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4 min Reading time Reading and understanding energy bills is not easy; there’s a mix of information and even figuring out how much you actually paid per kWh of electricity can be a task. In addition to the cost of the consumed energy and the taxes you pay on it, there's also an amount subtracted from the total, the so-called 'energy tax reduction'. But do you still get that back if the total amount of tax you’ve paid is less than the fixed amount?
The answer is: Absolutely. The energy tax reduction (also known as a ‘tax credit’) is a fixed amount, and for 2019 it was set by the government at €257.54 excluding VAT (or €311.62 including VAT). That’s already a good bit less than in 2018, when it was €308.54 excluding VAT (€373.33 including VAT). All households receive this energy tax reduction on their energy bill, provided their property has a residential function (home or office). The energy tax reduction exists because the government believes that energy is a basic necessity, and that people should not have to pay tax on the minimum amount of energy they need. Instead of making a certain amount of consumed energy tax-free, they chose to simply give everyone the same amount back on their energy bill.
The tax on energy is quite high and increases slightly each year. This way, the government wants to encourage people to be more energy-efficient. For electricity, the tax is 11.93 cents per kWh (including VAT), plus an additional ODE levy (ODE stands for Sustainable Energy Storage) of 2.29 cents per kWh (including VAT). Combined, the tax is often more than half the final price.
Example: energy tax reduction in 2016 that was higher than the tax itself
But what about people who generate their own energy, for example with solar panels on the roof? Thanks to the net metering scheme, they pay much less tax on their energy. If they feed more electricity back into the grid than they consume in a year, they can even end up with a negative balance; meaning they get money back for their electricity. Do they still get the energy tax reduction?
As strange as it may sound, the answer is Yes. Good news for everyone with solar panels and a green heart: If the sun shines often and you also use your electricity consciously, you won’t be ‘penalized’ with a lower tax credit. So keep being efficient and install more solar panels!
Source: https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/milieubelastingen/energiebelasting
