COVID aid bill: rent, guarantees, taxes and jobs

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would let self-employed people and small businesses hit by COVID ask for a moratorium or deferral of rent on their business premises. If the landlord is a large holder (more than 10 urban properties or more than 1,500 square meters), the moratorium is automatic and payment is spread over two years, with no interest or penalty.
2. It would create a state guarantee line of up to €1.2 billion so families in difficulty because of the pandemic can finance the rent on their main home, with loans guaranteed 100 % by the State and at no cost to the borrower.
3. The bill would apply a 0 % VAT rate until July 31, 2020 to purchases of medical supplies (masks, respirators, tests, and so on) by public entities, hospitals, and non-profit organizations.
4. It would cut the VAT rate on digital books, newspapers, and magazines to 4 %, removing the tax difference between printed and electronic books.
5. The bill would treat as legal unemployment the cases of workers dismissed during their trial period from March 9, 2020, and those who voluntarily left a job from March 1, 2020 for a job offer that then fell through because of COVID.
6. It would allow people affected by a temporary layoff (ERTEERTE Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary layoff scheme where a company suspends contracts or reduces working hours for a while.), whose business had to close, or who stopped working as self-employed because of the crisis to exceptionally withdraw money from their pension plans, capped by lost income or three times the IPREMIPREM Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples: a public income reference used in Spain to calculate benefits and income limits..
7. The bill would extend for two months the preferential right to remote work and the right to adapt schedules or reduce working hours for family reasons, and renames Article 6 of Royal Decree-Lawroyal decree-law A rule with the force of law that the Government passes because it is urgent. It applies from its publication, but the Congreso must validate it within 30 days or it lapses. 8/2020 as the 'Plan MECUIDA'.
8. It would penalize companies that submit applications with false data to obtain temporary layoffs or benefits, requiring them to repay benefits wrongly collected by their workers when the workers were not at fault.

Who it affects

• Self-employed people and small businesses renting premises: They could ask for a rent moratorium or deferral if they meet the requirements, such as a 75 % drop in revenue.
• Families renting their home who are in difficulty: They could get State-guaranteed loans to pay the rent on their main home.
• Workers affected by temporary layoffs or job loss: They could receive unemployment benefits in more cases and exceptionally withdraw their pension plan savings.
• Companies and self-employed people with tax or Social Security debts: They would get payment deferrals and facilities, plus State guarantees for financing.
• Consumers with contracts that cannot be performed because of the pandemic: They could terminate the contract within 14 days from when performance becomes impossible.

Words worth knowing

ERTE

Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary layoff scheme where a company suspends contracts or reduces working hours for a while.

Gran tenedor (large holder)

A person or entity owning more than 10 urban properties (not counting garages and storage rooms) or more than 1,500 square meters of built space.

IPREM

Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples: a public income reference used in Spain to calculate benefits and income limits.

Moratoria (moratorium)

An authorized postponement or delay in paying a debt.

Derechos consolidados (vested rights)

The money a person already has saved in their own name in a pension plan.

royal decree-law

A rule with the force of law that the Government passes because it is urgent. It applies from its publication, but the Congreso must validate it within 30 days or it lapses.

decree-law

A rule with the force of law that the Government passes because it is urgent. It applies from its publication, but the Congreso must validate it within 30 days or it lapses.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries