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Coronavirus / IncentivesBusiness Location Germany
Coronavirus
Financial Government Support Measures
The country’s economy is in a strong position to introduce measures supporting the economy over a prolonged period. By providing businesses with sufficient liquidity, the government measures have helped ensure that enterprises emerge from the crisis intact.
Financial support for companies
At this current juncture in the pandemic, the most important support is now the EUR 1.1 trillion committed to a wide variety of loans, liquidity grants, financing programs, and guarantees. These measures keep businesses liquid in the short-to-medium term, as well as encouraging further research and development and enabling business with longer product development cycles to continue working towards market maturity.
Small to medium-sized companies are still eligible for liquidity aid grants covering fixed costs (depending on assessed decline in revenue) up to June 30, 2022. To be eligible for a grant to cover fixed costs, applicants must prove that their turnover has shrunk by over 30 percent.
Fresh Start Assistance 2022 schemes provide targeted support in the form of grants to self-employed individuals who do not have fixed costs, providing EUR 1,500 per month up to June 30, 2022.
A detailed overview of the available and comprehensive pandemic crisis support programs is available on the dedicated website of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Flexible rules for short-time allowance schemes
The Federal Employment Agency pays the short-time allowance as partial compensation for a loss of earnings caused by a temporary cut in working hours. This reduces the costs faced by employers in the context of employing workers, and enables companies to continue to employ their workforce even in the event of a loss of orders. In other words, short-time allowances help to prevent dismissals and/or redundancies.
Short-time allowances schemes can currently be granted on a more flexible basis for a limited period until June 30, 2022. For instance, companies are eligible to apply if 10 percent of employees are affected by shorter working hours.
From January 1 until June 30, 2022, some 50 percent of social security contributions will be reimbursed by the Federal Employment Agency. Employers can receive the other 50 percent for employees who participate in vocational training during short-time work.
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