0% VAT ends 31 March 2027. The job needs fitting and invoicing before then.
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Solar VAT, as of 6 November 2026

Solar panels and batteries: 0% VAT ends on 31 March 2027

Then it is 5% from 1 April 2027, as the Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed. Get the job fitted and invoiced by the deadline and it stays at 0%. A deposit alone will not hold the rate.

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Brick buildings along the water in Leeds, with a tower behind
What changes

Nothing to claim today, 5% to pay from April

Solar panels have been zero-rated for VAT on homes in Great Britain since April 2022, and home batteries joined them in February 2024. There is no form and no rebate, because the 0% is simply left off the quote. The Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed the end of it: the relief stops on 31 March 2027 and the reduced rate of 5% takes over from 1 April 2027.

Some people fear 20%. It is 5%, and that alone is no reason to rush a bad decision. It is a good reason to book the survey early, because installers are at their busiest in the weeks before a deadline and scaffolders get booked out.

Until 31 March 2027
0% VAT on panels, home batteries and the fitting, on qualifying homes across Great Britain.
From 1 April 2027
5% VAT on all of the same. The Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed it.
What sets the rate
The tax point. That is normally the day the work finishes, moved earlier by an invoice or payment for that amount, or later by an invoice raised within 14 days of finishing.
What does not
The day you enquire, get surveyed or sign. A deposit fixes the rate on the deposit and nothing else.

Sources: GOV.UK, VAT Notice 708/6 and VAT Notice 700 on tax points. As of 6 November 2026.

Deposits

A deposit will not hold the rate

If someone tells you a deposit paid before March covers the whole job at 0%, they have it wrong. This is how it works.

An installer lifting a solar panel into place from an upstairs window

VAT goes on at the rate in force at the tax point. On an installation the basic tax point is the day the work is finished, and an invoice or payment before then sets an earlier one for that amount alone. So a February deposit is at 0% and an April balance is at 5%, whatever the salesman said. An invoice raised in the 14 days after finishing can also become the tax point, which is how a job finished in late March can still end up at the new rate.

The safe wording, and the one we stick to, is fitted and invoiced by 31 March 2027. The invoice comes from the installation team, and we keep on at the timetable so that date is realistic from day one.

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The timetable

Why an early survey matters

Enquiry to switch-on usually takes a few weeks at a quiet time, and it stretches as a deadline gets close. All of this has to happen before the invoice.

  1. Step 1: Today

    Send the form or pick up the phone. Within one working day one of us calls to see whether your house suits solar.

  2. Step 2: Within a few weeks

    The MCS-certified installation team surveys the house and sends a fixed written quote.

  3. Step 3: Fitting day

    Usually one day on the roof. Scaffolding arrives a day or two earlier and leaves a few days later.

  4. Step 4: By 31 March 2027

    The installation team finishes the job and raises the invoice. That is what sets your VAT rate, and the deposit date has no say in it.

Your next read: solar panels and a battery, or a battery for the panels you already have. We also have local notes on Leeds and the rest of West Yorkshire.

VAT deadline questions

Not on the list? Ring the number at the top and a person will answer it.

When does the 0% VAT on solar panels end?
The last day is 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027, panels, home batteries and heat pumps across Great Britain move to 5%, as the Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed (as of 6 November 2026).
Will a deposit paid by 31 March 2027 lock in 0% VAT?
No. A deposit gets the rate in force on the day you pay it, for that amount alone. Any balance invoiced after 31 March 2027 pays 5%. The only way to keep the whole job at 0% is to have it fitted and invoiced by the deadline.
What is a tax point?
The date VAT law says a supply happened. On an installation that is normally the day the work finishes. An invoice or payment before then sets an earlier tax point for that amount, and an invoice raised within 14 days after the work can become the tax point instead. The MCS-certified installation team raises the invoice, rather than AFL Solar, and the date on it decides the rate.
What does 5% VAT add to a solar installation?
5% of the installed price, which is £50 on every £1,000. You will not find prices on this site, because each roof gets its own quote once it has been surveyed. Whatever your fixed quote says, the same job invoiced after 31 March 2027 costs that much more.
Is a battery on its own zero-rated too?
Yes. Batteries have shared the zero rate with panels since February 2024, whether they go in alone or join existing solar. The end date is the same: 31 March 2027.

Fitted and invoiced by 31 March 2027

Five quick questions, then we call back within one working day to talk it through and book your free survey.

Or just ring us

07442 511817

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