Hunt told to cut VAT on electric car charging

JEREMY Hunt has been urged to scrap a ‘pavement tax’ on electric car owners who use public charging points.

Drivers who use public chargers pay 20 per cent VAT on the electricity they use. But owners who plug in at home are charged just 5 per cent VAT.

The disparity hits those living in terraced housing and flats who do not have their own driveway or garage.

More than 40 MPs and peers have written to the Chancellor asking him to bring VAT billed on electricity from public chargers down to 5 per cent in the Budget. Tory MP Derek Thomas added: ‘Demanding more tax from people simply because they don’t have a driveway is hardly the best way to help them make the switch to electric cars.’