Your excess solar generation exported to the grid could attract HMRC interest. However....

pensionpawn

Just read this and it poses some questions...
https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/eco-homes/solar-panels/uk-solar-panel-owners-could-face-hmrc-fine
There are potentially a number of caveats and nuances here however for a couple who have installed solar:
1. There are two £1000 trading allowances available to offset export income, or will the exported income only be tested against the £1000 allowance of the energy account holder? If that is the case (seems unfair..), can two people register as the energy account holders?
2. Would the test be against the net energy income for the household? In other words, if the exported energy amounted to £1200 of "income" and the imported energy costs £1000, the net "gain" of £200 is well below the trading allowance, and there is no tax exposure.
3. If a household only has a battery and no solar, and just time shifts energy, would this be treated differently?
Asking for a friend.. 

tfhnota

If they are going to tax exports then only fair that the import and the s/c can be offset against tax for everyone...

Netexporter

FWIW I think this is going to get ridiculously complicated, cost more than it's worth to administer and possibly put people off from doing the "right" thing. Surely it would be simpler for the suppliers to levy an export tax on each unit exported and pass that on to HMRC? More like VAT.

MWT

pensionpawn said:

1. There are two £1000 trading allowances available to offset export income, or will the exported income only be tested against the £1000 allowance of the energy account holder? If that is the case (seems unfair..), can two people register as the energy account holders?

It would follow the same principles as interest on bank accounts or dividends on shares, if there is one name on the account then that is the person who reports the income, if there are both names on the account then the income is split 50/50.

pensionpawn said:

2. Would the test be against the net energy income for the household? In other words, if the exported energy amounted to £1200 of "income" and the imported energy costs £1000, the net "gain" of £200 is well below the trading allowance, and there is no tax exposure.

Import costs have no relevance to the export earnings, so it is the full earnings from exports that would be assessed for tax. . 

pensionpawn said:
3. If a household only has a battery and no solar, and just time shifts energy, would this be treated differently?

No difference in theory, but you'd be unlikely to earn over £1,000 from exporting excess imported energy.

The_Green_Hornet

SEG payments are tax free for home owners when the system is primarily for personal use. and there is no need to report them to HMRC.

Are SEG payments taxable?

For most homeowners in the UK, SEG payments will be tax-free when the system is primarily intended to match your own home consumption needs. 

An individual is exempt from income tax on income from the sale of electricity generated by a microgeneration system installed at their home where they don't intend the amount of electricity generated to “significantly exceed” the amount of electricity consumed in that dwelling. 

HMRC advises that a householder who does not intend to generate electricity more than 20% in excess of their own domestic needs is unlikely to be regarded as intending to “significantly exceed” the amount of electricity consumed in their own premises. 

If you intend for the electricity you generate to significantly exceed your own home consumption needs, you may be liable to pay tax on the SEG payments depending on your specific circumstances. Customers should seek their own tax advice if uncertain.

Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme

QrizB

Even at the current (generous) 15p/kWh that some suppliers offer, you'd need to be exporting 7000 kWh/yr before you earned £1000 in import payments.

Allowing for self-consumption that would need a PV system rated at ~10kWp, which is a very large domestic system.

This is unlikely to be an issue for many people, at least as the market and technology currently stands.

badmemory

I wish my solar produced that sort of power let alone enough to export that much.

greenbee

QrizB said:

Even at the current (generous) 15p/kWh that some suppliers offer, you'd need to be exporting 7000 kWh/yr before you earned £1000 in import payments.

Allowing for self-consumption that would need a PV system rated at ~10kWp, which is a very large domestic system.

This is unlikely to be an issue for many people, at least as the market and technology currently stands.

I exported just over 7,000kWh last year, probably down to the second lot of panels installed in April. I have a 10kW export limit, with a 12kW array, but based on the orientation of the panels my peak generation is 9 kW. There is no intention to be exporting quite so much, but I'll have to check home consumption to see how much I exceeded it buy.

Clearly I need to get an EV. Or a hot tub... 

pensionpawn

MWT said:

pensionpawn said:

1. There are two £1000 trading allowances available to offset export income, or will the exported income only be tested against the £1000 allowance of the energy account holder? If that is the case (seems unfair..), can two people register as the energy account holders?

It would follow the same principles as interest on bank accounts or dividends on shares, if there is one name on the account then that is the person who reports the income, if there are both names on the account then the income is split 50/50.

pensionpawn said:

2. Would the test be against the net energy income for the household? In other words, if the exported energy amounted to £1200 of "income" and the imported energy costs £1000, the net "gain" of £200 is well below the trading allowance, and there is no tax exposure.

Import costs have no relevance to the export earnings, so it is the full earnings from exports that would be assessed for tax. . 

pensionpawn said:
3. If a household only has a battery and no solar, and just time shifts energy, would this be treated differently?

No difference in theory, but you'd be unlikely to earn over £1,000 from exporting excess imported energy.

I've not investigated placing a utility account in joint names. That is possible?

Why wouldn't this be treated the same way as expenses being deducted from income prior to a tax assessment, as for small businesses?

Historically yes, however not necessarily so now. Other forums I follow post comments about very large domestic battery installations that time shift considerable amounts of energy from night to peak day. Considerably more than the natural solar excess export.

pensionpawn

The_Green_Hornet said:

SEG payments are tax free for home owners when the system is primarily for personal use. and there is no need to report them to HMRC.

Are SEG payments taxable?

For most homeowners in the UK, SEG payments will be tax-free when the system is primarily intended to match your own home consumption needs. 

An individual is exempt from income tax on income from the sale of electricity generated by a microgeneration system installed at their home where they don't intend the amount of electricity generated to “significantly exceed” the amount of electricity consumed in that dwelling. 

HMRC advises that a householder who does not intend to generate electricity more than 20% in excess of their own domestic needs is unlikely to be regarded as intending to “significantly exceed” the amount of electricity consumed in their own premises. 

If you intend for the electricity you generate to significantly exceed your own home consumption needs, you may be liable to pay tax on the SEG payments depending on your specific circumstances. Customers should seek their own tax advice if uncertain.

Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme

In 2025 my export kWhrs was 10% more than my import, although my import cost £1150 and my export was £550. In 2024 my export was 1% less than my import, with my import £1220 and my export £645. This is without any battery capability. Add in battery storage and not only will that reduce import kWhrs and cost, export kWhrs and payments would increase, swinging the import / export ratio wildly in excess of 20%. This is a minefield.

Woodstok2000

pensionpawn said:

MWT said:

pensionpawn said:

1. There are two £1000 trading allowances available to offset export income, or will the exported income only be tested against the £1000 allowance of the energy account holder? If that is the case (seems unfair..), can two people register as the energy account holders?

It would follow the same principles as interest on bank accounts or dividends on shares, if there is one name on the account then that is the person who reports the income, if there are both names on the account then the income is split 50/50.

pensionpawn said:

2. Would the test be against the net energy income for the household? In other words, if the exported energy amounted to £1200 of "income" and the imported energy costs £1000, the net "gain" of £200 is well below the trading allowance, and there is no tax exposure.

Import costs have no relevance to the export earnings, so it is the full earnings from exports that would be assessed for tax. . 

pensionpawn said:
3. If a household only has a battery and no solar, and just time shifts energy, would this be treated differently?

No difference in theory, but you'd be unlikely to earn over £1,000 from exporting excess imported energy.

Why wouldn't this be treated the same way as expenses being deducted from income prior to a tax assessment, as for small businesses?

The expense of buying electricity to run your home has no relation to you selling electricity back to the grid, so it's not a related expense.