Charge My Street Ltd v Revenue and Customs Commissioners – Reduced VAT rates for public Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers?

On 26 February 2026, the First-tier Tribunal, Tax Chamber (FTT) handed down its judgement on Charge My Street Ltd v Revenue and Custom Commissioners, where it allowed the appeal from Charge My Street Ltd (CMSL) in part. This decision indicates the possibility of the reduced VAT rate of 5% for home charging under the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA) extending to public EV chargepoints. HMRC has appealed the FTT's decision.

The decision, if upheld, could have significant ramifications for EV charge point operators and could indirectly encourage a shift from conventional fuel cars to EVs.

The background

The proceedings arose from an appeal by CMSL against the HMRC's decision that VAT on its supply of electricity was due at the standard rate of 20% rather than the reduced rate of 5% which applies to the supply of electricity for domestic use (VATA 1994 Sch.7A, Group 1, Item 1).

The main disagreement between CMSL and HMRC was on the meaning of "supply for domestic use" (as detailed in Note 5(g) of Item 1, Group 1, Schedule 7A of the VATA). Note 5(g) states that supply for domestic use includes supply '' to a person at any premises where the electricity (together with any other electricity provided to him at the premises by the same supplier) was not provided at a rate exceeding 1000 kilowatt hours a month.''

CMSL argued that the supply of electricity to its customers falls within Note 5(g) because

1. A driver at a charge point was ' a person at any premises';
2. The supplies made to a single driver at the same premises in a single month do not exceed 1000 kilowatt hours.

HMRC, however, argued that the supply by CMSL did not satisfy the requirements in Note 5(g) because:

1. The supply of EV charging must be to a person's house or building;
2. For ad hoc supplies, the rate must be measured over the period which the supply actually took place rather than during a whole month; and
3. Drivers could make payment for the supply through CMSL's partnered app Fuuse or other external apps and therefore electricity supplied were made to the owner of the app and not to drivers.

The findings of the FTT

A person at any premises: Note 5(g) was not to be interpreted as a requirement for the person receiving the electricity to have some connection with the premises (i.e. a legal interest); a car park was sufficient.

The rate of supply: Note 5(g) does not depend on the period of engagement or on there being an ongoing contract for supplies over a period of time.

Who were the supplies made to?

The FTT found that where supplies made to drivers were paid for using direct payment methods, those supplies were made directly to the drivers.

However, where the driver used Fuuse to pay for the supply, the economic and commercial reality was that CMSL was still supplying services to the driver. Based on CMSL's and Fuuse's contractual terms, Fuuse's role was as a software provider to CMSL. Importantly, CMSL is the party responsible for dealing with any issues with the charge point and payment was made by the driver directly to CMSL.

Regarding other third-party apps used for payment, the FTT held that a third-party app could act either as principal or as an agent in providing charging services to the drivers. The third-party app had the scope to make profit from its role due to the pricing arrangements. This would then determine whether the owner of the app was responsible for the supply of services (including electricity) or not.

What this may mean for charge point operators and retailers

Charge Points Operators and those offering EV charging services (for instance, a retail client offering EV charging services to customer parking at their premises), may be able to increase their profits from such activities, reduce prices, or achieve both when offering charging to customers who can't recover VAT (essentially non-business customers).

If you would like to understand how the FTT's decision is likely to impact your business, please contact our team.