Last Friday (25/11/2022), the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar T.D., and the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D., welcomed State Aid approval for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS).
This approval is required to allow payments to be made under the scheme once Finance Bill 2022 is signed into law. The relevant press release can be viewed here.
The TBESS will assist qualifying businesses with their electricity or natural gas (energy) costs from 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023. Eligible businesses can register for the TBESS, via the e-Registration facility in Revenue’s Online Service (ROS), from Saturday 26 November 2022.
Businesses who intend to register for the TBESS must hold a current tax clearance certificate. If a business is availing of the Debt Warehousing Scheme or a Phased Payment Arrangement, it will still be eligible for tax clearance provided it meets its obligations under those arrangements. Potential applicants for the TBESS who may not already hold tax clearance are urged to apply for it on Revenue’s eTC system via ROS as soon as possible as they will not be able to register for the scheme in the absence of tax clearance.
To register for the TBESS a business will need to provide details of the trade or profession, and details of the business electricity and, or natural gas account, such as MPRN number and, or GPRN number. A business will also be required to give their percentage of eligible use for the electricity and, or natural gas account. This means the percentage of energy use which can be attributed directly to the carrying on of the business and will be particularly relevant where a business is run from home. Apportionment between business and private use will be familiar to many businesses as this is done when calculating taxable profits for a tax return.
A claim portal in respect of TBESS will be available via the eRepayments system on ROS in early December. To prepare for the claim stage, a business will need all the electricity and natural gas bills for the reference period of 1 September 2021 to 28 February 2022. A business will also require the current energy bill to make a claim. Current bills will be compared with bills from the corresponding reference period in the previous 12 months to determine if the qualifying increase of 50% or more in their average unit price is evident.
Revenue has updated its detailed guidance on the TBESS including new guidance on registering and making claims. The guidance, available on the Revenue website here, includes screenshots from the TBESS e-Registration portal and sample electricity and natural gas bills to assist businesses.
Revenue has also published a guide to assist businesses in understanding their energy bill. The ‘Understanding your bill’ guide will be updated in advance of the claim stage and is available here.
Qualifying claims will be paid once the enabling legislation in Finance Bill 2022 has been signed into law. Eligible businesses who have successfully completed registration and made valid claims by the third week in December for September, October and November will be paid before the end of the year.
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