Business Expansion Scheme (BES) – Annual reminder in respect of requests for ‘Outline Approval’

Where a company intends to raise BES investments on or before 31 December 2008, and wishes to obtain advance approval from Revenue in respect of such a share issue, that company, or its agent, should forward a fully completed RICT Outline Form to the address given below, on or before 14 November 2008.

Revenue wishes to advise practitioners and other interested parties that where a request for ‘Outline Approval’ is submitted after 14 November 2008, no guarantee can be given that a response will issue before the end of the current tax year. While every effort will be made to respond before 31 December 2008, depending on the volume of requests, this may not be possible in every instance. Nothing in this notice precludes an application for Outline Approval after the deadline date for such requests of 14 November 2008.

Practitioners and other interested parties are reminded that Outline Approval is not a requirement of the scheme; rather it is a service to business, which may provide reassurance in relation to eligibility.

RICT Outline Forms may be downloaded from the Revenue website – www.revenue.ie and, when fully completed, should be addressed to: –

Office of the Revenue Commissioners,

Business Incentives Branch,

Corporate Business & International Division,

Dublin Castle,

Dublin 2.