VAT on electricity in Europe is not a single figure: it ranges from 6% in Greece to 27% in Hungary, and in several countries it depends on the contracted power or how many kilowatt-hours you use per month. The same bill changes tax depending on where the meter is located. This is the country-by-country table for 2026, covering electricity, natural gas and solar panels.
The standard and reduced rates for each Member State are in our EU VAT rates by country in 2026 table. Here we focus only on energy, where the figures have changed the most since 2022 and where the most outdated information is circulating.
VAT on electricity and gas country by country in 2026
We verified the rows marked with ✔ against the current national law. The rest come from the European Commission’s TEDB database, consulted on 17 September 2026. Where there is no reduced rate, the standard rate applies.
| Country | Standard | Electricity | Gas | How it applies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany ✔ | 19% | 19% | 19% | Firewood and pellets, 7% |
| Austria | 20% | 20% | 20% | The 0% solar rate ended on 31-3-2025 |
| Belgium | 21% | 6% | 6% | Residential contracts only; gas for heating |
| Bulgaria | 20% | 20% | 20% | — |
| Czechia | 21% | 21% | 21% | District heating, 12% |
| Cyprus | 19% | 19% | 19% | — |
| Croatia | 25% | 13% | 5% | Gas and district heating, until 31-3-2027; firewood and pellets, 5% |
| Denmark | 25% | 25% | 25% | No reduced rates |
| Slovakia | 23% | 19% | 23% | Reduced only for electricity |
| Slovenia | 22% | 22% | 22% | — |
| Spain ✔ | 21% | 21% | 21% | The temporary 10% rates expired; firewood and pellets, 21% |
| Estonia | 24% | 24% | 24% | — |
| Finland | 25,5% | 25,5% | 25,5% | — |
| France | 20% | 20% | 20% | District heating and solar panels, 5,5% |
| Greece | 24% | 6% | 6% | The lowest in the EU. Unverified: the Greek agency blocked us |
| Hungary | 27% | 27% | 27% | The highest VAT in the EU |
| Ireland | 23% | 23% | 23% | Solar panels 0%; heat pumps 9% |
| Italy ✔ | 22% | 10% | 10% | Electricity only for domestic use; gas up to 480 m³ per year |
| Latvia | 21% | 21% | 21% | Thermal energy and firewood for households, 12% |
| Lithuania | 21% | 21% | 21% | — |
| Luxembourg | 17% | 8% | 8% | District heating and firewood, 8%; solar panels, 3% |
| Malta | 18% | 18% | 18% | — |
| Netherlands | 21% | 21% | 21% | Solar panels, 0% |
| Poland | 23% | 23% | 23% | — |
| Portugal ✔ | 23% | 6% partial | 6% partial | Only part of the bill, with power and kWh caps |
| Romania | 21% | 21% | 21% | District heating in winter and firewood, 11% |
| Sweden | 25% | 25% | 25% | — |
The five figures we checked against the law
The Commission database is the best starting point, but it lags behind the official gazettes. In five countries we went to the national rules, and in one the figure did not match.
Spain: 21%, not 10%. This is the most common mistake. Article 90 of Law 37/1992 sets the standard rate at 21% and Article 91 lists what is reduced to 10; neither electricity, gas, firewood nor pellets are there. The energy-crisis cuts were temporary, with deadlines in Royal Decree-Law 8/2023: gas ended on 31 March 2024, briquettes, pellets and firewood on 30 June 2024, and electricity on 31 December 2024. More detail in VAT in Spain.
Italy: 10%, with a cap on gas. Article 16 of DPR 633/1972 sets the standard rate at 22% and Table A, Part III, reduces “electricity for domestic use” to 10% (number 103). Methane gas for civil use also qualifies, but only up to 480 m³ per year (number 127-bis). Firewood in logs is 10% under number 98, which excludes pellets. The rest is in VAT in Italy.
Portugal: the 6% is only part of the bill. List I of the VAT Code reduces two things. Item 2.33, the fixed network access component: up to 3.45 kVA for electricity and 10,000 m³ per year at low pressure for gas. Item 2.38, electricity consumption without fixed components: up to 6.90 kVA and 200 kWh every 30 days (300 for households of five or more). Everything else is taxed at 23%. Pellets, briquettes and solar equipment expired on 30 June 2025.
Germany: 19% on electricity and gas, 0% on the roof. Section 12 of the Umsatzsteuergesetz applies 7% only to a closed list, and electricity, gas and district heating are not on it; firewood and pellets are, in number 48 of Annex 2. Full rates in VAT rates in Germany.
Greece: 6% unconfirmed. The Greek tax authority blocked all our download attempts, so that 6% remains as the Commission reports it. If you are invoicing there, confirm it first.
Why some countries can lower VAT on electricity and others cannot
No Member State can set whatever rate it wants: the framework is Directive 2006/112/EC, rewritten in 2022. Annex III is the list of what may qualify for a reduced rate. Energy is in point 22: electricity, district heating and cooling, biogas from Annex IX of Directive 2018/2001, and high-efficiency, low-emission heating. Natural gas and firewood are included too, but with a deadline: until 1 January 2030.
