Credit: House of Entrepreneurship

Luxembourg's General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises has announced the extension of support measures for businesses in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, until June 2021 inclusive.

In the context of this extension, the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce are joining forces to inform and raise awareness of the measures available. 

Changes to the new stimulus aid and aid for uncovered costs came into effect today, Wednesday 24 March 2021. Application forms are now available on Guichet.lu

The main changes are as follows:

- the new stimulus aid and aid for uncovered costs have been extended until June 2021 inclusive;

- companies subject to legal closure and those having suffered a turnover loss of at least 75% due to legal restrictions on gatherings can receive aid covering 100% of their uncovered costs from 1 February 2021;

- companies subject to legal closure may also deduct from their income part of the turnover achieved through delivery and take-away services, up to an amount corresponding to 25% of their turnover in 2019 or, for companies that did not exist in 2019, compared to their average monthly turnover in the previous months.

- startups can now benefit from aid for uncovered costs, with retroactive effect from November 2020. They can now also benefit from the recovery aid if they started their activities between 1 November and 31 December 2020;

- companies whose loss of turnover for the month of January 2021 was less than 25% can benefit from the new stimulus aid for the month of January 2021 if they have been the subject of a legal obligation to close during that month (e.g. non-food retail stores, gyms, etc.).

National information campaign

The General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises recognised that some eligible entrepreneurs remain insufficiently informed about the support measures available to them. As such, the General Directorate and the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce are launching an information campaign focussing on the aid available and support provided by the House of Entrepreneurship in relation to the various aid-related procedures. Under the slogan "À l'aide! Besoin d'aide(s) pour surmonter la crise? La House of Entrepreneurship vous accompagne!" (“Help! Need help to overcome the crisis? The House of Entrepreneurship is here to support you!”, the campaign includes testimonial videos, radio spots, posters, banner ads and a brochure with infographics aimed at both entrepreneurs and fiduciaries.

Luxembourg's Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Lex Delles, commented: “We note that, although the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises has paid more than €317 million to businesses and the self-employed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the eligible companies have not submitted an aid application. Our information campaign will ensure that eligible companies are aware of the aid from which they can benefit and clarify the conditions and practical modalities of the various support measures. It is important for me to stress that the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise​s treats each case quickly and carefully in order to guarantee effective support. However, it is essential that the applications are completed carefully and submitted as soon as possible. That is why I invite all eligible businesses to apply for assistance in good time”.

Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, added that “the Chamber of Commerce and its House of Entrepreneurship help entrepreneurs whose activity is affected by the health crisis to access as quickly as possible the aid intended for them. This support is not limited to administrative assistance to fill in the application forms, but also includes advice on existing aid and on how to successfully relaunch". He invited entrepreneurs to contact the House of Entrepreneurship for support via email: covid19@houseofentrepreneurship.lu or via tel.: 423939-600.