COVID RENT – CALL 2 of the Entrepreneurship Support Program

As a result of the restrictions laid down in the governmental crisis measures, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has reopened the information system (AIS MPO), through which entrepreneurs can apply for rent subventions. The system will be open until January 21, 2021 11:59 p.m.

The key document regulating this support is CALL 2 to the Program for the support of entrepreneurs affected by the global spread of COVID- 19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Virus (hereinafter the „Call no. 2“) and the relevant governmental resolutions [1].

Eligible applicants

The eligible applicant for this state support is defined in Article 4.1 c) of the Call no. 2. In general, it is the entrepreneur (a natural person or a legal entity conducting business under The Trade Licensing Act) who has been renting the premises for their business from July 1 to September 30, 2020 (relevant period) and who has been affected by the governmental crisis measures. The subventions are intended especially to those, whose premises had to close down completely. The applicant is further required to have an active trade, i.e. the performance of their trade may not be interrupted when submitting the application.

Call no. 2 also determines who is not an eligible applicant [2] – this relates namely to the entrepreneurs whose operation has been only partially restricted or not at all (such as operators of gas station, pharmacies etc.).

Conditions for granting support

Given the fact that the amount of support is calculated from the total aggregate rent for the relevant period, it is required that the applicant has had a lease agreement before July 1, 2020. In the event of termination of such lease during the relevant period (i.e. before September 30, 2020), the support is calculated on the basis of the rent for the period from July 1, 2020 to the date of termination of the lease.

The applicant must also meet all of the other conditions, e.g. he must not be a party related to the landlord, the applicant must not be in default with any of his obligations to selected institutions (especially to the Tax Office, health insurance companies or to the Czech Social Security Administration) or to those who provide support from projects co-financed from the EU budget [3].

The important obligation of the applicant, conditioning the provision of the support, is the payment of at least 50% of the rent for the relevant period prior to submitting the application for support. The reason behind this is that amount of the support shall represent 50 % of the rent (i.e. the other half). The support provided under Call no. 2 is further limited by the conditions of the Temporary Framework of the European Commission.

Submission of the Application

The application can be submitted from October 21, 2020 to January 21, 2021, through an electronic form (available at AIS MPO). The process consists of in filling out the standardized form and of uploading the supporting documentation. An official video guide directly from the Ministry is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-n-l3U37UE&feature=emb_title.

The application must contain, above all, the following annexes:

• an affidavit of the beneficiary that he is an eligible applicant and meets all conditions of the Call no. 2;
• an affidavit of the landlord on the existing lease agreement, either with a verified signature or with an electronic signature;
• a document confirming the payment of the usual amount of rent for two consecutive months; and
• a document confirming the payment of 50 % of the rent for the relevant period.

 

Please note that this article reflects the situation on October 29, 2020.

 

[1] Support under the Call no. 2 is provided on the basis of the Governmental Resolution no. 550 of May 18, 2020 and the Governmental Resolution no. 1037 of October 14, 2020.

[2] The circle of eligible applicants does not apply to entities pursuant to Article I. point 8 and entities pursuant to Article II. Point 5 and 6 of the Governmental Resolution no. 1103 of October 26, 2020.

[3] However, in this case, late payments of taxes or levies made on the basis of the liberation packages of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs are not considered as such defaults.