There are plenty of grants, loans and aid programmes proposed for residents of Germany during this difficult time, but there’s a distinct group of people who might not be eligible for any of them, and also aren’t quite ready to dive into the world of welfare at the speed of light: solo freelancers and small businesses. Recognising this, Bavaria took the lead and introduced “immediate aid” for small businesses and freelancers. NRW, Hamburg, Baden-Württemberg and Thüringen followed suit. Berlin and Niedersachsen are the latest states to offer the grant.
Edited 26.03.2020
The details in Bavaria
Who is eligible?
You’re eligible if you are a freelancer (Freiberufler in a tax sense) or a self-employed person (Gewerbetreibende) with up to 250 employees, and your business is registered in Bavaria.
You are not eligible if you are a “firm in difficulty” (Unternehmen in Schwierigkeit), meaning that your firm is eligible for state aid for restructuring or rescuing, unless the circumstances that led to this status can be pinpointed to the Corona outbreak.
How much money can I expect to receive?
This will depend on your answers to the questions about liquidity shortfalls, but the maximum amounts are:
- 5,000 euros for businesses with up to 5 employees
- 7,500 euros for businesses with up to 10 employees
- 15,000 euros for businesses with up to 50 employees
- 30,000 euros for businesses with up to 250 employees
How can I apply?
If you’re in Bavaria, this can all happen very quickly. This is the beauty of this “immediate aid” – it actually gets deposited quickly. There’s a simple, 2-page application form to fill out, sign, scan and send by email. An electronic application in Germany! Who would have thought?
Just note that they will probably want to review your actual earnings later down the track, and if it turns out that you got overpaid, you might have to pay some or all of it back.
Where can I send my application?
Send it to your regional district office, you can find the details on the website.
The details in Niedersachsen
Businesses can get anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 EUR depending on the number of people they employ. Details here.
The details in NRW
In NRW the maximum amount is 2,000 EUR, and it’s geared specifically at freelance artists and performers. You have to include proof of the contracts/events that got cancelled. The application form is here.
The details in Thürigen
The details in Baden-Württemberg
The details in Hamburg
https://www.ifbhh.de/magazin/news/coronavirus-hilfen-fuer-unternehmen
The details in Berlin
Here is the application form. It’s for 5,000 EUR for the first 6 months. The IBB is experiencing issues with crashing servers, understandably. You will probably get a waiting number to fill out the form, and you’ll. have 35 minutes to begin the process and 60 minutes to submit it.
Will applying for Soforthilfe II affect my residence permit?
According to an email received by the Landeseinwanderungsamt in Berlin, no.
Can you help me apply?
Since we can’t control when you will get in line, we can’t offer our usual Life Admin service. Instead, we’ve published a video and step-by-step English language guide to filling out the application form. You can download it here for 14,50 EUR.
Stay safe, stay healthy, wash your hands and dream desperately of summer!
Kathleen Parker
Is the Job Center accept people / forms at the office of neukolln or i have to send it online/post ? thanks !
Sent it by post or put it in the silver mailbox out the front.
Hi Kathleen,
Do you think this grant would be available for Non-EU freelancers as well or is it just for EU residents? (I’m currently in Berlin and just got my freelance visa in December)
If it also works for Non-EU like me, I’d like to book an appointment with you. thanks!
Do you know if they are planning to offer this kind of support for Freelance in Rheinland-Pfalz
we haven’t yet heard of anything in Rheinland-Pfalz but will keep our ear to the ground, I imagine more states will roll it out in due time.
Hi Kathleen
Do you know if one can use a 2018 tax Bescheid for the Soforthilfe ?
Thank you
Kate
If you mean Soforthilfe II for freelancers, You won’t need to upload any documents. I just got the latest update! It really will be quick and painless.
Hey, this has been a very informative feed. I am an English freelancer trainer in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg but as you can imagine almost all of my work has been put on hold until further notice leaving me with my usual bills to pay and no income after March.
