Any Micro, Small and Medium sized company with a German tax number is eligible for this grant as long as they can provide proof that their business has been affected by the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The “EU-KUM and the Minimis Declaration” forms need to be filled and submitted with the online application to ensure that the benefit goes only to the aforementioned types of firms. However, there are certain types of businesses that are not eligible for the grant. For example, only existing companies may apply. This means that consultancy regarding future startups or opening a new business will not be subsidized. Companies that work or want to work in business, consulting, auditing or auditing or tax advice or as lawyers, notaries, insolvency administrators or in a similar advisory role; companies that meet the requirements for opening bankruptcy proceedings or have already filed for bankruptcy; companies that are a part of religious communities, legal entities under public law or their own companies are not eligible for this grant. All nonprofit organizations are also excluded from this.

All consultations regarding measures and recommendations for action that you can take to fight against the Corona crisis are covered by the grant. Consultancy ranging from organisational structure of your company to digitizing and acquiring new customers can be covered by BAFA. You can still apply for the grant even if you have received any sort of emergency government aid. The amount of consultations do not matter as long as the total cost does not exceed €4,000. Only individual advice will count as consultancy whereas seminars and workshops will not. If the consultancy services are funded by other public grants or are used to fulfill the applicant company’s internal operations like creating contracts or doing accounting work, then they will not be eligible for the grant. Any advisory services that include illegal and/or unethical content will also not be subsidised.

The grant covers 100% of the consulting costs up to €4,000. In addition to the fee, the consulting costs also include travel and extra expenses of the consultant. However VAT is not included in the grant which means you will have to pay any extra VAT charges.

The subsidy is paid by BAFA directly to the consultant. This means that you do not have to pay upfront, instead the consultant will send the invoice to BAFA and get paid by them directly. If the consultancy fees exceed the maximum grant of €4000, you will need to pay these directly to the consultant. If the consultant is VAT registered, you are liable to pay the VAT on the whole consultancy cost.

To apply for the grant you do not need to contact any regional representative of BAFA. All you need to do is to apply via the online portal and upload the signed “EU-KUM and the Minimis Declaration” along with the use case document there. Applications should be submitted online via the BAFA application portal . The BAFA has noted a few additional notes in the appendix to the Information Sheet to make it easier to apply. The whole process is straightforward, easy and fast. However, all the information and the form are in german so it is best to let a german speaker fill it out to avoid any confusion.

You can find more information on the links below: BAFA website (German) Extra Info Sheet from BAFA (German) Online application portal You can also contact us and we will be happy to explore your options with you, and/or provide additional guidance in English.