Short-term aid programme for small and medium-sized businesses

A short-term aid programme was set up for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) experiencing revenue shortfalls due to the Covid-19 crisis. The volume of the programme is set to a maximum of €25 billion - payments will be granted for June to August. Applications may be submitted by companies experiencing revenue shortfalls of at least 60 % due to the Covid-19 crisis in April and May 2020 compared to April and May 2019 and additional revenue shortfalls of at least 50% from June to August 2020. If the company was founded after April 2019, November and December 2019 shall serve as a basis for the comparison. In case of a revenue shortfall of at least 50 % compared to the same month in the prior year, the company receives a refund of up to 50 % of the fixed operating costs. In case of a revenue shortfall of more than 70 %, the company may receive a refund of up to 80 % of the fixed operating costs. The maximum refund amounts to 150,000 Euro for three months. Claimed revenue shortfalls and fixed operating costs are required to be reviewed and confirmed in an appropriate manner by a Tax Advisor or a German Public Auditor. The application must be submitted no later than 31 August 2020 and payments will be received until 30 November 2020.

Practice note

We are happy to support you in applying for your individual short-term aid from the stimulus package for your company.