How and when to apply for COVID Rent support
Last week the European Commission approved the COVID Rent programme, and the related call to apply for support should be announced by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) any day now. Applications can be filed through the MIT’s new information system. It is now crucial to complete the application correctly and submit it as soon as possible.
Support parameters
The basic parameters of the support have already been covered here. What’s new is that entrepreneurs whose landlords are governmental institutions will receive the 80% discount from rent automatically and will not have to negotiate the 30% discount with their landlords.
When calculating rent, the following has to be considered: where rent is charged including VAT, VAT is not an eligible expense; where rent is not set as a fixed amount, only basic rent is eligible for support.
Conditions for drawing support
The support is aimed at entrepreneurs in the retail and services sectors. Tenants receiving support cannot be related to their landlords. Furthermore, applicants must not be in default in the payment of their liabilities to any institutions (the tax authority, health insurance companies, customs office, or the Ministry of Finance). Finally, the applicant must not exceed the maximum amount of support as stipulated by the European Commission’s Temporary Framework for state aid, which sets the limit at EUR 800 000 for direct aid.
The condition of observing the limit set by the European Commission’s Temporary Framework raises questions as regards combining the COVID Rent programme with the Antivirus programme. In principle, it is possible to combine the two; however, the question remains whether the support drawn under the Antivirus programme should also be included in the limit set by the Temporary Framework, and if so, whether this applies to all its forms (individual forms of support under the Antivirus programme are described in this article).
What do you need to claim support?
For each shop/outlet, only one application for support shall be submitted. According to information currently available, the following documents have to be attached:
- GDPR attachment
- affidavit by the support recipient
- affidavit by the landlord of commercial premises
- affidavit by the landlord of state-owned premises
To put it simply, the support recipient’s affidavit must confirm the fulfilment of the above stipulated conditions for drawing the support. The landlord’s affidavit must also contain the basic parameters of the lease: information about the shop/outlet, rent amount, and lease termination date. In the GDPR attachment, the applicant gives consent to personal data processing.
The application form must be completed in the information system, and documents supporting rent payments for January and February 2020 or for October to November 2019 (to document the ‘usual’ rent) must be attached, as well as documents supporting the payment of a part of rent for the shop/outlet at least in the amount of the claimed support for the relevant period, i.e. April to June 2020.
The correct completion of the application is crucial: if inaccurate or false information is provided, the application shall not be granted.
If you are considering applying for this support, please do not hesitate to contact us.