Which VAT rate does an electrician charge: 0% or 21%?

An electrician charges 21% VAT on almost all work. That also applies to a charging point, a home battery, connecting a heat pump and a whole new consumer unit. There is one exception: solar panels on or near a home fall under the 0% rate. That zero rate also covers what is directly needed to fit the panels and make them work, such as the inverter, the cables and the adjustment of the meter cupboard.

A 9% rate for electrical work does not exist, not even when making an older home more sustainable. If you do work at 0% and work at 21% on one job, you show the amounts separately on the invoice.

In this article

1. Which VAT rate applies to ordinary electrical work?
2. When do you charge 0% VAT on solar panels?
3. What falls under the 0% rate on a solar panel job?
4. Why are a charging point, home battery and consumer unit 21%?
5. How do you split a mixed job on the invoice?
6. What happens if you charge the wrong rate?
7. Does your customer notice the difference between 0% and 21%?

Which VAT rate applies to ordinary electrical work?

The standard rate of 21%. Fixing a fault, adding a circuit, installing sockets and lighting or replacing a consumer unit: it is all 21%. That applies to a private customer and to a business.

Many electricians think that work on an older home falls under the reduced rate of 9%. That is not correct. The 9% rate only applies to insulating, painting, plastering and wallpapering homes older than 2 years, and to cleaning in homes. All other work on homes is taxed at 21% (Belastingdienst, work on homes).

The 0% rate for solar panels is in the law itself. Table II of the Dutch VAT Act lists the supply of solar panels intended to be installed on or in the immediate vicinity of homes, and their installation (VAT Act 1968, table II, items a.10 and b.7). A charging point, a home battery or a consumer unit is not in that table.

When do you charge 0% VAT on solar panels?

If you supply and install the panels on or near a home. According to the Belastingdienst, that is an important condition for the 0% rate. A garage or shed next to the home counts, as do a conservatory, an extension, the garden, a holiday home and an apartment complex of an owners' association (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

Panels on a business building without a residential function are 21%. That also applies to panels on public buildings. A business at home can fall under 0%, if the building is also used privately (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

You must be able to show that the panels are on or near a home. The Belastingdienst gives a screenshot of the address in the BAG, the Dutch register of addresses and buildings, as an example. During an audit the Belastingdienst can request the records, so keep that evidence with the job (Belastingdienst, installers and suppliers of solar panels).

With new builds, pay attention to who supplies what. If a builder delivers a new home with integrated panels, the panels become part of the home and everything is 21%. If you only supply and install the integrated panels on a new-build home, you charge 0% (Belastingdienst, installers and suppliers of solar panels).

What falls under the 0% rate on a solar panel job?

Everything that is directly needed to fit the panels and make them work. The Belastingdienst lists cables, a PV distribution board (the separate board for the solar power), mounting material, optimisers and inverters, and adjusting the meter cupboard. Grinding roof tiles to fit the panels is also included (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

An extra circuit in the meter cupboard for the inverter is therefore 0%. That is an adjustment of the meter cupboard needed for the panels. If you replace the whole consumer unit on the same job, that consumer unit is 21%, even if the work coincides with the panels (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

Later work on the panels can also fall under 0%. Removing and reinstalling them on the same or another home is 0%, for example when moving house or fitting a new roof. The same applies if you replace broken or outdated panels (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

Why are a charging point, home battery and consumer unit 21%?

Because the zero rate only applies to solar panels, and these items are not needed to make the panels work. The Belastingdienst explicitly lists the supply and installation of a home battery or battery pack at 21%. That also applies if the battery is supplied in one job with the panels (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels).

Also listed at 21% are replacing the whole consumer unit, supplying a smart meter, chasing cables into walls, reinforcing the roof, a heat pump and a new inverter that is not part of the installation of the panels, for example because the old one is broken (Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels). A replacement inverter for an existing installation is therefore 21%.

