VAT on home batteries: 0% until 31 March 2027, then 5%
Since February 2024, batteries installed in homes have counted as energy-saving materials for VAT. That relief has an end date, and it does not reach a battery you buy without fitting.
Quick answer
A battery installed in a home is zero-rated for VAT until 31 March 2027 and charged at 5% from 1 April 2027, under HMRC Notice 708/6. That covers batteries added to solar panels, batteries charged from the grid and both. A battery supplied without installation is standard-rated.
What qualifies for the zero rate
HMRC added electrical batteries to the list of energy-saving materials from 1 February 2024. Section 2.19 of Notice 708/6 covers batteries installed in residential accommodation, and in buildings used solely for a relevant charitable purpose, in three situations:
- a battery retrofitted to an existing microgeneration system, such as solar panels;
- a standalone battery that stores electricity from the grid;
- a battery that stores electricity from both.
The relief applies to the installation: the battery and the work of fitting it. Section 2.1 sets the period: the zero rate ends on 31 March 2027, and from 1 April 2027 these materials revert to the reduced rate of 5%. Section 2.3 is the catch: if energy-saving materials are supplied without being installed, the supply is standard-rated.
In one line
Fitted in your home by 31 March 2027: 0%. Fitted from 1 April 2027: 5%. Bought as a box to fit yourself, or by someone else: standard rate.
What the step from 0% to 5% adds, size by size
The same pre-VAT price costs 5% more from 1 April 2027. On DESNZ's 2025/26 figures, as modelled by our calculator, that works out as follows.
| Nominal size | Invoiced by 31 March 2027 | From 1 April 2027 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 kWh | about £6,500 | about £6,800 | about £300 |
| 10 kWh | about £8,800 | about £9,200 | about £400 |
| 15 kWh | about £9,700 | about £10,200 | about £500 |
| 20 kWh | about £12,600 | about £13,200 | about £600 |
That is a real, dated change. It is also 5% of the price, and the price itself can move by more than that in a year: the median for small batteries rose about 20% between 2024/25 and 2025/26, while the middle band fell about 2%. A battery that doesn't suit your usage and tariff is not made worthwhile by a VAT date, so we would not rush a decision for it. If you are going ahead anyway, it is worth knowing which side of the line your invoice will fall.
Invoices, deposits and jobs that straddle the date
VAT is charged by the installer on its invoice, and which rate applies turns on the dates of the invoice and the payments for the work. A job quoted in February 2027 and fitted in May 2027 may not get the zero rate. If your installation could fall either side of 1 April 2027, ask the installer in writing how they will invoice it, including any deposit, and what happens to the price if the date slips.
Mixed jobs need care too. Solar panels are energy-saving materials as well, so on a job that fits panels and a battery together both should carry the same rate. If the same contractor does other work at the same visit that isn't an energy-saving material, that part can be charged at a different rate. An itemised quote shows you which lines carry which rate.
Reading the VAT lines on a battery quote
A clear quote, broken down the way our page on quote extras describes, shows the VAT rate against each line. For a battery installed in your home and invoiced by 31 March 2027, the battery and its installation should show 0%. If a quote for an installed home battery shows 20% on the battery line, ask why: the standard rate applies when a battery is supplied without being installed, or to parts of a job that aren't energy-saving materials, and the installer should be able to say which line is which. If it shows 5% on a job invoiced before April 2027, ask the same question the other way round. Quotes issued now for work after the change should say which rate they assume and what happens if the dates move. None of this changes the official benchmark: the 2025/26 medians were recorded at the 0% VAT rate that runs until 31 March 2027, so compare a pre-VAT price with them.
Buying a battery without installation
Section 2.3 is why a battery's shop price and its installed price can't be compared directly. A retailer selling a battery without fitting it charges the standard rate, while an installer fitting one in your home before April 2027 charges 0% on the battery and its installation. A box price also leaves out everything that makes the battery usable and safe in a home: the siting works, protection, the network notification and the certificates. Our guide to shop prices and installed prices goes through the gap.
A separate relief: VAT on the electricity you buy
Don't confuse the battery relief with the one on your bill. HMRC's Notice 701/19 removes VAT from household electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027, after the Budget 2026 extension; Northern Ireland stays at 5%. Ofgem's price cap figures, such as the 26.32p per kWh average unit rate for October to December 2026, are quoted without VAT. Ofgem's own page still gives 31 March 2027 as the end of the electricity relief, so we follow HMRC and date the claim.
That matters if you work out what a battery takes off a bill: use the prices you actually pay. The year-one bill effect guide asks for your own tariff, and the calculator on the home page shows any size before and after the battery VAT step. For how to pay the bill itself, see paying for a battery.
VAT on batteries: questions
Do I pay VAT on a home battery?
Not if it is installed in your home before 1 April 2027: HMRC zero-rates the installation of batteries in residential accommodation as an energy-saving material until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 the rate becomes 5%. A battery bought without installation is charged at the standard rate.
Does the 0% rate apply to a battery without solar panels?
Yes. HMRC's rules include standalone batteries that store electricity from the grid, as well as batteries added to an existing solar system and batteries that store both.
Will the 0% rate be extended past March 2027?
Nothing published says so as at 3 November 2026. HMRC's notice says the zero rate ends on 31 March 2027 and the reduced rate of 5% applies from 1 April 2027. If that changes, this page will be updated.
Does a battery company charge VAT on a battery I fit myself?
Yes, at the standard rate, because supplying energy-saving materials without installing them does not qualify for the relief. That is one reason a retail box price and an installed price are not comparable.
Sources (page last reviewed 3 November 2026)
- HMRC: VAT on energy-saving materials and heating equipment (Notice 708/6), sections 2.1, 2.3 and 2.19, checked 3 November 2026.
- HMRC: extension of the energy-saving materials relief to electrical batteries (from 1 February 2024), checked 3 November 2026.
- HMRC: VAT on fuel and power (Notice 701/19, updated 28 October 2026), checked 3 November 2026.
- Ofgem: energy price cap unit rates and standing charges (1 October to 31 December 2026), checked 3 November 2026.
- DESNZ: MCS certified domestic battery installation statistics (April 2024 to March 2026 workbook, published 28 May 2026), checked 3 November 2026.
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