Does anyone know the progress of freelancer related support or grants in my state?
Actually, yes! Have a look here and book a half-hour slot if you’d like to go through the application before sending it off.
Hello Kathleen,
I’m in the queue for the Corona rescue grant (on the frozen site) currently…. who knows when things will grind into gear again?! But in the meantime, I found some information stating that freelancers with non-permanent resident permits aren’t eligible. Can you confirm whether this is the case? I’m non EU, if that’s also relevant…..
Many many thanks for all the info you provide.
Susie
Dear Kathleen,
Thank you for the information! In my case, I am married to a German and by June, I will apply for my German citizenship. I was wondering if I take this Corona grant would affect my citizenship application.
Stay safe,
Carla
No, it won’t affect your citizenship application negatively. Having said that, you may still be required to prove that you can cover your living costs with an ongoing income come June when you submit your docs for citizenships.
Hallo,
Could you help me with this? I already applied and received the fund from IBB, but what does that mean if I want also to apply again to the job center? Are these 5000 euros considered as an income to my future abschließend EKS? Will I have to pay taxes for these money at the second quarter? These money were transferred to my personal account and not to my business account. Is that ok?
No-one can answer these questions definitively. Here’s my take: if you received 5,000 as “Landesmittel”, you can either use it to cover your business expenses exclusively, or you could use it to pay yourself a “salary” as a freelancer. Either way, you probably won’t have to pay it back, but if you pay yourself a “salary” and thus use it to cover your personal expenses, it might affect your ALGII application (though for the next 5 months, they are dropping a lot of the check processes anyway). My advice is to simply apply for ALGII if you feel you need it, be honest about the money you received on the application form and let the JobCenter figure out if and to what degree you are eligible for funds.
Hi Kathleen,
I’ve been in Berlin since October, after moving from Australia. I have a 4 year Aufenhaltstitel that’s ‘attached’ to my wife’s Blue Card. As a singer I had my first lot of work lined up for the summer and have signed the contracts. One production in May/June and then one in July. One or both may not go ahead due to COVID-19. It was to be my first work/income here in Germany. I have a Persönliche Identifikationsnummer from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, but obviously haven’t paid tax yet as I have not yet worked. Am I able to apply for the IBB grant? And would it affect my visa in the future? Cheers, Josh
Hi Josh,
If you haven’t registered your business in Berlin (even as a freelancer) with the tax office, then no, you won’t be eligible for the Soforthilfe. I don’t know whether you would be eligible if you register your freelance business with the Finanzamt by filling out the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung and simply backdating the “Gründungsdatum” (the date you want to start your company) to when you received your freelance residence permit. It might then be possible to apply for the Soforthilfe grant by 31.05.2020. It’s a possibility – you could write to IBB if you want to be sure you’re not breaking any rules. But even if it were possible, the grant can only be used for running costs, and as a singer, you’re not going to have many that you can justify.
Hi Kathleen,
I wasn’t aware that I needed to register as a freelancer as my Visa has a Ewerbstatigkeit gestatten! Oops!
I wasn’t sure what type of singing engagement I was going to be able to find/ what would be available to audition for, so didn’t immediately register as a freelancer for the sake of it. (Maybe is should anyway, in case I get a freelance gig that’s not through a theatre?:)
But, as you said, this IBB loan isn’t really useable for me as a singer since they changed the guidelines on 31.3.2020.
Thanks so much for the info and answering my question so thoroughly!
Cheers, Josh
My Husband Was retired in November 2018 and he started looking for doing something himself and he explored some busíness opportunities in India around May June 2019 and he registered the company in Munich. He was suppose to go for the round of meetings to explore more business but then this Carona thing happened. Is he eligible to get any money from state.
Hi Arvind. Maybe. If he’s registered in Germany and he needs money to cover his business expenses, there is the Bavarian Soforthilfe program. If he can’t cover his living expenses anymore, he could apply for ALGII.