Nice work, Tom! Sounds like VAT equalisation maybe on the cards then... but increasing inline with standard fuel and public charging to 20%, rather than coming down to match current 5% (discounted?) home charging rate as many had hoped and lobbied for.
Some will argue that it would be fairer if EV drivers/homeowners fortunate to have off-street parking paid standard VAT rate same as other drivers - which sounds affordable if approx £5 p/month as you suggest - and could help to replace lost revenue from fuel as more drivers switch to electric.
The Government response to the Lords report 'EV Strategy - Rapid recharge needed' last year outlined the reasons the Gov disagreed with the Lords recommendation to explore options to equalise VAT to 5%, see recommendation 33, page 15:
Obviously would loose a key selling point... but think people got over and accepted fairness in recent car tax discount/increase... and plenty of other benefits of driving electric and healthy used EV market making more accessible now too : )
Excellent post, Tom! Super balanced and realistic. It’s all good and well people calling to reduce VAT on public charging but it’s really shining a light on a potential revenue stream from home charging.
Increasing tax on EV tariffs which are basically just eco7 tariffs would also impact heat pump users, another government ambition to incentivise so I doubt it. But I don’t like this this thought process all the same!
I think such a move would deal a mortal blow to home charger manufacturers, rather than the EV industry. Because people would simply move to a dumb charger and a non-EV tariff that still has an off peak rate. In other words it would be fairly easy for residents to circumnavigate the move, unless an increased tax was applied to all off peak tariffs, which seems unlikely.
Forcing people to move to dumb chargers that may not have PEN fault protection or built-in or surge protection would in turn make EV charging much more dangerous and cause more electrical safety accidents, so overall I would bet you £10 this will never happen.
I agree I'm not sure the VAT policy will happen, though home charging does seem to be a rather left alone area. And there's clearly issues. Why do some of the devices cost up to £1,000 to get installed? Fundamentally they are just plugs, and at those rates they'll be out of reach for many.
There is still a 5p discount on fuel duty.
Rolling that off over a year would be sensible.
Separately, there should be a business opening for attended charging stations, CF petrol stations occasionally are.
Nice work, Tom! Sounds like VAT equalisation maybe on the cards then... but increasing inline with standard fuel and public charging to 20%, rather than coming down to match current 5% (discounted?) home charging rate as many had hoped and lobbied for.
Some will argue that it would be fairer if EV drivers/homeowners fortunate to have off-street parking paid standard VAT rate same as other drivers - which sounds affordable if approx £5 p/month as you suggest - and could help to replace lost revenue from fuel as more drivers switch to electric.
The Government response to the Lords report 'EV Strategy - Rapid recharge needed' last year outlined the reasons the Gov disagreed with the Lords recommendation to explore options to equalise VAT to 5%, see recommendation 33, page 15:
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/44339/documents/220433/default/
Obviously would loose a key selling point... but think people got over and accepted fairness in recent car tax discount/increase... and plenty of other benefits of driving electric and healthy used EV market making more accessible now too : )
Totally, and a very good call back to that report. I feel like it's more likely to be the tariff route.
Excellent post, Tom! Super balanced and realistic. It’s all good and well people calling to reduce VAT on public charging but it’s really shining a light on a potential revenue stream from home charging.
Thank you Jess!
Increasing tax on EV tariffs which are basically just eco7 tariffs would also impact heat pump users, another government ambition to incentivise so I doubt it. But I don’t like this this thought process all the same!
I think such a move would deal a mortal blow to home charger manufacturers, rather than the EV industry. Because people would simply move to a dumb charger and a non-EV tariff that still has an off peak rate. In other words it would be fairly easy for residents to circumnavigate the move, unless an increased tax was applied to all off peak tariffs, which seems unlikely.
Forcing people to move to dumb chargers that may not have PEN fault protection or built-in or surge protection would in turn make EV charging much more dangerous and cause more electrical safety accidents, so overall I would bet you £10 this will never happen.
I agree I'm not sure the VAT policy will happen, though home charging does seem to be a rather left alone area. And there's clearly issues. Why do some of the devices cost up to £1,000 to get installed? Fundamentally they are just plugs, and at those rates they'll be out of reach for many.