VAT rate of electricity for electric vehicles

Ihave worked in VAT long enough to remember the famous scenes in the House of Commons in 1994 when the John Major government controversially ended the zero rating on domestic gas and electricity bills. To put it bluntly there was uproar with MPs waving their papers around with as much excitement as a flock of seagulls spotting a trawler loaded with fish. The chancellor of the day Kenneth Clarke averted a crisis by confirming a rate of 8% instead of 17.5% in effect introducing a third rate of VAT for the first time since 1979. The rate was later reduced to 5% in 1997.

Roll forward nearly 30 years and the subject of VAT and electricity has again sparked controversy but this time about whether the legislation means that supplies of electricity from electric vehicle (EV) chargers in public places should be taxed at 5%...