Skip to main content

New financial measures (28-5)

The Government launched a new round of financial support measures for entrepreneurs and workers on Wednesday 27 may, because of the continuing impact of the corona virus. More than 13 billion euros has been budgeted for the new emergency package. Read all about the new measures and additional conditions to the existing schemes here:

New measure: Allowance Fixed expenses SME's
SME entrepreneurs in catering, recreation, events, fairgrounds, stages and theaters, among other things, receive - in addition to the wage costs allowance (NOW) - a tax-free allowance from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to pay their fixed material costs. Depending on the size of the company, the level of the fixed costs and the degree of loss of turnover (at least 30 percent), companies will receive a contribution for their fixed costs up to a maximum of EUR 50,000 for the next three months. EUR 1 billion is available to help those businesses employing more than 800,000 people. The affected sectors are eligible under the TOGS scheme.

Extension and adjustment scheme for compensation for wage costs (NOW)
An entrepreneur who expects at least a 20% loss of turnover can apply for a contribution to wage costs from UWV for June, July, August and September from 6 July 2020.
This allows companies to continue to pay their staff. The extended NOW scheme applies the same system of compensation, but the new scheme also contains changes.

The fixed (flat-rate) surcharge is increased from 30 to 40 percent. The NOW also contributes to costs other than labor costs. The reference month for the wage bill will be March 2020. In addition, in the current NOW scheme, March is also taken as the starting point if the wage bill in March-May is higher than in January-March. This is important for seasonal companies. Furthermore, a company that uses the NOW for this year may not make a profit distribution to shareholders, pay bonuses to the management and the board or buy back its own shares.

In the NOW 2.0, the correction on the subsidy upon dismissal remains, but subsidy will no longer be additionally reduced in the event of business dismissal. With the new NOW application, companies state that they consult with unions if they want to apply for business dismissal for more than 20 employees. This is in line with the regulations concerning collective dismissals. Legal protection in the event of dismissal will also continue to apply

Employers who apply for NOW will be obliged to encourage their employees to continue training and retraining. Employers make a statement about this when applying for NOW 2.0. To support initiatives by the social partners, the government is allocating € 50 million for this purpose through the NL crisis program, which will allow people to follow online training and development advice free of charge from July to adapt to the new economic situation.

Conditions for an extended bridging scheme for self-employed persons (TOZO)
The Cabinet is extending the relaxed scheme to support self-employed persons, including self-employed persons, so that they have an increased chance of continuing their business. Self-employed persons can receive additional income support for living expenses from their municipality. Until the end of September 2020, this supplements the income to the social minimum and does not have to be repaid.

The extended scheme contains a partner income test. This means that only households with an income below the social minimum can claim a living allowance. In this way, support for living is aimed at guaranteeing the social minimum at household level.

Support also remains possible in the form of a loan (maximum € 10,157) for working capital, at a reduced interest rate. Self-employed entrepreneurs are asked in the extended scheme to declare that their company is not subject to a moratorium or that the company is in a state of bankruptcy.

The government is working on a solution for dismissed flex workers who do not meet the conditions for unemployment or social assistance. at the request of the House of Representatives for a temporary and feasible solution. The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment will inform the House of Representatives separately.

Extension of tax measures
The period in which affected entrepreneurs can apply for a tax extension has been extended to 1 September 2020. Any default penalties for late payment do not have to be paid. The tax and recovery interest for all tax assets has been reduced to 0.01% until October 1, 2020. Other tax measures, such as a relaxation of the hour criterion for self-employed persons and the payment break for mortgage obligations, will also be extended until 1 September 2020.

Entrepreneurs will immediately receive a three-month extension of payment with the first application. For those three months, they only need to submit a request once (for deferment of all tax types). Entrepreneurs can also apply for an extension for a period longer than three months. It is important that as much money as possible really stays in the companies. In order to guarantee this extra, entrepreneurs must postpone for more than three months that they do not pay dividends and bonuses, or buy back their own shares.

Corona lending and guarantees to entrepreneurs (BMKB, GO, KKC, COL)
The extra, extended or more accessible lending and guarantees to small and medium-sized companies, start-ups and scale-ups from the first emergency package continue.
In this way, these companies also maintain or gain access to, for example, bank financing. These are the corona modules of the Guarantee Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Scheme (BMKB) and the Guarantee Company Finance Scheme (GO), the new Small Credit Corona Guarantee Scheme (KKC) and the increased budget of the SEED Capital scheme. Bridging loan (COL) that contributes to improving the liquidity position of innovative companies (start-ups and scale-ups) will receive a second tranche of 150 million euros due to the large number of applications submitted.

source: Accountancy Vanmorgen.

Kamerbrief Noodpakket banen en economie 2.0