Support measures during partial lockdown

With the new lockdown, the government support measures for entrepreneurs are back. Which measures can you apply for when your company suffers a loss in turnover due to the coronavirus measures?

On 12 November 2021, new lockdown measures were made public. To compensate for this, there will be a new government support package for the fourth quarter of 2021. The Cabinet is replacing the already announced scheme Reimbursement Fixed Costs for a. o. Night Closure (VLN) with the reintroduction of the Reimbursement Fixed Costs (TVL). In addition, it is expanding sector-specific regulation for, among other things, events and sports. Furthermore, there is a new Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Sustained Employment, the so-called NOW5. Due to the tightening of the lockdown on 18 December, the TVL scheme has been extended and the cabinet is developing a new NOW measure, NOW6.

Reimbursement Fixed Costs (TVL Q4 2021 and TVL Q1 2022)

• The TVL is meant for entrepreneurs who expect a loss in turnover of at least 30 % in the fourth quarter of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020. The subsidy is also available to entrepreneurs who have not previously made use of the TVL.

Application

• Application period: TVL Q4 2021: 20 December 2021 – 28 January 2022, 17:00h. The precise date of the application period for TVL Q1 2022 will be announced on rvo.nl as soon as possible.
• TVL can be applied for at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland, RVO).
• A declaration of an independent expert (bookkeeper, tax expert, accountant) is required for applications over EUR 25,000. For applications over EUR 125,000, a is also required. Your accountant can find it on the site of the NBA, our downstairs neighbours. The application period is very short, therefore it is important to start this as soon as possible!

Conditions

• The company was established and registered with the Chamber of Commerce before 30 June 2020.
• The company was registered with an SBI code from this list as its main activity on 15 March 2020. The SBI code determines the corresponding percentage of fixed costs for the TVL.
• The company has at least one branch in the Netherlands.
• This branch has a separate front door or entrance from the home address. This does not include restaurants, cafés, ice cream parlours, etc.
• The company did not receive more than EUR 2.3 million in government support for fixed costs between March 2020 and 31 December 2021.

Compensation

• Normal turnover x % loss in turnover x % share of fixed costs of the sector x 100%. Please note that the TVL subsidy can be included in the calculation of a rent reduction due to the lockdown.
• Per quarter, the minimum subsidy is EUR 1,500 and the maximum subsidy amount is EUR 550,000 for small and mid-sized companies and EUR 600,000 for large companies.

Starters

• If the company was registered with the Chamber of Commerce after 30 September 2019, but before 1 July 2020, the following can be chosen as reference period:
  • between 1 October 2019 and 31 December 2019: Q1 2020 or Q3 2020.
  • between 1 January 2020 and 31 March 2020: Q2 2020 or Q3 2020.
  • between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2020: only Q3 2020.

Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Sustained Employment (NOW5)

• Relates to the period 1 November 2021 – 31 December 2021.

Application

• Application period: 13 December 2021 up to and including 31 January 2022. The application can be submitted via the UWV website.

Conditions

• The loss in turnover in the months of November and December 2021 taken together must be at least 20%. The reference period is 2019. In order to compare the turnover in 2019 with that in November and December 2021, the annual turnover in 2019 must be divided by 6. A different arrangement applies to starters. See “Starters”.

• Companies making use of NOW5 are not allowed to pay a bonus or dividend for 2021. This ban applies to employers who have received an advance of EUR 125,000 or more or if the final subsidy is EUR 125,000 or more. In addition, the entity is not allowed to repurchase its own shares.
  In the case of a group, the bonus ban applies to the board and management of the group and the entity applying for the subsidy. The dividend ban applies to the entire group, even if the NOW5 application is only made at operating company level. Again, the entity may not repurchase its own shares.

Compensation

• The wage subsidy amounts to a maximum of 85% of the percentage in turnover loss.
• The wage sum is calculated on the basis of the wages paid in September 2021 with a fixed mark-up of 40%.
• The daily wage to be reimbursed is capped at twice the maximum daily wage.
• Payment in one instalment.
• The percentage for the wage sum exemption has been increased to 15%. This means that only when the employer’s wage bill is reduced by more than 15% the NOW subsidy will be reduced.

Dismissal during NOW5

• Employers who make use of NOW5 are obliged to make an effort to help the employee from job to job in the event of economic dismissal. The employer does this by calling the UWV. If the employer does not do so, the consequence will be a 5% reduction in the subsidy.
• This obligation applies to dismissal between 27 November and 31 December 2021.

Starters:

• Entrepreneurs who started between 1 February 2020 and 30 September 2021, can also apply for NOW5. For them, the following reference periods apply for calculating the loss in turnover:
  • between 1 February 2020 and 1 July 2021: 1 July 2021 up to and including 31 October 2021.
  • between 1 July 2021 and 30 September 2021: from the first full calendar month of turnover up to and including 31 October 2021.

For both periods, the turnover should be converted to two months so that it is comparable with the November and December period applicable to NOW5.

Lawyers for corporate law and employment law

Do you have questions about the support measures? Or would you like to learn more about other possibilities to limit the consequences of the lockdown, such as rent reduction? Please contact our legal coronavirus crisis team:

• Jan Dop, LL.M. (jan.dop@russell.nl)
• Reinier W.L. Russell, LL.M. (reinier.russell.nl)

You can also call us on 020 – 301 55 55 or ask your question using the contact form below.