Corona aids up to date
Here you can find the most important information about Corona aids. The FAQ will be updated continuously. Currently, it is no longer possible to apply for Corona emergency aid from IBB in Berlin. An overview of all current and past Corona aid programs can be found here.
In our Corona special newsletter we keep you up to date with regard to the currently applicable billing deadlines for the expired Corona aid programs and other support measures. Subscribe here.
All information is legally non-binding and is intended as a guide. The following list makes no claim to completeness and primarily takes into account (if still available) Corona emergency aids that can still be applied for at present, which may be relevant for artists and cultural professionals as well as for creative enterprises.
(Updated 01.08.2023)
News
- The federal special fund for cultural events expired on December 31,2022. On Berlin landing page you will find, among other things, guidelines, Excel templates for billing, the events that took place in 2022 and the zoom links to the online consultation hours. The consultation hours will take place every two weeks on Tuesdays at 2 p.m from January 10, 2023.
- Kreativ Kultur Berlin organized a Q&A info session on the subject of "Corona and taxes". The recording of the event and further information can be found here.
Congress Fund Berlin
The funding period for the program ends on December 31, 2023. Investitionsbank Beriln (IBB) acts as the new service provider for this program. Applications for specialist events that are to take place in 2023 are now possible. As a reminder: The Kongressfonds Berlin only subsidizes events that are aimed at a specialist audience, which is why exhibitions, cultural events and trade fairs, for example, are excluded from funding.
The Congress Fund Berlin (German: Kongressfonds Berlin) is a grant initiated by the state of Berlin to revitalize the event industry. Its aim is to support event planners who organize B2B events in Berlin conference hotels or event venues. It thus helps to ensure that - despite uncertain times - trade events can be safely planned and held in Berlin.
Legal entities under private and public law as well as business partnerships with legal capacity with their registered office, a permanent establishment or a branch office in Germany are eligible to apply. Furthermore, the applicant must be the organizer of the event to be held. The organizer is the person who bears the financial and entrepreneurial risk of the event.
Funding is provided for events that are aimed exclusively at a professional audience. Participants who attend out of professional motivation count as professional audience. In addition to that, the event must take place in Berlin. Examples of event formats are congresses, conferences, seminars and training courses.
Requirements for events:
- The event takes place in an event venue that has been booked for a fee.
- The event takes place by December 31, 2023.
- At least 50 participants take part in the event.
- The duration of the event is at least one day (with a program of at least four hours per day).
- The event is aimed at a professional audience.
Not eligible for funding are:
- trade fairs, exhibitions and similar formats, even if they are aimed exclusively at a professional audience and/or are associated with a congress that is eligible for funding;
- events aimed at private individuals (persons participating in the event for private reasons and incentives) or events that are serving leisure or recreational purposes;
- events that take place on the organising person's own premises;
- events that the applicant himself/herself or a third party is legally obligated to hold;
- events for which funding is provided from elsewhere, e.g. from other funding programs of the State of Berlin, the Federal Government or the European Union (income from sponsorship agreements, however, does not exclude funding);
- events already started or completed;
- party-political events.
Basic funding:
€ 25 per attending participant and per day.
Supplementary funding:
- For hybrid events, an additional € 10 per attending participant and per day.
- Events that meet certain sustainability criteria receive an additional € 25 per attending participant and per day. For this, a certain score out of various categories of the "Sustainable Event Scorecard" must be achieved.
- For decentralized events, i.e. those that take place at several fee-paying locations in Berlin at the same time, there is an additional € 10 per day. The prerequisite for this is that the participants are present at one of the event locations and that the locations are connected via online platforms.
A maximum of € 99.950 in funding can be awarded per event.Thus, the maximum funding amount was increased by € 5.000 for the previous year 2022 (previously maximum funding of € 49.950).
If an event has to be cancelled due to restrictions as set out in the Infection Protection Act, eligible expenses (only those that were actually incurred) can be settled within the scope of the grant (up to a maximum of 80% of the provisionally approved funding amount). This does not apply to costs incurred by fulfilling a contract with an event agency for the purpose of the conception, organization and implementation of an event.
An application for events in 2023 can be submitted online via the IBB customer portal or by mail. It is important to note that an individual application must be submitted for each event. Only one application can be submitted per event. As soon as it has been confirmed that the application has been received, orders and contracts for the planned event can be made. However, the confirmation of receipt does not constitute a legal claim to receiving actual funding. The organizer thus acts at his own risk.
The subsidies will only be paid out after the event has taken place. The granting authority will first issue a provisional decision in which the provisional amount of funding will be determined. After the event, the proof of use must be submitted to IBB via an electronic procedure.Once the proof of use has been checked and no objections were flagged, the approved subsidies will be paid out.
You submit the application via this website.
You need:
- A fully completed application form (including information on the applicant, the event, the event location, the event date, the event duration/day, the participants, the application amount, the account details, the hybridity; if applying for supplementary funding, information on the sustainability criteria that are expected to be met ("Sustainable Event Scorecard"); an assurance of the accuracy of the information; for legal entities, the registration number of the Transparency Database of the State of Berlin, if applicable).
- The information/attachments requested in the application form, including: proof of the legal form/existence of the applicant's institution, declaration of de minimis aid already received/applied for (de minimis declaration), declaration pursuant to Section 3 (1) of the Ordinance on the Granting of Benefits, including on measures for the advancement of women and/or for promoting the compatibility of work and family.
Information regarding Emergency Aid Corona (Emergency Aid II)
The program is no longer eligible for application. In the FAQs below, we offer you an overview of the most important questions on the subject of Emergency Aid Corona. Further, we provide information and relevant news for grant recipients. Here you will also find all important information from IBB about the Emergency Aid Corona.
The IBB is currently sending sample audit surveys to a few randomly collected grant recipients of Emergency Aid II. In this survey, the IBB inquires about the benfits and utilization of the grants received. All additionalinformation regarding the letter and data collection can be found here.
The professional association of visual artists in Berlin has published an official announcement regarding the above-mentioned sample audit survey. You can find the respective notice here.
In a press release dated 4 December 2020, IBB informed about the start of the mailing of the information letters. You can read the press release here.
From 27th March to 1st April 2020 (12 noon), it was possible to apply for the state grant (in the amount of a lump sum of € 5,000) and the operating grant from federal funds through the Emergency Aid Program II. Since 6th April 2020, only the federal funds could be applied for via the Emergency Aid Program II.
You can find an overview of both grants with information on eligibility, application period, application amount and possible uses of the individual grants here.
Here you must first answer the question: Did you apply for the Corona grant from state or federal funds or did you even receive both grants?
The Corona grant, which was paid out under state funds, can be used for personal living expenses, entrepreneurial wages, and current material and financial expenses.
The Corona grant, which is paid under federal funds, can be used for current operating costs and commercial material and financial expenses such as:
- commercial rents
- leasing expenses
- business telecommunications costs
- running costs/fees for providers, domain(s), web spaces etc. as well as maintenance costs
- Personnel costs for employees, unless covered by short-time allowance (these costs can no longer be financed from federal funds since 20.4.2020 and thus can no longer be accounted for), etc.
Salaries of managing directors, private withdrawals or the compensation of turnover and fee losses for personal living costs, health insurance contributions etc. are not included. On the other hand, the "social protection package" adopted on 27 March 2020 opens up access to basic benefits under much easier conditions.
The FAQ as of 31st March 2021 can be found here. Expanding the answers does not work with the archive version. The answers can be displayed using the browser's Developer Tool.