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Electric VAT will drop from tomorrow, December 1, to 5.2 million families. The supplier companies will now apply an intermediate rate of 13% VAT on the first 100 kilowatt hours (kWh) of monthly consumption. This rate is only valid for low voltage and power contracts up to 6.9 kVA. Consumption of more than 100 kWh in a month continues to pay a rate of 23%.
Thus, the effects on the bill will only be felt in the consumption recorded in December. For example: whoever receives an invoice for November only on Wednesday, December 2, the rate that appears will remain the maximum.
“The VAT reduction must be applied to consumption made in December, it does not depend on the invoice date, it depends on the period of consumption. It can even be an invoice issued in December, with a part of the consumption made in November at 23%, and the remaining consumption in December at 13% (within the limits of 100kwh for a period of 30 days) ”, explains the lawyer from the Deco, Carolina Gouveia.
Analyzing the VAT reduction, Deco Proteste warns that the expected reduction may affect families with biweekly rates and self-consumption systems, which use photovoltaic solar panels.
The consumer protection association stresses that “families with biweekly rates and photovoltaic solar panels may not be able to save 1.50 euros per month, despite having invested in an energy efficient solution.”
“If the self-consumption system is well dimensioned, it will be able to guarantee the electricity needs outside working hours, without reaching the ceiling of 60 kWh. However, at night (empty hours) electricity needs increase and the limit of 40 kWh covered by the reduced VAT rate can be exceeded. For these families, the correct thing would be to allocate the kWh of the limit that has not been reached to empty hours, up to 100 kWh. This solution would be more environmentally balanced and would reflect the concern of consumers who adopt these systems “, according to an analysis released this Monday.
In his accounts, Deco points out that the monthly savings can reach 1.50 euros or 18 euros per year in the case of a couple with a child. For a couple with two children, the savings reach the same values.
The association also points out that if the “family has contracted the fortnightly rate, the reduction in the bill remains at 1.50 euros, for those who reach the levels of the two-hour cycles (empty and empty)”.
In the case of a large family, with five or more elements in the aggregate, the savings should reach 2.23 euros per month and 26.76 euros in a year, for an annual consumption of 4,500 kWh and a power of 6.9 kVA, with the value of being similar in families with a fortnightly rate, but the regime for these families only comes into effect in March 2021.
“Although this is one more step in the right direction, it is still reductive, since it does not cover the entire bill, other energies, such as piped and bottled gas, not all consumers. And, as it is an essential public service, it should be covered by a reduced VAT rate (6%), as was the case until 2011 ”, defends Deco Proteste.
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