Batteries VAT free from 1/2/24

[resybaby]

Noticed some really cheap Us5000's on Ebay this morning. Brand new delivered for £1150.
Anyway, im after a few but had the alarm bells ringing that that sounded to good to be true, so i messaged the seller who advised me that from 1/2/24 solar batteries are being changed to zero rated for VAT even if fitted on their own retrospectively.
Still sounded too good to be true, so had a bit of a Google, and it appears thats correct.

Located the following on the Gov.uk website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultat ... -responses

Dont recall seeing it on here as yet, apologises if ive missed it, but for anybody that fancies a battery or two, its probably best to hold off till 1/2/24.

Made my job of convinicing the wife we need two more much easier

[nowty]

Yes it has been on here already.

But its zero VAT only if you have them installed, you cannot get the zero VAT if buying DIY.

[AE-NMidlands]

(p.s just read Nowty's post. Bummer.)
That's really good news, thanks. I had been wondering how to stock up for my next phase without having to commission a whole job from some installer. Now I know.
(It seems to me that we are at a sweet spot for battery prices, with demand, supply & exchange rates etc as good as they have been for quite a while. I think the retail prices for my panels (and presumably batteries ) to be fitted by Octopus in a week or two ( ) halved since I accepted their quote... I have the reverse Midas touch!
A

[resybaby]

Double bugger then, i obviously missed that.

The person from ebay i mentioned will be selling us5000 for £1150 delivered from 1/2/24 (current price £1350) from what she told me, she advertised them at that cost this morning supposedly in error until i enquired where she changed them to the current figure. Not sure how she is managing to get around the rules.

Now, do i fess upto the wife or order them anyway is my dilema.

[Kommando]

So does this mean that the import VAT on say EVE 280ah cells is 0% or 20% from 1st Feb. If it does then Fogstar prices for cells alone will drop as well as their already assembled batteries, if only assembled then DIY price advantage will narrow.

[openspaceman]

As I understand it the firm installing the battery will purchase them at the price plus VAT, they will then do the installation and charge the customer for the work but no VAT. If they are a VAT registered business they will then reclaim the input VAT in the normal way.

[nowty]

It may be possible for zero VAT if the supplying company believes you are a business and not a customer.

https://www.marcusward.co/vat-b2b-and-b ... mportance/

If the customer is not VAT registered, a GB supplier should obtain and retain evidence that the customer has business activities. HMRC state “If your customer is unable to provide a VAT number, you can accept alternative evidence. This includes certificates from fiscal authorities, business letterheads or other commercial documents indicating the nature of the customer’s activities”.

[Yuff]

I’m looking to increase our storage capacity next week(vat free batteries) with a view to exporting more to take advantage of the 15p rate.
I currently have two 9.5 kWh GivEnergy batteries a 5kw hybrid inverter which is a gen 1 but being replaced for a gen 3 5kw hybrid as I had ordered a gen 2, but thanks to 94JDH they realised, from my charge/discharge rates I was sent the old slower model.
As I have only have 1 solar string I am being advised that the AIO 13.5 kWh battery would be a good choice, although if it was possible I would prefer another two 9.5 kWh batteries and an ac inverter as I would like the extra storage capacity. The GivEnergy ac inverter looks like it is 3 kw and the AIO I think is quicker.
Still pretty new to all of this and I wondered if some of the more experienced posters might have a view.
I’m wanting to export as much as possible whilst the export rate is favourable and I can get IOG off peak schedules to maximise the exporting.
13.5 kWh more battery I think would be sufficient to tide me over on very cold days, to avoid peak rates if the Tesla isn’t at home , an extra 19 kWh would be better. If I could get a decent deal and it is possible to set up maybe two AIO.
Anyone got any suggestions/thoughts and am I nuts

[Joeboy]

I’m looking to increase our storage capacity next week(vat free batteries) with a view to exporting more to take advantage of the 15p rate.
I currently have two 9.5 kWh GivEnergy batteries a 5kw hybrid inverter which is a gen 1 but being replaced for a gen 3 5kw hybrid as I had ordered a gen 2, but thanks to 94JDH they realised, from my charge/discharge rates I was sent the old slower model.
As I have only have 1 solar string I am being advised that the AIO 13.5 kWh battery would be a good choice, although if it was possible I would prefer another two 9.5 kWh batteries and an ac inverter as I would like the extra storage capacity. The GivEnergy ac inverter looks like it is 3 kw and the AIO I think is quicker.
Still pretty new to all of this and I wondered if some of the more experienced posters might have a view.
I’m wanting to export as much as possible whilst the export rate is favourable and I can get IOG off peak schedules to maximise the exporting.
13.5 kWh more battery I think would be sufficient to tide me over on very cold days, to avoid peak rates if the Tesla isn’t at home , an extra 19 kWh would be better. If I could get a decent deal and it is possible to set up maybe two AIO.
Anyone got any suggestions/thoughts and am I nuts

If I was looking to grow my battery storage specifically for financial return I'd be careful as there is no guarantee how long IO and 15p per will be about.

The asset isn't simple to transfer, will degrade, doesn't have a compounding side that's guaranteed and is not limited in time.

If on the other hand you've done your sums and are happy with the risk & return... Looking forward to the photos!

Have you got any sums to show on the project. That would be interesting?

Do you not fancy the diy route?

[Yuff]

If I was looking to grow my battery storage specifically for financial return I'd be careful as there is no guarantee how long IO and 15p per will be about.

The asset isn't simple to transfer, will degrade, doesn't have a compounding side that's guaranteed and is not limited in time.

If on the other hand you've done your sums and are happy with the risk & return... Looking forward to the photos!

Have you got any sums to show on the project. That would be interesting?

Do you not fancy the diy route?
[/quote]

The financial return is the icing on the cake, my main objective is to protect us from peak rate in case they go nuts again (hopefully not) and IOG changes.
We are quite heavy users with 3 EVs and ASHPs etc and on the very cold months and lots of driving can use 3.25-3.75 mWh a month.
IOG has saved us a small fortune which I can re-invest in further storage, if I can get a return quicker even better. I think I could make £100-150 per month in the sunny months.
There is no way I could consider DIY, my limit was swapping the immersion fuse spur for a WiFi timer switch and SWMBO was not happy that I even did that