Octopus Go, Go Faster and IO temporarily suspended for new signups and renewals

[Fintray]

Agile is now back, a bit complicated though.

https://octopus.energy/blog/agile-pricing-explained/

Why on earth does it say "Published on 13th February 2019" at the bottom of the article?

[openspaceman]

Agile is now back, a bit complicated though.

https://octopus.energy/blog/agile-pricing-explained/

Why on earth does it say "Published on 13th February 2019" at the bottom of the article?

Probably a recycled page, like when Surrey CC do when they send contractors RAMS with the wrong hospital, wrong access point etc.

[Krill]

A question for those that are in the know.

If a house has an oversized solar array, to the extent that it generates multiples of the actual household use (thinking a gas heating house etc), and the excess is sold to Octopus via Agile...at what point do you have to worry about tax? I just looked at the self return tax form on hmrc and when I went through their test I couldn't see anything that suggested one would need to complete a self return form unless you we selling about 30,000kwh/year.

[nowty]

A question for those that are in the know.

If a house has an oversized solar array, to the extent that it generates multiples of the actual household use (thinking a gas heating house etc), and the excess is sold to Octopus via Agile...at what point do you have to worry about tax? I just looked at the self return tax form on hmrc and when I went through their test I couldn't see anything that suggested one would need to complete a self return form unless you we selling about 30,000kwh/year.

I'll dig out the rules in a bit, generally its the 120% rule which Ripple keep banging on about.

HMRC made a declaration when FIT came out for domestic properties (and it extends to SEG), that as long as you don't generate more than 120% of your normal domestic usage, then any income from it is tax free.

Unfortunately for Ripple, they need a change in the legislation to extend the wording, "at or near" your premises to a "remotely from" your premises. But Ripple income is taxable anyway being classed as "interest", so currently does not add with what you may be selling via FIT / SEG / Agile.

I was not aware of a selling 30,000 kWh rule. I wonder if that's come in recently due to time shifted arbitrage with batteries which could add up quite substantially.

[Krill]

I mentioned that figure purely because of:

Check if you need to send a Self Assessment tax return
7. Do you need to pay any Capital Gains Tax?

You usually have to pay Capital Gains Tax when you sell or give away:

most personal possessions worth £6,000 or more (apart from your car)
any other assets, such as shares or a holiday home

https://www.gov.uk/check-if-you-need-ta ... e-of-these

One would argue that this is an asset...£6,000 worth of kwh would be 30,000kwh at a flat rate of 20p/kwh. And my understanding is that Agile is not SEG or do I misunderstand?

[nowty]

@Krill,

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/bim40510

BIM40510 - Specific receipts: domestic microgeneration
The term ‘microgeneration’ is used to refer to electricity generation equipment of the smallest capacity which covers generation of electricity up to 50 kW. At the lower end of the range are microgenerators intended for installation in domestic premises. Support for microgeneration takes various forms including the renewables obligation and feed-in tariffs.

Export tariff
Where the export tariff is received other than in a business capacity it will generally be chargeable to Income Tax or Corporation Tax as miscellaneous income (see BIM100105) unless the recipient is an individual and the Income Tax exemption in S782A Income Tax (Trading and Other Income) Act 2005 applies. See BIM40520.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... l/bim40520
With effect from tax year 2007-08 there is an exemption from Income Tax for an individual’s income from the sale of electricity generated by a microgeneration system where:

1) the system is installed at or near domestic premises occupied by the individual, and
2) the individual intends that the amount of electricity generated by the microgeneration system will not significantly exceed the amount of electricity consumed in those premises.

This exemption is aimed at domestic microgeneration which is primarily intended to match the generator’s own home consumption needs. The term ‘significantly exceed’ in (b) above is not defined in Section 782A and should be considered by reference to the particular circumstances. However, in general, a householder who does not intend to generate an amount of 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.

No income tax will therefore arise on feed-in tariffs received by an individual from domestic microgeneration where the above conditions are met.

[nowty]

And my understanding is that Agile is not SEG or do I misunderstand?

That is true but I still think its covered by the Export Tariff clause.

[Krill]

Not the first time I've seen HMRC be inconsistent to their own benefit.

Thanks nowty. I believe the correct response to this is to rent out a EV charging spot!

[nowty]

Not the first time I've seen HMRC be inconsistent to their own benefit.

Thanks nowty. I believe the correct response to this is to rent out a EV charging spot!

BTW, my brother is a retired tax inspector.

[Krill]

Not the first time I've seen HMRC be inconsistent to their own benefit.

Thanks nowty. I believe the correct response to this is to rent out a EV charging spot!

BTW, my brother is a retired tax inspector.

Well try this one on for a work around: paying the equivalent amount of money into a private pension would create an income tax break so essentially it would become tax free.