Government loses solar panel appeal

26 Jan 12

The Court of Appeal has returned a negative judgement on the Government's appeal against a High Court decision that deemed sudden changes to Feed in Tariffs (FITs) as illegal.

The Government gave the solar industry just a few weeks' warning that the FIT, would be cut from 43.3p to 21p. The Government claims that the reduction will allow more people to make use of the FIT within the agreed budget.

The industry claims that the speed with which the measures were imposed was illegal, and the High Court and Court of Appeal have upheld this. However, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is now seeking permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Earlier this week the Government announced a Plan B, which was to apply for the reduction through the proper process, and for the decrease to take place from March 2012.

Commenting on the situation, Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Foundation said: "Ultimately this decision will provide little solace to those landlords that have been forced to scale back their investment in renewable energy schemes. These schemes will not be revived whatever the Government decides to do on a further appeal to the Supreme Court, and it is disappointing that the implementation of cuts to solar FITs at very short notice and without meaningful consultation has created so much confusion.

"The efforts of building owners and occupiers will be central to creating a sustainable built environment; it is vital that these industries are given the market confidence they need to muster a business case for investment in energy efficiency and green technologies as other incentive schemes come on stream."

Easy Accountancy

Easy Accountancy is the UK’s only national specialist accountancy firm for freelancers, sole traders and small businesses

If you’ve just started out as a freelancer or run a small business, you’ll definitely need a small accountant and there are plenty of options out there! However, most accountants will charge you every time you get in touch with them; for every phone call, email or meeting.

We don’t want our clients to be scared to contact us and potentially lose out on valuable tax saving advice. It's even more important when you first start out as you really need to set your business up in the best way possible. As a start up you’ll probably have loads of questions and will really appreciate the fact you can call your accountant as many times as you like without the fear of racking up large bills.

Our low cost, all-inclusive fixed-fee accountancy service includes unlimited access to your own accountant throughout the year, so you never need to worry about picking up the phone and then receiving a bill afterwards for the privilege, and covers all your business and personal tax affairs needs. All clients additionally receive:

Help to run your business in the most tax efficient way possible
Help so you can understand the taxes you need to pay
Advice on the best ways to manage your business
Updates and reminders so you'll never miss a deadline
Help to ensure you maximise your tax allowances
Provide proactive tax advice throughout the year

We’ve saved our clients up to half on their accountancy bills – if you’d like a quote, click on the quote me button to the right of this page. Alternatively, call us on 0500 234111 / 01442 275767 or email aaron.oneill@easyaccountancy.co.uk

We also have a money-back service guarantee - all of your telephone calls and emails will be answered on the same day, or we will refund your monthly fee (another first within the accountancy world).

To appoint us as your accountants, please fill in our Client Agreement Form online.

If you are a contractor working through a limited company then visit SJD Accountancy (our sister company) who specialise in providing tax advice and accountancy services for Limited Company contractors. You can also keep up to date by following the SJD Accountancy Twitter

You may also find the following pages helpful: