WILLEMSTAD - The Minister of Economic Development, Dr. Steven Martina announced that starting Monday, January 4, 2021 at 4 p.m., companies can submit their application to receive a contribution towards their company's fixed costs. In addition to the NOW scheme that enables the employer to keep employees in service, the credit facility for SMEs and the support for self-employed persons, there will be extra support for the Curaçao business community. Namely the Fixed Expenses Allowance or TVL (in Dutch). Companies with employees who have seen their average turnover decrease by more than 25% from July to September 2020 may qualify for this arrangement. Applications can be submitted up to and including Monday 11 January 2021 at 4 p.m. via the portal at www.fondodisosten.org or via e-mail with link for companies that already have an application for the NOW scheme.
Background of the TVL scheme
The government's policy is to support naturally healthy companies to get through the COVID-19 crisis. If these companies were to close or go bankrupt now, it will take many years for the lost business and employment to be back to normal, just like the period before March 2020.
Fixed costs are the costs that continue, even if no turnover is made by a company. These are usually rent, lease, interest and principal payments, insurance, lease payments and subscriptions. A contribution to the fixed costs also means that the business owner can pay his creditors more easily. This prevents a domino effect from occurring as a result of the fact that business owners can no longer pay their bills, causing other entrepreneurs, insurance companies and local banks to run into liquidity problems. For the companies on Curaçao a fee of NAf. 23.8 million has been made available for the fixed costs allowance.
The allowance and conditions
Companies on Curaçao that are registered with the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) before February 28, 2020 and employ employees, are eligible for this scheme in addition to the NOW scheme if the average fall in turnover was at least 25% in the third quarter of the year 2020. Companies that were affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis may qualify for a one-off payment. This benefit is based on:
the turnover in the third quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019;
the 32% share of the fixed costs in the turnover as calculated by the Central Bureau of Statistics; and
the share of at least 30% that the government subsidizes of the fixed costs.
The payment is at least NAf. 750, - and can go up to a maximum of NAf. 150,000 per applicant per quarter.
The execution
The application procedure has been kept as simple as possible for the companies. Companies that have previously applied for and / or received NOW will automatically be invited by email. All other companies can use the portal via www.fondodisosten.org. If there are any questions, you can consult the website or send an email to the TVL helpdesk via: tvl@fondodisosten.org.
All applications are checked by the Ministry of Economic Development and payments are made by the SVB. If necessary, an additional light check will be carried out by the tax authorities and / or the recipient. Companies that qualify for the fixed costs allowance and do not have compliance problems can receive the money in their account within one week of the closing date of the portal (11 January 2021 at 4 p.m.
With the introduction of this scheme, Minister Martina and the government hopes to bring a little extra "alivio" to the companies. This is desperately needed by the global pandemic and the impact of the Covid-19 control measures of the Curaçao government in the context of public health, on the business community.