The short answer
From 1 November 2026, the HMRC policy paper says electricity supplied through publicly accessible and workplace charging points does not qualify for the VAT relief available for domestic electricity, and is not domestic use for the climate change levy either. In practice that means public charging carries the standard 20% rate of VAT, which the updated VAT notice says it was always treated as. Nothing in the paper raises the rate; it closes the argument that public charging could ever count as a domestic supply.
Charging at home is untouched. Electricity from your household supply is domestic even when it goes into a car, and the Budget extended the temporary 0% rate of VAT on domestic electricity, introduced on 1 October 2026, until July 2027. So for the next eight months the gap between home and public charging is, on VAT alone, the whole 20%.
What the rules say, by where you charge
| Where you charge | VAT treatment | What changed on 1 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Public charge point | Standard rate, 20%, whatever the quantity | Now written into law; HMRC already applied it |
| Workplace charge point | Standard rate, treated the same as public | Now written into law |
| Home, from the household supply | Domestic: reduced rate, and 0% until July 2027 under the Budget extension | Nothing |
| Home, on a separate car tariff | Still domestic, the VAT notice says, even with its own tariff | Nothing |
The detail behind the home row is the de minimis rule. The VAT notice says that electricity up to 1,000 kilowatt hours a month, to one customer at one set of premises, is taxed at the reduced rate and treated as domestic use. Some had argued a public charger delivering small amounts to each driver should get the same treatment. The notice says that limit does not apply to electric vehicle charging and that HMRC has long taken that view; the new law puts it beyond doubt.
Why it reads like a price rise, and why it is not one
The paper is a clarification with a start date, and start dates look like changes. Public charging operators have been charging VAT at the standard rate; the legislation now says they must, and takes away the reduced-rate argument. What you pay per kilowatt hour at a public charger is set by the operator's tariff, which this measure does not set and the article does not predict. If a tariff changes on 1 November, the VAT law is not, on its own, the reason.
The Budget on 28 October did say something about the cost of public charging, in the other direction. It announced £100 million over two years to reduce costs for local, lower-powered public chargers, and a plan to let drivers use their domestic electricity tariff at those local chargers from spring 2027, with the Department for Transport to set out the next steps. Neither is in force yet; both are in the Budget document.
What to do if you drive an electric or plug-in hybrid car
- Charge at home where you can. The domestic rate applies to household electricity used for the car, and it is 0% until July 2027 in England, Scotland and Wales under the Budget extension.
- Read your public charging receipts. They should show VAT at the standard rate, as they did before. A receipt is also the record you will want if you reclaim charging costs through work.
- Ask your employer about workplace charging. The VAT notice treats workplace points like public ones; whether the employer passes the cost to you is a matter for them, not the law.
- Keep an eye on the local charger plan. The domestic-tariff scheme at lower-powered public chargers is due from spring 2027; the Budget document is the source until the Department for Transport publishes details.
- Note the 2028 date too. From 1 April 2028 electric cars pay a mileage charge of 3p a mile, plug-in hybrids 1.5p, on an odometer reading that the MOT history already records. Our electric car road tax guide covers it.
What this does not mean
This article summarises documents from HMRC and the Treasury as they read on 30 October 2026. It is general information, not tax advice; it does not say what any charging operator will charge from 1 November, and it does not cover businesses reclaiming VAT on charging, which has its own HMRC guidance. Where an official page differs from the summary here, the official page wins. It contains no MOT statistics.
Frequently asked questions
No. The rate stays at the standard 20%. What changes is that the law now says public and workplace charging is not domestic use, so the reduced rate cannot apply to it. HMRC's VAT notice says public charging was always treated as standard-rated.
The domestic rate. Electricity from your household supply is domestic even when it charges a car, and even on a separate car tariff, according to the VAT notice. The Budget extended the temporary 0% rate on domestic electricity until July 2027.
Workplace charging points are treated the same as public ones from 1 November 2026: not domestic use, so standard-rated for VAT and outside the domestic treatment for the climate change levy. What your employer charges you, if anything, is up to the employer.
The Budget of 28 October 2026 announced £100 million over two years for local, lower-powered public chargers and a plan to let drivers use their domestic electricity tariff at those chargers from spring 2027. Neither is in force yet; the Department for Transport is to set out the next steps.
Sources and method
This article contains no MOT statistics. Every rate, date and figure is quoted from the HMRC and Treasury documents listed under Sources as they read on 30 October 2026. The MOT reliance notice below applies to the MOT history this site refers to elsewhere.
- GOV.UK: VAT and climate change levy on electric vehicle charging (HMRC policy paper)
- GOV.UK: VAT on fuel and power, notice 701/19
- GOV.UK: VAT rates
- GOV.UK: Budget 2026 document
- GOV.UK: Electric vehicle excise duty (eVED) policy paper
About these figures. GOV.UK content reproduced in summary under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not HMRC or HM Treasury; the links above go to the official pages. Where MOT statistics appear on this site they are computed from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Test class 4 only, first tests only; retests are excluded. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. Alias spellings of a make are counted under one make name and all trims of a model under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables.
This article is general information drawn from published test records. It is not professional, mechanical or legal advice, and an MOT pass or a clean MOT history does not guarantee that a car is roadworthy today. If you are unsure about a car, have it inspected by a qualified mechanic. You can check any vehicle's MOT history free on the official GOV.UK MOT history service.
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