VAT refund on home batteries: how does it work?
The VAT refund on a home battery works as follows: you pay 21% VAT at purchase and reclaim it afterwards from the Tax Authority, if you use the battery to buy and resell electricity. A zero VAT rate for home batteries is not coming; the cabinet decided this after a request from the House of Representatives.
Below you can read which conditions apply, how to reclaim the VAT and what you need to arrange afterwards.
How much VAT do you pay on a home battery?
On a home battery you pay 21% VAT, the general VAT rate in the Netherlands. That rate applies to the battery itself and to the installation, even if you buy the battery together with solar panels. If you're browsing the different home batteries, be sure to count on a price including 21% VAT.
Solar panels on and around homes have fallen under the zero VAT rate since 1 January 2023, but that exception does not apply to a home battery. Whether you get the VAT amount back later depends mainly on how you use the battery: only those who trade electricity with a suitable battery qualify.
Is a zero VAT rate coming for home batteries?
There will be no zero VAT rate for home batteries. In June 2026 the House of Representatives asked the cabinet to look into a zero rate, but the 2027 Tax Plan presented on Budget Day did not include that measure. In early October 2026 the state secretary informed the House that there will be no zero rate for home batteries.
The cabinet gives two reasons for this, among others. A zero rate may only apply to goods and services in Annex III of the European VAT Directive, and home batteries are not on that list. In addition, a battery that trades in electricity can actually put more strain on the grid during busy times, and a zero rate for all home batteries does not take that into account.
When can you reclaim VAT on a home battery?
You can reclaim VAT on a home battery when you use the battery to buy and sell electricity and meet all the conditions set by the Tax Authority. The Tax Authority lists these five conditions:
- Electricity trading: you use the home battery to buy and sell electricity and your energy company pays a fee for the electricity you feed back.
- Energy management system: the battery has an EMS, the software that controls charging and discharging based on the electricity price.
- Dynamic energy contract: your electricity price changes per hour or per quarter-hour, so the battery can buy when electricity is cheap and sell when electricity is expensive.
- In your name: the invoice for the battery and the energy contract are both in the name of the person reclaiming the VAT.
- No KOR: at the time of purchase and installation you do not take part in the small businesses scheme.
If you don't meet one of these conditions, the Tax Authority will reject the refund. So before buying, check that your battery, your energy contract and your KOR status are all in order.
Why do you become a VAT entrepreneur with a home battery?
You become a VAT entrepreneur with a home battery because you supply electricity to your energy company and receive a fee for it. Anyone who regularly supplies something for payment is an entrepreneur for VAT purposes, and that also applies to a private individual who sells electricity with a battery.
If you allocate the battery entirely to your business assets, you may fully deduct the VAT on the purchase and installation as input tax. Input tax is the VAT you pay yourself as an entrepreneur and reclaim in your return.
When do you not get a VAT refund on your home battery?
You won't get a VAT refund on your home battery if you only use the battery privately, for example to store your own solar power for the evening. In that case you don't sell any electricity and so, for the battery, you aren't a VAT entrepreneur.
The same applies if your energy company doesn't pay a fee for electricity fed back, or if feeding back isn't possible with your supplier.
How do you reclaim the VAT on your home battery?
You reclaim the VAT on your home battery by registering as a VAT entrepreneur and then declaring the VAT you paid in your VAT return. The step-by-step plan looks like this:
- Check your situation in advance: see whether you meet all the conditions and whether you're part of the KOR scheme, for example due to an earlier VAT refund on solar panels.
- Take out a dynamic energy contract: the contract is in your name and is active when you start using the battery.
- Buy and install the battery: make sure the invoice is in your name and that the EMS is set to trade in electricity, not just to store your own solar power.
- Register as a VAT entrepreneur: you do this using the 'Opgaaf startende onderneming: eenmanszaak' form from the Tax Authority.
- Reclaim the VAT in your return: you enter the VAT on the purchase and installation under section 5b (input tax), preferably as soon as possible and no later than six months after the end of the year in which you bought the battery.
You can go through these steps yourself via the Tax Authority. If you'd rather outsource it, there are services that handle the registration and the returns for you, free of charge with some providers or for a fee.
How long does the VAT refund for a home battery take?