The charging point is not mentioned separately on the Belastingdienst's pages. It is not in the tables with reduced rates and not in the 9% list for homes. Then the main rule applies: work on homes that is not listed at 9% is 21% (Belastingdienst, work on homes). That applies to a charging post and to a wall box.

A private customer can sometimes reclaim the VAT on a home battery, but only under strict conditions. They must use the battery to buy and sell electricity with their energy company, and the battery must have an energy management system (EMS) (Belastingdienst, home battery and VAT). In that case, put the invoice in the name of the customer who holds the energy contract. For you as the installer, the rate does not change.

How do you split a mixed job on the invoice?

By making a separate line with a separate amount for each rate. The invoice requirements say that for goods or services at different VAT rates you show the separate amounts, with the rate and the VAT amount (Belastingdienst, invoice requirements). So one total price with an average rate is not allowed.

Start with the quote. Make two blocks: a 0% block for panels, inverter, cables, mounting and adjustment of the meter cupboard, and a 21% block for the rest. Then the customer sees in advance what they will pay, and during an audit you can show why each item falls under one rate or the other.

Describe exactly what you did, and where. The invoice must state what goods you supplied and how many, or what services and their extent (Belastingdienst, invoice requirements). With "10 solar panels on a home, with inverter and meter cupboard adjustment" the 0% rate is easy to follow. With "electrical work" it is not.

What happens if you charge the wrong rate?

If you charge too little VAT, you still have to pay the difference to the Belastingdienst. With a private customer you can rarely pass that on afterwards. The amount then comes out of your own margin. If you put a separate replacement inverter at 0%, for example, you pay 21% too little on that inverter.

If you discover an error in a VAT return of up to € 1,000, you process the correction in your next return. If it is more, you send the correction form, as soon as possible and in any case within 8 weeks after you discovered the error. You only pay once you receive an additional assessment (Belastingdienst, correcting a VAT return).

Do not wait for the Belastingdienst to find the error. If you do not send a correction form or send it too late, you can receive a penalty for a serious offence (Belastingdienst, correcting a VAT return). That penalty comes on top of the VAT you still have to pay.

If the invoice itself is wrong, you send the customer a new invoice that amends the old one. On that invoice you refer to the original invoice (Belastingdienst, simplified invoice). That way your records show which amount and which rate finally apply.

Does your customer notice the difference between 0% and 21%?

Yes, because a private customer pays the VAT themselves and cannot reclaim it. Research shows that a lower VAT rate on services often ends up almost entirely in a lower price for the customer. So the rate is not a detail on the invoice, but part of the price.

A Dutch study looked at hairdressers, when the VAT rate fell from 17.5% to 6% in January 2000. The researchers found that the cut was passed on almost entirely in lower prices. They found no measurable effect on sales volume or on employment (Jongen, Lejour & Massenz, 2018). It concerned hairdressers, not installers, but it shows that customers see a VAT difference in the price.

Something similar has been measured for solar panels themselves. In California, a subsidy on solar panels for buyers ended up almost entirely with the buyer, in a lower price (Pless & van Benthem, 2019). That concerned a subsidy in the United States and not VAT. Still, the lesson for a Dutch installer is the same: the customer compares the price including VAT. If you wrongly charge 21% on panels, you are more expensive than necessary, and if you wrongly charge 0% on a battery, you pay the difference yourself.

Sources

• VAT Act 1968 (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968), table II, items a.10 and b.7, in force from 1 January 2026. wetten.overheid.nl
• Belastingdienst, Work on homes, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, VAT rate for solar panels, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Installers and suppliers of solar panels, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Home battery and VAT, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Invoice requirements, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Correcting a VAT return, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Belastingdienst, Simplified invoice, accessed 24 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
• Jongen, E., Lejour, A. & Massenz, G. (2018). Cheaper and More Haircuts After VAT Cut? Evidence from the Netherlands. De Economist, 166(2), 135-154. doi.org
• Pless, J. & van Benthem, A.A. (2019). Pass-Through as a Test for Market Power: An Application to Solar Subsidies. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(4), 367-401. doi.org