Revenue publishes guidelines for TBESS registration
The TBESS will assist businesses with their energy costs amounting to payments of 40% of the increase in the value of energy bills from the 1st of September 2022 to the 28th of February 2023.
The TBESS, as announced on Budget day, will assist businesses with their energy costs amounting to payments of 40% of the increase in the value of energy bills from the 1st of September 2022 to the 28th of February 2023. The scheme will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners.
Eligible businesses can register for the TBESS via the e-Registration facility.
European Commission approval allowed Revenue to proceed with opening the TBESS online system for registrations on Saturday the 26th of November. Businesses can use the system to submit claims under the scheme from the 5th of December.
Businesses intending 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.
Payments under the scheme will be made once the Finance Bill 2022, which contains the legislation underpinning the scheme, is enacted later this month.
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 its percentage of eligible use for the electricity and/or natural gas account. This is the percentage of energy use which can be attributed directly to the carrying on of the business, particularly relevant where a business is run from home.
Revenue recently published detailed guidelines on the operation of the scheme which have now been updated, setting out further details regarding how businesses can register for and make claims under the scheme using the Revenue Online Service.
A claim portal in respect of TBESS is now available via the eRepayments system on ROS. To prepare for the claim stage, a business will need all the electricity and natural gas bills for the reference period of the 1st of September 2021 to the 28th of 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.
The guidance is available on the Revenue website.
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.
“TBESS is the largest single item announced as part of Budget 2023″ stated the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD recently, “the government’s cost-of-living budget that will help individuals, families and businesses deal with rising prices.
“The scheme will provide much-needed support to thousands of businesses across the country who’re experiencing a material shock to the price of their energy inputs.
“Businesses will start to receive payments under the scheme as soon as the Finance Bill is enacted later in December.”
Eligible businesses who’ve 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.
Over 3,200 businesses have already successfully registered for the TBESS.
The value of payments under the scheme will be subject to a monthly cap of €10,000, although this may rise to a maximum of €30,000 if a business operates from multiple locations, subject to certain criteria.
To assist businesses, Revenue has launched a TBESS Calculator on the Revenue website. In the calculator, a business can enter details of current and reference period energy bills to calculate the potential amount of a payment under the scheme.
