The UK government is currently planning to remove the value-added tax (VAT) on residential battery storage when installed either new or retroactively in conjunction with rooftop solar systems.

“The issue of VAT on batteries being installed after solar panels is an issue that has been raised multiple times within our Committee’s work,” said Hon Philip Dunne, the chairman of the UK Environmental Audit Committee. “I am therefore very pleased that this is being considered in the Government’s consultation on VAT on energy-saving materials, and the Committee will be making representations to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to highlight the evidence we have taken on this issue.”

The committee did not say when the new measure may come into force. “The VAT measure means that battery storage supplied as part of installation of a qualifying material will benefit from a VAT zero rate for the next 5 years,” it specified in a document describing all measures the government is intending to take to support residential PV.

These include the recommendation that newly constructed housing incorporate solar PV as a minimum requirement, the setting of more ambitious installation targets on the path to 2035, and other proposals to solve skills and supply chain issues.

The British government had already slashed to zero the VAT on rooftop PV and heat pumps in March.