Novemberhilfe, Dezemberhilfe, Neustarthilfe, Soforthilfe … please explain?

Lockdown ruining your revenue? Homeschooling your kids instead of earning? Enter a confusing array of government grants designed to compensate you. There are so many of them, it’s hard to keep track. Here’s what we know so far.

What is Soforthilfe II?

It was a government grant administered by the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) to help small businesses between March and May 2020 when the first lockdown hit Germany. Payment was quick … a little too quick. Some applicants got the right spot in the waiting line and received special treatment (they could use the funds for whatever they wanted), others got purely federal funding with more restrictions. The IBB is now trying to recover as much of this money as they can by asking recipients if they really needed the funds and encouraging them to pay it back if they didn’t – read more about that here. Anyway, applications closed on 31.05.2020.

What is Überbrückungshilfe II?

This programme is the sequel to Soforthilfe, is federal funding and is currently still running until the end of 2020. It covers your operational costs for the months September – December 2020.

Eligible: businesses, freelancers, organisations or clubs who have a liquidity shortage between September and December 2020 due to Corona. Your revenue fell by 50% for two months in a row or 30% on average since April 2020.

Cutoff date: 31.1.2021

How to apply: Get a tax advisor or lawyer to help you. You can’t do it alone.

Friendly tip: It’s tax season and tax advisors will be frantically running about between now and February 2020 completing tax returns for their clients. Find a tax advisor who can help you now and don’t leave it til the last minute.

What is Überbrückungshilfe III?

This is the continuance of Überbrückungshilfe II (which covers operational costs) and there are some changes to accommodate applicants who can’t access Novemberhilfe or Dezemberhilfe.

Eligible: businesses, freelancers, organisations or clubs who have a liquidity shortage between September and December 2020 due to Corona. Special rule: your revenue fell by 40% in November and/or December and you couldn’t access Novemberhilfe or Dezemberhilfe. Otherwise, as for Überbrückungshilfe II, your revenue fell by 50% for two months in a row or 30% on average since April 2020.

Cutoff date: 31.1.2021

How to apply: Get a tax advisor or lawyer to help you. You can’t do it alone.

Friendly tip: It’s tax season and tax advisors will be frantically running about between now and February 2020 completing tax returns for their clients. Find a tax advisor who can help you now and don’t leave it til the last minute.

What is Novemberhilfe?

Novemberhilfe is federal government support covering partial loss of revenue for the month of November 2020 due to the Lockdown Light measures. It is paid in a lump sum and compensates 75% of the November revenue you were expecting.

Eligible: businesses, freelancers, organisations or clubs who are directly, indirectly or indirectly (through a third party) affected by Lockdown Light measures.

Cutoff date: 31.1.2021

How to apply: Get a tax advisor to help you, unless you’re a solo freelancer applying for less than 5,000 EUR, in which case, apply here.

Friendly tip: You’ll need an ELSTER certificate. Also, get your application right the first time. Once you submit it, you can’t change it and you only get one shot.

What is Dezemberhilfe?

Dezemberhilfe will follow the same rules as Novemberhilfe. You can get up to 75% compensation for loss of revenue due to closures in December, paid in one lump sum.

Eligible: businesses, freelancers, organisations or clubs who are directly, indirectly or indirectly (through a third party) affected by Lockdown measures in December.

Cutoff date: 31.03.2021

How to apply: Here. 

Friendly tip: You can’t include income earned from abroad when you’re calculating your revenue. (Same as Novemberhilfe).

What is Neustarthilfe für Soloselbstständige?

This one is part of Überbrückungshilfe III, it’s designed for solo freelancers, who haven’t really been able to profit from Überbrückungshilfe because they don’t have large fixed costs such as an office. It’s a one-off payment of up to 5,000 EUR (based on 25% of your revenue in a reference month), designed to cover your operational costs without you having to prove them all individually.

Eligible: solo self-employed and freelancers

Cutoff date: Applications start on 01.01.2021 but we don’t know when they close.

How to apply: Have a look here in January

Friendly tip: 25% of one month’s worth of revenue is unlikely to be more than a three-digit payout. You might have to pay part of it back if you end up earning more than you expected.

Hope this helps! Life Admin is the perfect online translation service for going through the application online with a German speaker who has helped plenty of others with similar applications.