As all schools are now expected to become an Academy in the coming months and years it is important to get the correct VAT declaration in place. This can often be overlooked as the VAT is claimed back of course; in relation to energy bills however, it is the Climate Change Levy charge that is applicable only when VAT is paid at full rate. As you can see below the subsequent announcement from the Government that they are removing the CRC scheme has also compounded this potential issue because the CCL charge itself is seeing a significant increase forecast from April 2019:

News update: 2019 Climate Change Levy rate rises

Following the budget announcements this month, HMRC have this week published the increases in Climate Change Levy (CCL) rates from 2019. Rates are being increased to cover the costs of scrapping the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme.

In addition, the reduced rates of CCL for qualifying businesses in the Climate Change Agreements (CCA) scheme will be amended so participants will not pay more in CCL than they would under the currently expected Retail Prices Index (RPI) increase for that year.

In line with usual practice, CCL main rates for 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019 will be increased in line with RPI to maintain the price signal. A statutory instrument will be introduced before April 2019 to amend the formula in the Regulations.