The Department of Finance have published further clarification on proposed amendments to the Scheme which were announced in the Budget 2007.

The new investor and company limits for the BES and the SCS will apply as respects the tax year 2007 and subsequent years, once the relevant provisions of the Finance Act 2007 have come into operation and Commission approval has been received.

The clarification is reproduced at Section 2.03.

Survey of BES Companies

ICAI has welcomed the preliminary results of the survey of BES companies conducted by the Department of Finance which were published on Wednesday 10 January.

ICAI has been actively involved in representations with the Department of Finance and the Revenue to extend the BES relief. The results of the survey provide strong support for the measures introduced in Budget 2007 to extend the BES relief. The Budget 2007 measures had been sought by ICAI in the Pre-Budget Submission made under the umbrella body of CCAB-I.

According to the preliminary results, 70% of the companies who used the BES were new, being set up in the past ten years. One third of all firms were startups or in the development phase. Many of the firms used the BES funds to launch new or improved services, expand their workforce and grow the business. They also used the funds to increase capital expenditure and invest more in R&D.

The Minister for Finance said that the key points in the survey would be strongly made to the European Commission in seeking approval under State Aid rules to continue the BES.