Report Climate Change Levy subsidies to HMRC
Find out what information you need to report to HMRC if you are in either a Climate Change Agreement or you're an open access rail operator receiving a subsidy award from Climate Change Levy over a certain financial threshold in a year.
If you are in a Climate Change Agreement or you’re an open access rail operator, you can now report Climate Change Levy subsidy awards received for the previous calendar year — 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.
The financial threshold for reporting a subsidy award in a calendar year is more than £100,000.
You must complete the online form in this guide before 31 January 2025.
For calendar year 2024, the online form will be open to report this information from July 2025.
Why you need to report
HMRC collects information for transparency purposes. This is to promote accountability from UK businesses receiving Climate Change Levy reliefs, either as participants in Climate Change Agreements, or exempt open access rail operators where the annual tax subsidy award is above the threshold.
You can search for UK subsidies awarded by UK public authorities.
What are the thresholds for reporting subsidies
The threshold for reporting your annual Climate Change Levy subsidy award is more than £100,000.
You’ll need to report on subsidies of more than £100,000, if you are either:
- in a Climate Change Agreement and receive a relief from Climate Change Levy
- are exempt from Climate change Levy because you are an open access rail service operator
If you’re registered in Northern Ireland
If you’re registered in Northern Ireland and trading in goods or the wholesale electricity market, you’ll need to report your annual Climate Change Agreement subsidy award, if it is more than 100,000 euros. Find more information on which businesses are in scope.
For calendar year 2023 (1 January to 31 December) the threshold for reporting subsidy award if you’re in a Climate Change Agreement is more than £86,994.
You will need to check the official HMRC foreign currency exchange average rates — using the UK Integrated Online Tariff for the calendar year being reported. The financial threshold may vary slightly from year to year depending on the exchange rate.
What you need to report
You’ll need to confirm if you’re either:
- reporting as a participant in a Climate Change Agreement
- an operator under the open access rail service
You’ll need to tell us:
- your company name and address
- your company VAT number
- the number of employees in your business
- if your business is incorporated and registered in Northern Ireland
- the type of business activity such as goods or services where the subsidy is mainly used and information about the sector
- the region which has mostly benefitted from the subsidy
- the amount of subsidy your business has received for the required reporting period — round down to the nearest pound
When completing the online form for VAT registered businesses, for:
- corporate groups with separate VAT registrations — each business should complete the form separately
- corporations with a single group VAT registration — the representative member should aggregate the relief and complete one form for the group, using only the representative’s business name
- divisions or businesses with multiple VAT registrations such as divisional registrations — the body corporate should aggregate the relief and complete one form for the entire business, using only the main relief claimant’s business name
Work out your annual tax subsidy award
Climate Change Agreements
The subsidy award amount, if you’re in a Climate Change Agreement is the difference between:
- the amount of Climate Change Levy paid at the reduced rate
- the amount of Climate Change Levy that would have been paid at the main rate on your taxable supplies — like electricity, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and any other taxable supplies (solid fuels)
Operators of open access rail services
To work out the subsidy award, you’ll need to:
- Work out the amount of electricity used at the main rate of Climate Change Levy from 1 January to 31 December.
- Multiply this by the main rate for the period you’re reporting.
- If you use a mix of fuels, report electricity usage only.
Check the latest Climate Change Levy rates to make sure the right rate is applied for the year that’s being reported.
For example, if you are reporting subsidies for the 2023 calendar year period, remember that in April 2023 there were changes to some Climate Change Levy rates. Make sure you use the correct rates for each month to provide a total of the subsidies received for that reporting period.
How to report
If you’re a representative of the company — you’ll need the Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one the first time you sign in.
If you’re an agent — you’ll need the Government Gateway user ID and password you used when you registered for the Agent Services Account. If you do not have an Agent Services Account, you will be asked to enter the Agent details manually.
If you have made an error on your form and have already submitted this to us, complete the online form again — HMRC will only process the most recent form received.
More information
If you have any questions about reporting Climate Change Levy subsidies to HMRC, email: energy.taxes@hmrc.gov.uk.
Updates to this page
Published 19 October 2016Last updated 21 November 2024 + show all updates
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The 'What you need to report' section has been updated to include who should complete the online form for VAT registered businesses.
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The guide has been updated as you can now report subsidies online. You can now also report Climate Change Levy subsidy awards received for the previous calendar year — 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.
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This guide has been updated as the transition period has ended, and to inform you that state aid reporting will change due to the EU agreement.
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The 'How to report section' has been updated.
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First published.