Regular payments of exceptional business assistance for December now being made

The technical requirements for the regular disbursement of extraordinary economic assistance payments for the month of December (also known as December Assistance) are now in place. This means that, today, the Länder can start implementing the programme and disburse the assistance.

The application process for December Assistance was opened on 22 December 2020 already, with disbursement of advance payments starting on 5 January to ensure that those eligible receive initial assistance as quickly as possible. There has been great demand for the advance payments. More than €1.56 billion in advance payments has been disbursed under the December Assistance Programme thus far. All in all, a total of more than €4.35 billion in November and December Assistance has already been paid out. Whilst the advance payments are disbursed by the Bundeskasse, the regular payments of December Assistance are administered by the competent bodies in the Länder. You can find a list of them here (in German).

The December Assistance Programme is aimed at businesses, self-employed people, associations and institutions that were considerably affected by the closures agreed in November and then extended to December. In order to help these quickly and with a minimum of bureaucracy, advance payments have been granted since the beginning of January. The maximum amount that can be paid out in advance is €50,000. Starting today, regular payments of assistance are being made.

Here is another overview of the essential information on exceptional business assistance for the month of December:

• Applications can be made by companies directly or indirectly affected by the closures agreed in November and extended to December.
  
  In principle, the December Assistance programme once again provides pro rata grants of up to 75% of the turnover in December 2019 based on the number of days of closure in December 2020. Like all aid, December Assistance is subject to the EU State-aid rules. For an FAQ on State aid, please click here (in German).
• Applications can be filed via a single IT platform for the whole of Germany at (www.ueberbrueckungshilfe-unternehmen.de) (in German). Applications can be submitted via tax consultants, auditors or other third parties. Own-account workers applying for a grant of less than €5,000 can submit their applications directly using their ELSTER certificate.
  
  A detailed FAQ section and information on applications for November and December Assistance can be found here (in German).
  
  The extraordinary economic assistance programme for December is subject to the EU State-aid rules. A detailed FAQ section on issues relating to the State-aid rules can be found here (in German).