate applies in Great Britain there is in any case no VAT on household electricity to recover.

How do you split business and private use?

Notice 700/64 says the business and private split should be worked out from mileage records, after which the normal input tax rules apply. For an employer whose employees use public charge points, paragraph 8.2 requires detailed mileage records where there is private use. The calculation mirrors the one for road fuel: take the business proportion of the cost and multiply by the VAT fraction, which is one sixth at the 20% standard rate. A business that is not fully taxable must also apply its partial exemption method to the result.

Section 8 of the notice points to mileage records for charging costs. It does not extend the road fuel scale charge, which is set by reference to carbon dioxide emissions, to electricity, so an actual business mileage apportionment is the route HMRC describes. The general rules for splitting costs are in VAT on mixed business and private use.

What does this look like in practice?

Illustration only. A salesperson in England drives an electric company car. In one quarter she spends £180 including VAT at public rapid chargers using a company payment card, and drives 2,000 miles, of which 1,500 are business miles. The employer can treat 75% of the cost, £135, as business use and reclaim £135 × 1/6 = £22.50 as input tax. She also charges at home and the employer reimburses her £40; the employer cannot reclaim any VAT on that, and in this period the household electricity is zero rated anyway. A self employed electrician charging his van at home in Northern Ireland could reclaim the VAT at 5% on the business share of the electricity, supported by mileage records and his bill.

What about the direct tax side?

VAT recovery is separate from the income tax and capital allowances treatment. Free workplace charging and reimbursed home charging have their own benefit in kind rules, covered in workplace electric vehicle charging. The cost of installing a chargepoint may qualify for the first year allowance for chargepoints, and VAT on the installation follows normal input tax rules.

What mistakes should be avoided?

  • Charge point operators applying 5% to public charging on the strength of the tribunal decision while HMRC’s appeal is pending.
  • Employers reclaiming VAT on reimbursed home charging, which Notice 700/64 does not allow.
  • Claiming 100% of public charging VAT on a car with private use and no mileage records.
  • Assuming 5% still applies to home electricity in Great Britain between 1 October 2026 and 31 March 2027.
  • Forgetting the partial exemption restriction for businesses with exempt income.

For VAT on buying and leasing the vehicles themselves, see VAT on cars, vans and fuel, and for wider staff costs, VAT on employee expenses.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.