On Tuesday, 23 June 2020, the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic published the call for submitting applications for the provision of rent subsidies. The call contains more detailed conditions that must be met by the lessee in order to apply for the state subsidy. Read also our previous News Flash on State subsidies for entrepreneurs in Slovakia to find out more about this topic.
NOTICE! On 31 December 2019, the lessee may not be a company in difficulty.
As mentioned in our previous article, the eligible applicant is the lessee, who can apply for the subsidy through the lessor.
As in the case of employee wage contributions, the lessee, as the applicant, must meet specific conditions. They include, among others, the provision of the lessee’s statement that, on 31 December 2019, he was not a company in difficulty. However, if you got into difficulties after this date due to the coronavirus crisis, you can apply for the subsidy.
In this context, the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic has published a test on its website (in Slovak) where you can easily verify the status of your company.
When is it necessary to indicate the ultimate beneficial owner in the application?
Another new condition is that if the required amount of the rent subsidy exceeds EUR 100,000 the application must also contain an indication of the ultimate beneficial owner.
Should you fail to state the ultimate beneficial owner in the application, the subsidy will not be provided to you. It is therefore essential that the lessee provides the lessor with all necessary assistance when filling out the form.
What conditions must be met by non-governmental non-profit organizations?
In addition, in the case of applicants being non-governmental non-profit organizations, the data in the relevant register must include:
- the name and registered office of the registered entity,
- its ID number (IČO) and legal form,
- identification data of a natural person being a statutory body or member of a statutory body of the registered entity to the following extent: name, surname, date of birth, personal ID number, and address of permanent residence.
Therefore, if you have not yet entered these data in the relevant register, we recommend you to do so as soon as possible and check the activation of your electronic mailbox.
Is it possible to apply for the subsidy even if the lessor and the lessee are related persons?
Even in such case, you can apply for the subsidy under the same conditions as non-related persons.
As an example, the Ministry cites a situation where: “The business company has two partners with an equal 50% share in the registered capital of this company. One of the partners is also the owner of the property leased by the company. Based on the Measure of the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic, the operation of the business company was closed for a certain period, and the rent for the said difficult period was EUR 1,000. The business company as the lessee did not pay the rent. The natural person as the lessor has provided a 50% discount (EUR 500) on this part of the rent to his business company. If the lessor and the lessee succeed in applying for the subsidy, another 50% (EUR 500) will be paid to the lessor by the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic.”
What is the procedure for applying for the subsidy?
The application for the rent subsidy shall be submitted by the lessor on behalf of the lessee and at his account, i.e. the rent subsidy will be paid to the lessor’s account. The application for the rent subsidy shall be submitted electronically via the electronic service on slovensko.sk, where the lessor will fill out the form for himself and for the lessee.
You do not have to look for this application, because the link to it is published on the Ministry’s website (in Slovak). After clicking on the link, the system will redirect you to slovensko.sk, where the form will be made available to you after logging in to your electronic mailbox and will guide you step by step through filling it out. Should you fail to enter the required information, the form will notify you.
You will then need to make the form available to the lessee. He has to check the accuracy of the entered data, sign the form and send it back to you within 48 hours. Then the form must be signed by you and submitted. Upon receipt of the application, the Ministry of Economy will check the accuracy of the data. If all the conditions are met and the form is filled out correctly, the Ministry will approve it and send a notification of the approval of the subsidy to the lessor and the lessee.
The reason for non-approval of the rent subsidy may be, for example, non-fulfilment of the conditions for providing the rent subsidy, incorrect or incomplete signatures, duplication of applications for the rent subsidy, identification of the lessor and the lessee as the same entity, and the like.
Till when can the application be submitted?
The applications for the rent subsidies can be submitted until 30 November 2020, and the Ministry will pay the subsidies no later than the end of this calendar year. In connection with the submission of the applications, the Ministry has published the schedule for the submission of the applications for individual regions, which will be subsequently supplemented by further dates.
CONTACT
Simona Klučiarová
Senior Associate | Accace Slovakia
E-mail: Simona.Kluciarova@accace.com
Tel: +421 2 325 53 000
