COVID-19 aid: rent, taxes, jobs and loans

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. Self-employed workers and small businesses that rent business premises can ask to defer the rent. If the landlord is a large holder (more than 10 urban properties or more than 1,500 m2), the deferral is automatic and the rent is later paid in installments over two years, with no interest or penalty, for up to four months. With other landlords, the parties must reach an agreement, and the security deposit can be used to pay monthly rent.
2. VAT on medical supplies to fight COVID-19 drops to 0% until July 31, 2020, when purchased by public entities, hospitals, or non-profit social entities. Invoices must show these as exempt operations.
3. Tax measures for small businesses and the self-employed: options for corporate tax installment payments are expanded, and installment payments for self-employed workers under the objective estimation method and the simplified VAT scheme are adjusted, not counting state-of-alarm days as days of activity.
4. Being dismissed during the probation period from March 9, 2020 counts as legal unemployment status. So does voluntarily leaving a job from March 1, 2020 with a firm job offer that the other company then canceled because of the crisis.
5. Pension plan funds can be withdrawn exceptionally if you are affected by a temporary layoff (ERTEERTE Expediente de regulación temporal de empleo: a temporary layoff scheme where a company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.), had to close your business, or are a self-employed worker who stopped activity due to COVID-19. The maximum amount is capped based on lost income and a limit tied to the IPREMIPREM Indicador Público de Renta de Efectos Múltiples: an annual income reference used in Spain to calculate benefits and limits..
6. The State guarantees up to €1.2 billion in loans for families in difficulty who cannot pay the rent on their usual home, at no cost or interest to the borrower.
7. Controls against fraud in temporary layoffs (ERTEs) are strengthened: if a company provides false data so its workers improperly receive benefits, it will be sanctioned and must return those benefits when the worker acted without fraud or fault.
8. The España Deporte Global Foundation is created to fund federated, Olympic and Paralympic sport using a share of the audiovisual rights of professional soccer.

Who it affects

• Self-employed workers and small businesses: Can defer the rent on their premises and benefit from tax and social security breaks.
• Workers affected by COVID-19: Can access unemployment benefits in new situations and withdraw pension plans if laid off or if they stopped activity.
• Families struggling with rent: Can request State-guaranteed loans to pay the rent on their usual home.
• Landlords and renting companies: Must accept the rent deferral if they are large holders, and are liable if they provide false data in layoffs.
• Research entities and science parks: Can defer loan installments, and borrowing by the BSC-CNS is authorized.

Words worth knowing

ERTE

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

Gran tenedor

Large holder: a person or entity owning more than 10 urban properties (excluding garages and storage rooms) or more than 1,500 m2 of built space.

IPREM

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

Moratoria

A deferral or temporary suspension of a debt payment.

Estimación objetiva

Objective estimation method: a way for self-employed workers in Spain to calculate taxes using fixed signs, indexes or modules set by the tax agency, instead of actual income.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries