HMRC Guidance: Fuel and power (VAT Notice 701/19)

This Notice has recently been updated. It now covers the VAT Reverse Charge measures for wholesale gas and electricity and construction services (Section 2) . There is more information about wholesale gas and electricity and using the VAT domestic Reverse Charge at section 3 of Notice 735: Domestic reverse charge procedure (VAT Notice 735).

Sections 4.1 and 4.3 now include more detail about hydrogen gas.

Brief overview

The reduced rate of VAT of 5% applies to supplies of fuel and power for qualifying use.

Qualifying use means:

• fuel and power for domestic use
• fuel and power for charity non-business use
• fuel and power where the amount supplied does not exceed the small quantities, called the de minimis limits
• fuel and power partly for qualifying use and partly for other purposes, where 60% or more of the supply is for qualifying use

Other supplies of fuel and power in the UK are standard rated.