5% VAT and Climate Change Levy eligibility checker
Three routes get business energy onto 5% VAT and out of the Climate Change Levy: low usage, charitable non-business use, and 60% or more domestic use. This checks all three against your site in about a minute. Qualifying is worth the 15% VAT difference plus 0.801p per kWh — reclaimable up to four years back.
Last reviewed 2 September 2026 by Utilities Made Simple · independent, whole-of-market, supplier-paid — how we are paid
Check the three routes
You only need to qualify under one of them. Answer for a single site — eligibility is per supply, not per organisation, so a business with three premises may qualify at one and not the others.
The thresholds it is testing
- De minimis: an average of no more than 33 kWh of electricity a day (about 12,000 kWh a year) or 145 kWh of gas a day (about 52,900 kWh a year).
- Charitable non-business use: the proportion used for non-business activities.
- Domestic use: at 60% or more the whole supply qualifies; below 60% the qualifying proportion does.
What qualifying is worth
The VAT difference between 20% and 5%, plus the Climate Change Levy at 0.801p per kWh, which qualifying supplies do not pay. Both are reclaimable up to four years back if you have been paying them unnecessarily — see how do I claim back overpaid VAT?
Not sure where you stand? Send us a bill.
Upload a recent bill and a specialist will check your rates, VAT, levies and contract end date against the live market — free, usually the same working day. Prefer email? Send it to info@utilitiesms.co.uk. If your deal is already good, we will tell you to keep it.