News item | 14-02-2022 | 16:30
67,444 entrepreneurs have applied for the Fixed Charges Allowance (TVL) for the fourth quarter of 2021. This is double the number of entrepreneurs who applied for support in the third quarter of that year. At the moment, €570,551,612 has already been paid out to 49,316 entrepreneurs. 54% of the entrepreneurs had the TVL subsidy on their account within a week. 74% within two weeks. The RVO is expected to decide on almost 100% of the grant applications within the term of 8 weeks. The counter to submit an application closed at 5 p.m. on 11 February 2022.
The hospitality industry (restaurants and cafes) predominates with 16,690 requests. In addition, agriculture with 5,920 applications and the taxi industry with 5,867 applications are in the top 3 of applicants. Restaurants, cafes and taxis are in the top 3 of almost every TVL scheme.
Turnover loss limit to 20%
The cabinet lowered the turnover threshold from 30% to 20% on December 21, 2021 because there was a very short time between the announcement and the lockdown that took effect on Sunday, December 19, 2021. As a result, entrepreneurs had little opportunity to adjust their business operations in a timely manner. 9,693 entrepreneurs with a loss of turnover between 20% and 30% have submitted an application.
Maternity leave in the reference period
In addition, the minister announced on 31 January 2022 that entrepreneurs who had at least three weeks of maternity leave in both reference periods could use a different reference period (Q3 2020). 7 entrepreneurs made use of this option. RVO has launched a communication campaign to reach this target group. The European Commission still has to approve this change in the scheme. Until then, we will keep the requests from these entrepreneurs.
TVL Q1 2022
As soon as the European Commission approves the TVLQ1 2022, this scheme can be opened. To help as many entrepreneurs as possible, there are two reference periods on the basis of which the loss of turnover (minimum 30%) can be determined. Those are Q1 2019 and Q1 2020.
TVL period | Number of requests |
TVL 1 (June to September 2020) | 47,678 |
TVL Q4 2020 | 90.544 |
TVL Q1 2021 | 114,277 |
TVL Q2 2021 | 63,998 |
TVL Q3 2021 | 35,879 |
TVL Q4 2021 | 68.111 |
Objections
Entrepreneurs can object to any TVL decision. For some entrepreneurs, lodging an objection is the only option to draw attention to their specific situation if they do not fall within the scope of the scheme. To date, 17,902 objections have been lodged against the nearly 600,000 TVL decisions. Each objection is handled very carefully and manually by a lawyer. It is a time-consuming job that requires a lot of research.
RVO employs 100 lawyers to handle the objections. Nevertheless, it is not possible to deal with the objections within the statutory time limits. Currently, 4,752 objections are out of term. That is considerably more than RVO wants to see and above all very annoying for the entrepreneurs who are waiting for a definitive answer.
RVO has decided to give priority to entrepreneurs who have not yet received any money at all when handling the objections. Unfortunately, this means that entrepreneurs with an objection about the amount awarded will have to wait. Entrepreneurs who have lodged an objection about an amount that they must repay will also have to wait. Until then, no money back needs to be paid.
RVO has started to inform these entrepreneurs so that these entrepreneurs know when their objection will be taken up so that they at least wait informed.