Corona Emergency Aid

You can find the new application for Emergency Aid II based on federal funds here. 

• For companies: General company data: Legal form*, name*, date of foundation*, website, registration number (e.g. commercial register number), branch of industry*, company address*, number of employees* (full-time equivalents, excl. trainees and 450€ employees)  

• For solo self-employed and freelancers: details of the owner/legal representative: Name*, contact* (telephone and e-mail), tax ID*, identity card or passport* (the last five digits of the ID number)

• Bank details of the company or the self-employed person: Account holder*, International Bank Account Number (IBAN)* A German account must be specified here!

* This information is mandatory.

The Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) is responsible for implementing, auditing and distributing the money on behalf of the Land of Berlin. The application for Soforthilfe II can only be made online. It is not necessary to log into the IBB's customer portal. Applications by mail are not permitted. Only one application is necessary to apply for state and federal funding.

The application generally refers to solo self-employed and freelancers. This also includes actresses, dancers, artists, musicians, performers, museum guides and all those who earn their living with art and culture. So, you are explicitly entitled to apply! And even small and micro-enterprises with up to ten employees or up to five employees (see under "How much money will you get?") can submit an application.

Important: The company headquarters or self-employment must be registered in Berlin. However, citizenship is irrelevant for the application.

• Freelancers and micro-enterprises with up to five employees (full-time equivalents possible) can apply for 9,000 € (federal funding) per application. 

• Small companies with more than five and up to ten employees (full-time equivalents possible) can submit up to 15,000 € (federal funding) per application.

Part-time employees can be converted into full-time employees (full-time equivalents). Trainees and employees on a 450-euro basis can also be converted into full-time employees.

Fee-based employees do not count as employed.

The Corona grant can be used for operating costs and commercial material and financial expenses such as:

- commercial rents
- Lease expenses
- business telecommunications expenses
- running costs for providers, domains, webspaces etc. and maintenance costs
- staff costs for employees, if not covered by the short-time working allowance (Since 20th of April 2020, salaries of employees may no longer be financed from federal funds.)

Managing director salaries, private withdrawals or the compensation of loss of turnover and fees for personal living expenses, health insurance contributions etc. are not included. On the other hand, the "social protection package" adopted on 27th March 2020 opens up access to basic provision for six months at much easier conditions.

In the application for the Soforthilfe of 5,000 € you declare your economic plight and affirm in lieu of oath that all information given is true to the best of your knowledge and belief. You do not have to submit any receipts or documents. As I said, we are all in crisis, honesty strengthens solidarity. As already mentioned above, it can be checked retrospectively. Accordingly, you should be able to make your existentially threatening state of emergency credible retrospectively. It is therefore advisable to keep appropriate evidence for later verification (such as contract cancellations, email communication regarding cancelled performances or official orders etc.).

The Corona grant (Soforthilfe II) from federal and Land funds (paid out in Berlin by the IBB) is to be recorded as operating income in the determination of profits. This subsidy is taken into account in the assessment of income or corporation tax with an effect on profits. This only has an effect when the tax return for 2020 has to be submitted, i.e. next year at the earliest. Only if a positive profit was generated in 2020 will the individual tax rate be due on the subsidy.

Once you have reached the "Thank you for your application" section on the page, your application has been successfully received. You should receive a confirmation e-mail with your application ID within a day. If this is not the case or if there are problems, please contact the IBB via the contact form.

The IBB endeavours to transfer the money within three days of the application. However, there have also been reports of transfers within a few hours after successful application.

You can now contact the IBB via the following contact form.

Here you find the FAQ as of 31 March.

From March 27th to April 1st (12:00), applications for state subsidies (blanked amount of 5,000 €) and grants for operating costs from federal funds could be submitted via the program Soforthilfe II. Since April 6th, only federal funds can be applied for via the program Soforthilfe II. An overview of both grants can be found here.

Further FAQs on the Soforthilfe II Berlin: 

information from Berliner Kultursenat

infrormation from IBB

The Emergency Aid IV is aimed at cultural and media companies affected by the Corona crisis, usually with more than 10 employees. These companies can apply for grants of up to EUR 25,000 to overcome an economic situation that threatens their existence. In justified exceptional cases even up to EUR 500,000 can be applied for. All further information can be found here.

While Emergency Aid II is aimed at self-employed persons and micro-enterprises, Emergency Aid IV is intended for small to medium-sized cultural and media enterprises. All further information can be found here.

You can submit the application from Monday, 11 May. The application period runs until Friday, May 15. 

You can find the FAQ here. 

We are partners of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the IBB and support the information and consulting process. We are available for questions that go beyond the FAQ catalogue via the IBB contact form. On the one hand, we answer your questions about the application process. On the other hand, we collect questions that are still missing in the IBB's FAQ and forward them for professional answers - so that they can be included in the IBB's FAQ. In addition, we inform the individual branches and sectors of the culture and creative industries about our networks.