Revenue eBrief No. 202/22

28 November 2022

Updated guidelines for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS)

Guidelines on the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) have been updated. The scheme, which is provided for in sections 100 to 102 of Finance Bill 2022, has received State aid approval from the European Commission and is open for registration on Revenue's Online Service (ROS) from 26 November 2022.

The main additions and amendments that have been made to the TBESS guidelines since the last version issued on 26 October 2022 are –

• Confirmation that the scheme will operate in respect of energy costs for the period 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023;
• Inclusion of further guidance on information required when registering for and making a claim under the scheme (see section 6);
• Confirmation that Pay As You Go (PAYG) customers are within the scope of the scheme;
• Confirmation that credit institutions and financial institutions are not eligible businesses for the purposes of the scheme (see section 2.1);
• The increased limits of aid that are applicable in line with the amended Temporary Crisis Framework (TCF) have been reflected (see section 5.5);
• Inclusion of guidance on the obligations of a single undertaking in relation to the TBESS, including the information that must be provided to Revenue (see section 5.5.3);
• Inclusion of details in relation to the information that will be published on the Revenue website in respect of members of a single undertaking where the total amount claimed by the single undertaking in any claim period exceeds a certain threshold (see section 5.5.4);
• Confirmation that Revenue may engage with an energy supplier to verify a claim in circumstances there is reason to believe the claim may be invalid or may be an overclaim (see section 6.3.5);
• Information on the payment of a Temporary Business Energy Payment (TBEP) in circumstances where there is a tax liability outstanding has been included (see section 7);
• Inclusion of updated information on the clawback of a TBEP where there is an invalid claim or an overclaim (see section 8);
• A new “Contact Us” section has been included (see section 10).

On registering for the TBESS, businesses will be required to provide certain information regarding their electricity accounts and/ or natural gas connections. The updated guidelines provide a link to a guidance note, "Understanding your Bill", which contains sample bills provided to Revenue by a number of energy suppliers. The note provides guidance on where information required in relation to electricity accounts and gas connections can be found on your energy bill.

Following registration, businesses will be able to submit claims under the scheme from 5 December. The TBESS guidelines will be updated shortly to provide further guidance on how businesses can submit claims via ROS.