This would be a huge increase in the running costs of a rooftop solar installation that would affect both existing and new projects according to Solar Trade Association (STA). “In some cases, it would actually send installations into negative returns: you would be spending more on the system in tax and maintenance than you would be getting back from the sale of the power and the Feed-in Tariff support”, Paul Barwell, CEO of the STA commented. “We therefore need Ministers to step in as soon as possible”, he stressed.
Wider re-evaluation of business rates
The change is coming due to a wider re-evaluation of business rates that takes place every five to seven years, where the Valuation Office Agency looks at how assets are valued, the income they generate and how costs have evolved over that period.
Fixed assumptions about capital costs of the installation
However, solar PV presents a particular challenge as a capex heavy technology where both costs and subsidies have dropped dramatically over the past five years. The issue is that the ‘rateable value’ that will come into force for rooftop solar as of next year bear little relation to the revenue generated by the installations but are instead based on fixed assumptions about capital costs of the installation.
Public buildings could be also affected
This does not affect domestic solar homes, only businesses that have solar on their roof, where they themselves own the system and installed it with a view to using most of the electricity themselves. Public authorities, schools and community buildings that have solar on their roofs are also at risk of being affected by this tax rise, although there are some exemptions as for some agricultural buildings as well as for some small businesses according to STA.
Government should intervene
The change in taxation will come into force as of 1 April 2017, unless the Government intervenes. “STA has been in talks with the Valuation Office Agency and its equivalent bodies that administer business rates in devolved administrations, however the problem lies with the way business rates legislation is worded and therefore requires attention from government, Barwell reported
By-product of the established business rates system
Even though this is a wholesale change in the methodology used to calculate business rates for solar when compared with the last seven years, STA does not think the hike is intentional. “It is rather an accidental by-product of the established business rates system and how it applies to solar PV”, Barwell said.
Negotiations with different government departments
“This is a complex issue. We believe the methodology shouldn’t be applied to solar rooftops in this way. We now plan to work with the three different government departments, Treasury, Communities and Local Government and Energy, to discuss our proposals to exempt self-owned rooftop solar from business rates altogether. Ministers must act now, otherwise this tax rise will all but eliminate the incentive for businesses to invest in solar”, Barwell underlined. (HCN)
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