Weekly VAT News

RCB 4 (2026): VAT liability of supplies of electricity from public EV charge points

HMRC have published Revenue and Customs Brief 4 (2026) on the VAT liability of supplies of electricity from public electric vehicle charge points. The RCB provides an update on HMRC’s position following the First-tier Tribunal decision in Charge My Street Limited. The reduced VAT rate of 5% applies to supplies of electricity for domestic use. The provision of electricity to a person at any premises at a rate not exceeding 1000 kilowatt hours a month is deemed to be for domestic use. The FTT agreed with Charge My Street that its supplies of EV charging at public charging stations fell within the de minimis limit for supplies of electricity, and so were deemed to be for domestic use and, accordingly, subject to the reduced rate. The RCB states that HMRC’s “position remains that charging electric vehicles at public charge points is standard rated for VAT”. HMRC have applied for permission to appeal the FTT decision. (Contact: Donna Huggard)

Stellantis Portugal, S.A.: VAT and transfer pricing – CJEU

Stellantis Portugal, S.A. (SP), based in Portugal, operated in the motor trade as part of the General Motors Group (GMG). SP purchased vehicles from GMG manufacturers and sold them to Portuguese motor vehicle dealers, who resold the vehicles to final customers. In the event of manufacturing defects, the customers returned the vehicles to the dealers for repair, and the dealers charged the costs to SP. Under the terms of the GMG transfer pricing (TP) agreement, SP would inform the GMG manufacturers of the costs of distributing the vehicles, including repair costs, as well as operating costs, and a positive or negative adjustment was made to the price of the vehicles sold to SP to arrive at the determined operating profit margin. The Portuguese tax authorities considered that SP had provided repair services to the GMG manufacturers that were subject to VAT. The CJEU considered that the TP adjustments did not constitute consideration for a supply of repair services. The CJEU found that there was no evidence of a legal relationship under which there was the reciprocal performance of the provision of repair services for remuneration. The CJEU noted that costs other than repair costs, such as operating costs, were taken into account when calculating the TP adjustments. Also, the various costs were taken into account only to achieve the agreed profit margin, so there was no guarantee that all SP’s costs, including the repair costs, would be reimbursed. Accordingly, there was only, at most, an indirect link between the repair services and the TP adjustments. However, the referring court would need to consider whether, in light of any further material, there was such a legal relationship, and accordingly consideration for the supply of services, or whether the TP adjustment is an amendment to the taxable amount of the original supply (i.e., the vehicles). See our Insights Article, Stellantis Portugal – VAT and transfer pricing adjustments, for further information. (Contact: Andrew Clarke)

This week’s VAT case calendar

On 19 May, the Court of Appeal will hear HMRC’s appeal against the Upper Tribunal decision in Bolt Services UK Limited on the application of the tour operators’ margin scheme for mobile ride hailing services.

Dbriefs webcast

On Thursday, 21 May at 12.00, there will be a webcast on Navigating the global shift to e-invoicing: preparing for the next 18 months. Electronic invoicing adoption is becoming the norm across EMEA, with a number of countries going live with e-invoicing requirements over the next 18 months. Our Deloitte panel will discuss the challenges ahead, how to unlock opportunities, and how organisations can develop and deliver effective implementation plans.