Support for industries affected by lockdown – Shield 6.0

The increasing number of COVID-19 infections has resulted in the introduction of further restrictions and social limitations. From Saturday, 7 November, further restrictions will come into force, including the re-closure of shops in shopping centres and restrictions on hotel operations. During a press conference, the Prime Minister announced support for entities affected by the restrictions, including subsidies for fixed costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, cancellation of subsidies from the Polish Development Fund (PFR), extension of subsidies from the PFR for large enterprises, long-term loans, subsidies for salaries, extension of downtime allowances, exemption from social security contributions, etc. However, the draft regulations in this area have not yet been presented.

However, regulations are currently being debated in the Sejm to provide budgetary support for industries affected by earlier restrictions: catering, fitness and trade fairs. The solutions proposed there cover some of the Prime Minister's recent announcements. They may therefore be an indicator of the ‘offer’ of assistance from the state budget during the second wave of COVID-19. So what does the so-called Shield 6.0 (industry-specific) contain?

Downtime benefit

For persons conducting non-agricultural business activity (the so-called ‘self-employed’) in industries affected by previous restrictions, who have already benefited from downtime benefits under the provisions of previous Shields, Shield 6.0 grants the right to an additional, one-off downtime benefit in the amount of PLN 2,080. Contractors and employees are not eligible for this benefit.

In order to receive the downtime benefit, income from activities covered by Shield 6.0 in October or November 2020 must be at least 40% lower than the income obtained in October or November 2019, respectively.

Exemption from social security contributions due for November

The Shield 6.0 draft also provides for an exemption from the obligation to pay social security and health insurance contributions for the period from 1 to 30 November 2020. The exemption applies to contribution payers registered by 30 June 2020 whose revenue from business activities in November 2020 was at least 40% lower than the revenue generated in November 2019.

Applications for exemption from contributions for November can be submitted until 31 January 2021.

Extension of financing for existing instruments

Shield 6.0 also provides (regardless of industry) for an extension of the deadline for submitting applications for benefits introduced by previous Shields – in particular, subsidies for employee salaries from the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund pursuant to Article 15g or 15gg. However, this does not mean that the period for receiving such subsidies has been extended – assistance can still be received for a maximum of 3 months.

Applications for the payment of benefits available under previous Shields may be submitted until 10 June 2021.

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It should be remembered that the draft Shield 6.0 provides only for benefits for entrepreneurs operating in strictly defined industries: catering, fitness and trade fairs. Membership of a given industry is determined by the entry of the predominant activity. The solutions proposed in their current form will not be available to, for example, retail chains forced to close their shops in shopping centres. However, the Shield 6.0 project is still at an early stage of the legislative process and the above ‘industry’ restrictions on the recipients of aid may still change.