Five questions about one site. You'll see the levy you should be paying, anything you're paying that you shouldn't, and roughly how much you could claim back. We don't ask for your name or email.
What is the Climate Change Levy?
The Climate Change Levy (CCL) is a UK tax on the electricity, gas, LPG and solid fuels that businesses and public bodies use. Your supplier adds it to your bill, usually as a line called "CCL" or "Climate Change Levy", pays it to HMRC, and then charges VAT on top. Homes don't pay it. The rates are per kWh:
| Kezdete | Electricity (£ per kWh) | Gas (£ per kWh) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022. április 1. | 0.00775 (0.775p) | 0.00568 (0.568p) |
| 2023. április 1. | 0.00775 (0.775p) | 0.00672 (0.672p) |
| 2024. április 1. | 0.00775 (0.775p) | 0.00775 (0.775p) |
| 2025. április 1. | 0.00775 (0.775p) | 0.00775 (0.775p) |
| 2026. április 1. | 0.00801 (0.801p) | 0.00801 (0.801p) |
| 2027. április 1. | 0.00827 (0.827p) | 0.00827 (0.827p) |
Less than a penny a unit sounds small, but it adds up: a site using 200,000 kWh of electricity and 300,000 kWh of gas pays about £4,005 a year, or £4,806 if it can't reclaim the VAT.
Who shouldn't be paying it
| Relief | Who it's for | How to get it | Backdate? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small supplies (de minimis) | Any site using no more than 1,000 kWh of electricity or 4,397 kWh of gas a month from one supplier. Small shops, cafés, kiosks, lock-ups, small offices. | No certificate: the supplier should leave the levy off. Ask them to. | Up to 4 years |
| Homes and charity non-business use | Care homes, hospices, student and staff accommodation, flats, and charities for activities they don't charge for. If 60% or more of a site qualifies, the whole supply is free of the levy; below that, the qualifying share is. | A VAT and CCL certificate to your supplier. It also cuts the VAT on the bill from 20% to 5%. | Up to 4 years |
| Metallurgical and mineralogical processes | Energy used to make glass, bricks, ceramics, cement and lime, or to smelt, cast and heat-treat metal. | Work out the exempt share on HMRC form PP10 and give your supplier a PP11 certificate. | Up to 4 years |
| Climate Change Agreement | Energy-intensive processes in a sector with an agreement: food and drink, chemicals, metals, paper, plastics, intensive farming, data centres and many more. 92% off electricity and 89% off gas. | Join through your sector association between 1 January and 31 August, agree a target, pay the fees. | No, only from certification |
| Other exemptions | Energy used as a raw material rather than a fuel, for electrolysis, for some transport, exported, or burned in a certified CHP plant. | PP10 and PP11, or the CHP certification. | Up to 4 years |
Worked examples
Each uses the rates from 1 April 2026, one site, and a claim made in October 2026 that reaches back four years at each year's own rates.
- A café using 9,000 kWh of electricity and 30,000 kWh of gas a year (750 and 2,500 kWh a month) is under both de minimis limits. If its bills show the levy, it's paying £312 a year it shouldn't, and can claim back about £1,157.
- A charity care home using 400,000 kWh of electricity and 900,000 kWh of gas, which can't reclaim VAT, would pay £12,496 a year in levy and VAT on it. A care home is domestic premises, so the right figure is nil, and four years of wrong bills come to about £46,511.
- A shop with flats above, where 40% of the energy is used in the flats, should pay the levy on only 60% of its supply: £673 a year instead of £1,121.
- A ceramics maker using 1 million kWh of electricity and 4 million kWh of gas, with 60% of it in its kilns, should pay £16,020 a year rather than £40,050, and can reclaim about £88,814.
- A food manufacturer using 2 million kWh of electricity and 3 million kWh of gas pays £40,050 a year. In its sector's Climate Change Agreement it would pay about £3,925, saving around £36,125 a year before the scheme fees.
How to claim money back
The full walk-through, with the letter and certificate, is in our step-by-step guide to claiming back Climate Change Levy.
- Find the "CCL" or "Climate Change Levy" line on a recent bill for each site, and the kWh it was charged on.
- Run each site through the check above to see which relief applies.
- Send your supplier the certificate it needs: a VAT and CCL declaration for homes and charity use, or a PP11 for exempt processes. For a small supply, just ask them to treat it as domestic.
- Ask the supplier to correct the last four years. They reissue the bills and claim the levy back from HMRC, which normally pays within 30 days of a valid claim.
Energy brokers and specialist recovery firms also make these claims for you, usually for a share of what comes back. If you change supplier, give the new one the same certificate on day one.
Miben segít a Carbon Recycling
Carbon Recycling isn't a tax adviser and doesn't file levy claims. What it does hold is the thing every claim starts from: each site's electricity and gas use, month by month, from your bills or your accounting software. The same figures make your carbon footprint, your SECR table and your Carbon Reduction Plan, so you can run every site through this check in a few minutes and keep a record of what you used.