Private ruling: Assessable income and solar panels
Date of advice: 21 May 2021
Published: August 2021
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX | Year ending 30 June 20XX
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 20XX

Ruling: Q1: Are the payments you receive for reselling excess electricity to the grid assessable income? | A1: No. Having considered your circumstances and the relevant factors, the payments you receive are not ordinary nor statutory income. Therefore, the payments are not assessable under either section 6-5 or section 6-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 .

Relevant facts and circumstances: You installed a 2kW Solar Photo-Voltaic system (the system) at your residence in 20XX. The system generates a daily average of 10kW hour of electricity. From 1 July 20XX to 31 July 20XX, you received payments from reselling excess electricity generated by the solar panels back to the grid under both the Feed-In Tariff (FIT) and Renewable Energy Buyback (REBS) schemes. You received 40 cents per kW hour for excess electricity under FIT. You receive 7.135 cents per kW hour from your electricity retailer for excess electricity under REBS. On DD/MM/YYYY, the State Government stopped offering the FIT scheme. From DD/MM/YYYY you receive payments from reselling excess electricity to the grid from your electricity retailer under the REBS only. The payments received from selling excess electricity are used to offset your personal electricity consumption. Any excess credits on your electricity account may be refunded into your nominated bank account.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-5. | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 6-10.


This ruling applies for the following periods: