In Fianna Fáil, we are determined to help businesses deal with rising energy costs. The Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme will offset up to €10,000 per month per business to help manage these rising costs. This scheme is designed to ease pressure on businesses.
Your business can make a claim under the scheme if it:
• is tax compliant
• carries on a Case I trade or Case II profession. This includes charities and approved sporting bodies that carry on certain activities and
• has experienced a significant increase of 50% or more in its electricity and/or natural gas average unit price. Qualifying businesses can claim for 40% of the increases in their energy bills. The increase in energy bills must be between the ‘claim period’ and the ‘reference period’.
A claim period is a calendar month from September 2022 to February 2023. A reference period is the corresponding calendar month in the previous year. For example, September 2021 is the reference period for the September 2022 claim period. This is capped at €10,000 per month.
Businesses with more than one electricity account
The €10,000 limit can be increased where a qualifying business:
• operates across multiple locations and
• has more than one electricity account.
The monthly limit can increase by €10,000 per electricity account, subject to an overall monthly limit of €30,000 per qualifying business. Each electricity account must have its own unique MPRN identifier, with each MPRN having a separate electricity supply address.
Your business may have more than one electricity account and may be eligible for the increased limit. In this case the limit will apply, for both electricity and natural gas costs.
The increased limit will not apply where multiple electricity accounts are located:
• at the same electricity supply address or
• adjacent to each other.
Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS)
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McGuinness Cllr.
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Pay As You Go customers
If your business pays for electricity or gas on a Pay As You Go basis, it can avail of the TBESS. You must supply details from its energy statement to Revenue as part of a claim.
TBESS Calculator
The average unit price is the total costs of the bill, excluding VAT, divided by the units of consumption. You can use Revenue’s online calculator to determine if your business has satisfied the energy costs threshold. This calculation is used for each particular electricity or natural gas bill. You will need to provide Revenue with the relevant bill details from:
• the claim period bill and
• the corresponding reference period bill.
New energy customers
Your business may not have an energy bill for a particular monthly reference period. This may happen, for example, if:
• the electricity account or gas connection did not exist at the time
• the business acquired a new electricity account or gas connection
• the business moved premises or
• the business commenced after the end of the relevant reference period.
In such cases, a ‘deemed reference unit price’ in respect of electricity or natural gas will be used. This will be used in determining both the energy costs threshold and the eligible costs of the business.
The deemed reference unit price will be supplied to Revenue by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.
Making a claim
There is a two-step process to make a claim under the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS). The eligible business needs to:
• register for the TBESS on the Revenue Online Service (ROS) and
• complete a claim in respect of energy costs arising in a claim period or claim periods.
A step-by-step guide on how to register and make a claim on Revenue Online Service (ROS) is in the TBESS guidelines.
Registration
When registering for the scheme you will need to:
• provide details about the business
• provide details in relation to electricity or natural gas connections
• make declarations confirming eligibility for the scheme.
You can register on ROS now. You can make a claim on ROS from 5 December 2022.
Energy costs for a claim period relate to each calendar month from 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023.
Energy costs for a reference period relate to each calendar month from 1 September 2021 to 28 February 2022.
You must supply details of energy bills for both the claim period and the reference period.
Revenue’s TBESS calculator will:
• apportion the bills, where the billing period relates to more than one calendar month
• calculate the energy costs threshold
• calculate the eligible costs and
• determine the amount of TBEP that you can claim. If your business has more than one energy bill in a claim period, you can make a claim in respect of each bill. You will need to meet the qualifying criteria for each claim period. This is subject to a limit of €10,000 per month or up to €30,000 in certain circumstances.
Time limit for claims
Claims for an electricity or natural gas bill must be made within 4 months of the end of the claim period.
Offset
A TBEP will be offset against any outstanding tax due in line with normal Revenue offset rules.
The offsetting rules will not apply to tax liabilities that have been warehoused under the Debt Warehousing Scheme. This is provided the business satisfies the conditions of Debt Warehousing by filing returns and making payments on time.
The offsetting rules will not apply to tax liabilities that a business is paying under a Phased Payment Arrangement (PPA). This is provided it is meeting its obligations under that PPA
How much can a business claim?
A limit of €10,000 applies to the total payments that a qualifying business can claim for each claim period.
Where a person carries on more than one trade or profession, a monthly limit of €10,000 applies to each qualifying business.
If your business has separate electricity and gas accounts, the limit of the eligible costs applies to both energy accounts.