Article 98 sets the limits: at most two reduced rates, never below 5%, and for no more than twenty-four items in Annex III. It is also possible to have a rate below 5% and an exemption with the right to deduct — the “zero rate” — in seven items, but only in items 1 to 6 and in 10 quater. Electricity is not among them: that is why Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands can put solar panels at 0% and none of them can do the same with electricity.
And there is a countdown. Article 105 bis, paragraph 4, requires reduced rates on fossil fuels, on other goods with similar emissions impact — peat — and on firewood to be removed no later than 1 January 2030. Cheap gas in Croatia, Belgium or Luxembourg has an end date; electricity, which is not a fossil fuel, does not.
Gas is almost never a flat number
Electricity usually has one rate per country. Gas does not: when a country lowers it, it adds a condition, and that is what gets lost when a table is copied.
- Italy: 10% up to 480 m³ per year of methane gas for civil use; anything above that is 22%. A household that heats with gas goes over that cap.
- Portugal: the 6% only covers the fixed network access component, at low pressure up to 10,000 m³ per year. The gas consumed is taxed at 23%.
- Belgium: a residential contract is required and the gas must be used as heating fuel.
- Croatia: 5% on gas and district heating, until 31 March 2027.
- Romania: the 11% rate for district heating applies from 1 November to 31 March, and only for households, hospitals and educational institutions.
Solar panels: the German 0% and who else has it
Here there is room to manoeuvre: point 10 quater of Annex III — solar panels in homes and public-interest buildings — is one of the seven items that can go below 5%.
| Country | VAT | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | 0% | Modules, essential components and batteries for the installation owner, in homes and public-interest buildings (§ 12.3) |
| Ireland | 0% | In homes since 1-5-2023; in schools since 1-1-2024 |
| Netherlands | 0% | Photovoltaic panels in and around homes |
| Luxembourg | 3% | Supply and installation |
| France | 5,5% | Since 1-10-2025, Article 278-0 bis, P of the General Tax Code |
| Austria | 20% | The 0% rate was in force from 1-1-2024 to 31-3-2025 |
| Spain | 21% | No specific rate. Installation may qualify for 10% as renovation work (Art. 91.one.2.10.º) |
That Spanish 10% requires a private individual using the home personally, a house completed two years before the works, and installer materials below 40% of the taxable base. If the panels’ share eats up the invoice, that last condition is broken and everything goes up to 21%.
If you sell energy or equipment across countries
Energy itself has its own place-of-supply rules. Articles 38 and 39 of the Directive place supplies of gas through the network, electricity, and district heating or cooling where the reseller is established if the customer is a reseller, and where the customer actually uses them if not. In plain terms: they carry the VAT of the country of consumption. A Spanish supplier selling to a Portuguese household invoices with Portuguese VAT.
Equipment — panels, inverters, batteries, pellet stoves — is ordinary goods and follows distance-selling rules. If you sell online to EU consumers and exceed €10,000 per year, you apply the customer’s country VAT and report it through the one-stop shop (OSS). The same panel is invoiced at 0% in Germany, 5,5% in France and 21% in Spain. With a business buyer with a valid VAT ID, the supply is VAT-free. Run the numbers with the EU VAT calculator.
Do you sell energy equipment to several EU countries?
EHERO Woo VAT applies the destination-country rate to each order according to the product tax class, and supports custom classes for items that change rate between countries, such as solar panels. It also monitors the €10,000 threshold and validates the VAT ID in VIES during checkout.
Frequently asked questions
What VAT is charged on the electricity bill in Spain in 2026?
21%. The 10% crisis rates ended: gas on 31 March 2024 and electricity on 31 December 2024. Neither appears in the VAT reduced-rate list.
Which EU country has the lowest VAT on electricity?
Greece, at 6%, followed by Belgium and Portugal, also at 6% but with conditions. The highest is Hungary: 27%.
Why can’t Spain set electricity at 0%?
Because the zero rate is only allowed for seven items in Annex III of Directive 2006/112/EC, and electricity — point 22 — is not among them. No EU country can do it.
What VAT do solar panels have in Europe?
Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, 0%; Luxembourg, 3%; France, 5,5% since October 2025. In Spain they are 21%, and installation can drop to 10% if it qualifies as renovation work in a home.
Sources
- VAT Directive 2006/112/EC on EUR-Lex: Articles 38, 39, 98 and 105 bis, and Annex III, points 10 quater and 22.
- VAT Law 37/1992 in the BOE: Articles 90 and 91.
- Royal Decree-Law 8/2023, Article 21: end of reduced energy rates.
- List I of the VAT Code, Tax Authority: items 2.33, 2.37, 2.38, 2.40 and 2.41.
- DPR 633/1972 on Normattiva: Article 16 and Table A, Part III, numbers 98, 103, 122 and 127-bis.
- § 12 of the UStG and its Annex 2.
- Taxes in Europe (TEDB) database of the European Commission, consulted on 17 September 2026.
Continue here
- VAT on electricity in Spain in 2026: the 2026 reduction to 10% and why it went back to 21%
- Electricity consumption calculator: how much each appliance uses in kWh and euros
- EU VAT rates by country in 2026: the full table
- VAT in Spain and VAT in Italy: the cluster pages
- VAT rates in Germany in 2026: where the 0% solar rate fits
- EU VAT calculator: the country-by-country calculation
