{"id":4575,"date":"2015-03-04T12:31:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T03:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=4575"},"modified":"2017-04-19T14:41:26","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T04:11:26","slug":"why-are-solar-owners-charged-gst-on-money-they-never-spent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/why-are-solar-owners-charged-gst-on-money-they-never-spent\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Solar Owners Charged GST On Money They Never Spent?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a 6kW (24 panel) solar system on my roof.<\/p>\n

My last quarterly electricity bill is here. The good news is that it was for only $33.60.<\/p>\n

\"electricity<\/a>

My latest electricity bill. Notice how the GST is way more than 10%<\/p><\/div>\n

The interesting thing is the breakdown of the $33.60. If you look at the bottom of the bill, I paid $12.68 in electricity charges but a whopping $20.92 in GST (highlighted in blue on the bill).<\/p>\n

You don’t have to be great at maths to know that 10% of $12.68 is $1.27 not $20.92<\/p>\n

So how does AGL get away with charging $20 GST on a $33 bill?<\/h3>\n

AGL have to follow rules set down by the ATO for collecting GST. Here’s\u00a0how those rules apply:<\/p>\n

A solar owner will export some solar electricity to the grid if, at any time, they are generating more electricity than they can use in their home.<\/p>\n

In my case I exported 2,457 units of electricity at an agreed rate of $0.08 per unit. This means AGL have to pay me $196.56 for that electricity (highlighted in yellow on the bill)<\/p>\n

At night solar owners will import any electricity they need from the grid. They have to pay the regular rates for this electricity. In my case I used 502 units at about $0.30 each. I also have to pay a fixed supply charge for 90 days. Add those 2 charges together and I owe AGL $209.24.<\/p>\n

It would be nice if AGL subtracted what they owe me from what I owe them ($12.68) and charged me GST on that. But the ATO won\u2019t let them.<\/p>\n

The ATO’s logic is that, if AGL sells me something, then they have to charge GST on the full value. The credit is subtracted only after they have charged GST on the full value of the goods or services supplied. Hence the $20.92 GST on a $12.68 charge!<\/p>\n

But there are substantial other savings in this bill that the ATO can’t tax me on!<\/h3>\n

An interesting thing about solar owners’ electricity bills is that most of their savings are not printed on the bill. To measure them you have to do your own detective work.<\/p>\n

These are the savings that you get by ‘self consuming’ your own solar electricity.<\/p>\n

Any of your solar electricity that you use in your home means that you don\u2019t have to buy that electricity from the grid. If you are not buying anything then the ATO can’t add GST to it!<\/p>\n

For example: using an energy monitor I worked out that I was self-consuming 10 units per day of my own solar electricity<\/a>. This saves me $3.20 per day – or $300 per quarter. That’s $300 in quarterly savings that no one can tax me on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a 6kW (24 panel) solar system on my roof. My last quarterly electricity bill is here. The good news is that it was for only $33.60. The interesting thing is the breakdown of the $33.60. If you look at the bottom of the bill, I paid $12.68 in electricity charges but a whopping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-4575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solar-panels-2","tag-feed-in-tariffs","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Are Solar Owners Charged GST On Money They Never Spent? - SolarQuotes Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do electricity retailers get away with charging a solar power system owner $20 GST on a $33 bill? 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This doesn\u2019t matter to residential customers - they\u2019re not expected to account for GST on the electricity they sell back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar Policy"","block_context":{"text":"Solar Policy","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-policy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ergon-gst.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ergon-gst.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ergon-gst.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ergon-gst.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/ergon-gst.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98268,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/cheap-battery-deals-and-the-gst-time-bomb\/","url_meta":{"origin":4575,"position":1},"title":"Cheap Battery Deals And The GST Time Bomb","author":"Finn Peacock","date":"March 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"About twelve years ago, there was a quiet wave of solar company bankruptcies in Australia. They were not caused by dodgy panels, bad installs, or disappearing warranties. They were caused by tax. Solar businesses that were otherwise healthy suddenly received letters from the ATO demanding payment of GST they did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Battery Storage"","block_context":{"text":"Battery Storage","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/battery-storage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A GST bomb next to batteries","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GST-batteries.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10059,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/gst-solar-calculated\/","url_meta":{"origin":4575,"position":2},"title":"How GST On Solar Is Calculated","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"March 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's say you have just been quoted a nice round $7,000 for a brand spanking new rooftop solar system with 5 kilowatts of panels.\u00a0 With Australia's 10% Goods and Services Tax, you might expect the GST portion of that quote to come to $700. Or, if you didn't go to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economics Of Solar"","block_context":{"text":"Economics Of Solar","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/economics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"get on solar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/solar-gst.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/solar-gst.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/solar-gst.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/solar-gst.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29788,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/green-power-vs-solar\/","url_meta":{"origin":4575,"position":3},"title":"Green Power Vs. Rooftop Solar: Solar Easily Wins But Having Both Is Greenest","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"June 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A while back a reader asked me for a post on rooftop solar vs. Green Power.\u00a0 Or, if you spell as badly as a government national program -- GreenPower.\u00a0 So here it is: Rooftop solar power is far better than GreenPower. Done. That was easy.\u00a0 I guess it's time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Solar and the Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Solar and the Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-and-the-environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"GreenPower vs. solar power - which is greenest?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/greenpower-vs-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/greenpower-vs-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/greenpower-vs-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/greenpower-vs-solar.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/greenpower-vs-solar.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51639,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/clearvue-solar-windows-mb2057\/","url_meta":{"origin":4575,"position":4},"title":"Australia’s ClearVue Snags Another Solar Window Order","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Would you like windows on your home that generate electricity? A new order for ClearVue solar glass provides an indicator of what the technology costs. Western Australia based ClearVue Technologies Limited produces windows that generate electricity. The special glass used incorporates a nanoparticle interlayer sandwiched within a panel comprised of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Solar & Storage News"","block_context":{"text":"General Solar & Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ClearVue solar windows","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/clearvue-solar-glass.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/clearvue-solar-glass.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/clearvue-solar-glass.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/clearvue-solar-glass.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/clearvue-solar-glass.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43695,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-electricity-bill-breakdown\/","url_meta":{"origin":4575,"position":5},"title":"Why Your Solar Feed-In Tariff Is Lower Than Your Electricity Usage Tariff","author":"Ronald Brakels","date":"November 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In this article, I am going to take a typical electricity bill and break it down into its components.\u00a0 I told Finn I was doing this for two sensible reasons: To let people know where their electricity dollar goes. To show where solar feed-in tariffs come from and why they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Electricity Prices"","block_context":{"text":"Electricity Prices","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/electricity-prices\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Why solar feed-in tariffs are lower than retail electricity prices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/electricity-sausage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/electricity-sausage.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/electricity-sausage.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/electricity-sausage.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/electricity-sausage.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4575"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4583,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4575\/revisions\/4583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}