Finance (No. 2) Act 2023

281 Benchmark amount

(1) The benchmark amount for the financial years ending in 2023 and 2024 is £75.

(2) The benchmark amount for each subsequent financial year is the benchmark amount for the previous financial year—

(a) increased or decreased by the same percentage as the consumer prices index for the December before the start of that subsequent financial year has increased or decreased from that index for the previous December, and

(b) rounded up to the nearest whole penny.

(3) Before the commencement of each of the financial years ending in 2025 to 2028, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (referred to elsewhere in this Part as “HMRC”) must publish the benchmark amount for that financial year in such manner as they consider appropriate.

(4) Subsections (5) to (7) apply where 2 financial years fall within a qualifying period.

(5) Generation attributed to a generating undertaking for that period is to be allocated, on a fair and reasonable basis, between those financial years.

(6) The calculation in Step 2 of section 279(5) is to be applied separately to the generation allocated to each of those financial years by reference to the benchmark amount for that year.

(7) Accordingly, the result of that Step is to be the sum of those calculations.

(8) In this section—

• “consumer prices index” means the all items consumer prices index published by the Statistics Board;

• “financial year” means a period of twelve months ending with 31st March.