VAT

0% VAT on solar and batteries ends 1 April 2027, and the deadline matters more for MCS installs than DIY kits

Solar panels and battery storage installed at a UK home currently carry 0% VAT under HMRC's relief, but that rate rises to 5% from 1 April 2027, adding roughly £250 to a typical £5,000 MCS-certified install in Ramsgate, Broadstairs and Pegwell.

29 July 2026 · Source: Sunsave

The relief covers the full installed package, equipment and labour together, for solar PV, storage batteries, solar thermal, heat pumps and insulation on a residential property. It only applies to MCS-certified installs carried out by a VAT-registered installer, which is the route most Ramsgate and Walmer homeowners choosing the £5,000-plus rooftop option are already on. It doesn't extend to the sub-£499 DIY plug-in route, since that kit is typically bought and self-fitted rather than supplied-and-installed by a single VAT-registered company.

The condition worth flagging clearly: you only get 0% VAT if the same company supplies the equipment and installs it. Buy panels separately and arrange fitting through someone else, and standard 20% VAT applies to the equipment portion. For anyone weighing whether to source hardware independently to save money on a rooftop install, that's the trap that usually erases the saving.

On the numbers, a typical £5,000 MCS install in Ramsgate currently pays zero VAT. From 1 April 2027 that same job attracts 5% VAT, roughly £250 on top for identical equipment and installation. That's not trivial against a £5,000 budget, and the deadline is firmer than the government's separate solar loan scheme, which isn't due to launch until the same month the VAT relief lifts.

Watch the direction of travel beyond April 2027 as well as the date itself: the relief is currently legislated to move to 5%, not disappear outright, but reliefs of this kind have historically been reviewed again at their next milestone, and some coverage flags a further rise toward the full 20% rate as a live possibility. If you're weighing an MCS install for a Middle Street or Upper Walmer property in 2026 or early 2027, there's no VAT-driven reason to delay it, and a modest reason to move before the April 2027 cutoff.

Read the original: Sunsave. Commentary is Ramsgate Solar's own editorial view; the original reporting is credited to its publisher.

Get a free quote See MCS installs