A number of additional changes to the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) have been announced by the Minister for Finance, but these additional changes are subject to State aid approval.
These changes provide for the extension of the scheme beyond the end of February to the end of April.
They also include an increase in the monthly limit on payments which can be made from the scheme, for claim periods from March 1 this year.
Another change is the reduction of the energy costs threshold for qualification for the scheme from a 50% increase in energy costs, to a 30% increase.
Following receipt of State aid approval, Revenue said it will determine a date to automatically reassess claims already submitted relating to the period from September 1 2022 to February 28 2023 which did not meet the original 50% energy cost threshold.
It said it will calculate any payments due to businesses on the basis of the revised threshold.
This means that it will not be necessary for businesses to revise their claims already submitted to take account of the revised qualification threshold of 30%, Revenue added.
Revenue said that eligible businesses are encouraged to continue making claims for the period from 1 September 2022 to 28 February 2023 via the eRepayments system on Revenue's Online Service (ROS).
The scheme announced by the Government in Budget 2023 enables companies to claim back some of the increase in their electricity or gas bills and aims to help off-set some of the crippling costs of recent electricity and gas price rises.
As of March 1, over 25,400 businesses have registered for the TBESS and over 23,800 claims have already been approved.
These approved claims have a value of €51.65m, Revenue said.
