
Update on Bridging Aid III
As already known, it has been possible to apply for Bridging Aid III via the portal of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI) since February 10, 2021. We would like to give you a brief update on this!
What's new with bridging assistance III
- Fixed cost subsidies for months with a drop in sales of at least 30 percent between November 2020 and June 2021
- Larger companies (up to 750 million euros annual turnover) are also entitled to
- Maximum funding amount per month: 1.5 million euros (previously 50,000 euros; increase to 3 million euros for affiliated companies in preparation), within the maximum limits of EU state aid rules.
- More fixed costs eligible for reimbursement: e.g. also structural modernization, renovation or conversion measures up to EUR 20,000 per month to implement hygiene concepts (also retroactively until March 2020); investments in digitization (e.g. setting up an online store, entry costs for large platforms) one-off up to EUR 20,000.
- Additional regulations for the travel industry (commissions and reimbursement of external cancellation and preparation costs as well as a lump sum for personnel costs for certain trips with retroactive effect from March to December 2020), the cultural and event industry (reimbursement of cancellation and preparation costs with retroactive effect from March to December 2020), stationary retail (depreciation costs for perishable goods and goods for the 2020/2021 winter season that were purchased before 1 January 2021 and could not be sold due to the lockdown) and companies in the pyrotechnics industry (transport and storage costs following the ban on the sale of New Year's Eve fireworks and support for fixed costs from March to December 2020 for sales of fireworks). January 2021 and could not be sold due to the lockdown and companies in the pyrotechnics industry (transport and storage costs following the ban on the sale of New Year's Eve fireworks and support for fixed costs from March to December 2020 in the event of a drop in sales of at least 80% in December 2020 compared to December 2019).
Applying for bridging assistance III
Who can apply for funding?
Companies, solo self-employed persons and freelancers up to an annual turnover of 750 million euros in 2020 as well as non-profit companies and organizations from all sectors.
The prerequisite is a corona-related drop in turnover of at least 30% in each month for which the fixed cost subsidy is applied for. The reference month in 2019 is decisive for the comparison. Special regulations apply to companies that were founded between January 1, 2019 and April 30, 2020. Companies that receive November and/or December aid are not eligible to apply for these months.
How do you submit the application?
We (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) will prepare the application for you. If you are interested, please place a separate order with us. You can find an Excel table for entering your data here:
Download: Excel tool for the application
Final settlement
After the application for the funding period up to 30.06.2021 has been approved and has expired, a final settlement must be made by 30.06.2022 at the latest.
In detail:
- Slump in sales: Once the final sales figures for 2020 and the actual slump in sales in the period from November 2020 to June 2021 are available, we will forward them to the approval authorities of the federal states. If this shows that , contrary to the forecast, a 30% sl ump in sales was not achieved in any of the months of the funding period November 2020 to June 2021 compared to the respective month of 2019, i.e. the basic eligibility for funding did not exist, all grants already paid out must be repaid.
In addition, we (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) will inform the granting authorities of the federal states of the actual drop in turnover in the respective funding month once the final turnover figures are available. If the actual sl ump in turnover in a funding month is lower than the forecast slump in turnover, resulting in a lower reimbursement amount, any excess subsidies paid must be repaid to the responsible body after notification. If the actual sl ump in sales in a subsidized month is higher than the predicted slump in sales, resulting in a higher reimbursement amount, an additional payment will be made upon request.
When confirming the final turnover figures,we (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) take into account the advance VAT returns of the applicant companies. - Fixed operating costs: We (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) also submit the final fixed cost statement to the federal state approval offices. If the actual eligible costs are lower than the forecast costs (total costs), any grants already paid out for the month in question must be repaid. If the actual eligible costs turn out to be higher than the forecast costs (total costs), an additional payment will be made upon request.
If Bridging Aid III is provided under the "Federal Fixed Cost Assistance Scheme 2020", the final settlement must include not only the actual losses of turnover and fixed costs incurred and eligible for consideration, but also the uncovered fixed costs within the meaning of state aid law (see 4.16). As part of the final settlement of the 3rd phase of the bridging assistance, an overall assessment of all relevant sales and costs is carried out. A repayment only has to be made if the grants already paid exceed the final entitlement. An additional payment will be made for the 3rd phase of the bridging assistance upon request if the final entitlement exceeds the grants already paid.
Repayments of subsidies that have already been disbursed are generally not subject to interest until the final settlement. Interest could be charged if the payment targets set there are not met after the repayment or if subsidy fraud has been committed.
In the event that the applicant does not provide us (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) with any documents for the final statement or can no longer be contacted by us (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB), we (Haas und Kollegen RA/StB) will inform the state licensing office of this fact.
We are always available to answer any questions you may have.
Rudolf-Diesel-Str. 5, 65760 Eschborn near Frankfurt
Bridging aid phase III starts in February