In practice, the VAT refund for a home battery often takes six to eight months after installation. That's because you only file your VAT return after the quarter has ended, and the Tax Authority then still has to review it.
If you buy the battery at the start of a quarter, you'll wait longer for your first return than if you buy it at the end of a quarter.
What do you need to do after the VAT refund on your home battery?
After the VAT refund on your home battery, you file a VAT return every quarter, as long as you're not part of the KOR. In that return, you report 21% VAT on the compensation you received from your energy company in the past quarter.
There's no flat rate with fixed amounts for the home battery, so you calculate that VAT yourself. If you meet the conditions, you can ask the Tax Authority for one return per year instead of per quarter.
How much VAT do you pay on private use of your home battery?
For private use of your home battery, you pay 21% VAT for five years on the private portion of the purchase costs. In the Tax Authority's example calculation, the battery costs €10,000 excluding VAT and you divide that amount by five: €2,000 per year. If you use the battery 45% privately, you pay 21% VAT on €900, so €189 per year.
You calculate the private use percentage yourself using the data from the EMS, supplemented if necessary with your energy bills. You report the VAT amount in the last VAT return of the year, in section 1d.
Keep in mind that the net metering scheme ends on 1 January 2027: according to the Tax Authority, this could change the ratio between trade and private use. You can read what that ending means for you in our article about the net metering scheme.
Can you join the KOR after the VAT refund on your home battery?
After the VAT refund on your home battery, you may register for the KOR, but you might then have to pay back part of the VAT. With the KOR, you're exempt from VAT and no longer file a VAT return.
The Tax Authority reviews the deducted VAT over a period of five years, with one fifth counting each year. If that annual portion stays below the review threshold of €500, you don't have to pay anything back. So if you deducted less than €2,500 in VAT in total, you stay below that threshold.
VAT that you reclaimed on solar panels in the past five years does count. Factor it in before you register for the KOR.
Do you get VAT back on your home battery if you're in the KOR?
You won't get VAT back on your home battery if you're in the KOR (small business scheme). This often applies to anyone who previously reclaimed VAT on solar panels and then registered for the small business scheme. In that case, first deregister from the KOR in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk.
A deregistration takes effect on the first day of a calendar quarter, and processing takes four weeks, so don't buy the battery until the deregistration has taken effect. If you're too late, you can't deduct the VAT in full and you'll get back part of it at most.
VAT specialists mention another route: your partner buys the battery, if they aren't a VAT-registered business yet. The invoice and the energy contract are then both in your partner's name.
Can you reclaim VAT on a home battery without solar panels?
Yes, you can reclaim VAT on a home battery without solar panels. The Belastingdienst's conditions are about how the battery is used, not about whether you generate electricity yourself.
A battery without panels charges from the grid when electricity is cheap and feeds power back when electricity is expensive. With an EMS and a dynamic energy contract, you trade electricity just as effectively.
Without solar panels, you get the battery's benefit entirely from the price differences on your dynamic contract. Models you use separately from a solar installation can be found in the collection home battery without solar panels.
What does the VAT refund on your home battery net you?
The VAT refund on your home battery nets you less than 21% of the purchase amount. That's because the 21% is calculated on the price excluding VAT, so from an amount including VAT you get back at most 21/121th: roughly 17.4%.
As long as you're not in the KOR (small businesses scheme), the VAT on your feed-in compensation and the VAT on private use are still deducted from that, plus the cost of a service that arranges the refund for you, if you use one. How quickly you earn back the rest of the investment is explained in the article about the payback time of a home battery.
Choosing a home battery with the VAT refund in mind
Choosing a home battery with the VAT refund in mind mainly comes down to smart control. Check whether the model has an EMS that responds to dynamic electricity prices and whether the battery can feed power back to the grid. The Anker SOLIX Solarbank Max AC, for example, has a built-in energy management system that responds to electricity prices; for other brands, check this in the model's specifications.
At TechPunt you'll find, among others, the Anker SOLIX home batteries and the Zendure home batteries, shipped from our own warehouse in Barneveld and with a 2-year manufacturer's warranty. Not sure which model suits you? Our customer service is happy to help you by phone, email or WhatsApp.
This article is not tax advice: for questions about your own VAT situation, you can contact the Belastingdienst (Dutch Tax Administration) or a VAT specialist.
