HM Revenue and Customs has confirmed that electricity supplied through publicly accessible and workplace electric-vehicle charge points will not be treated as domestic use for VAT or Climate Change Levy purposes from 1 November 2026. HMRC published its clarification on 28 October 2026, and the legislation applies to supplies made on or after 1 November, covering both charge points open to the public and workplace charge points available to employees or contractors.

For VAT, those supplies are standard-rated, with Budget 2026 describing the applicable rate for public and workplace charging as 20%. The legislation includes a stated exception for qualifying charity non-business use. HMRC says the measure puts its longstanding treatment of public charging on a statutory footing, following questions after the First-tier Tribunal decision involving Charge My Street Ltd.

What does not change

The change should not be read as automatically imposing a new 20% charge on every public charging operator. The clarification concerns the nature of the electricity supply: it does not mean that all electricity used to charge an electric vehicle qualifies for domestic treatment merely because the vehicle is privately owned. Electricity supplied as part of a general household supply may still qualify for domestic-use VAT relief, subject to the relevant rules, and the temporary zero rate for qualifying domestic electricity in Great Britain began on 1 October 2026.

The distinction matters to electric taxi and private-hire drivers who lack home or depot charging and rely on public infrastructure. Businesses supplying charging services must apply the legislation according to the nature of the supply from 1 November 2026, while household electricity remains under separate domestic-use rules. Operators and drivers should check HMRC's guidance for their own circumstances, as the rules turn on how and where the electricity is supplied.