Public grants in the Region of Murcia

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The Region of Murcia's Institute of Economic Development has published a COVID line of direct grants for the self-employed and businesses to mitigate the effects of COVID. This public grants scheme forms part of Royal Decree 5/21, which sets out to provide companies and the self-employed with EUR 7,000 million in public grants.

What does the grant consist of?

The grant consists of a sum of money which must be exclusively used to pay off debt and make payments to suppliers, including the wages of employees, and other creditors, financial or non-financial, and the fixed costs incurred by the party applying for the grant, provided the payments accrued between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2021, in relation to contracts prior to 13 March 2021.

The beneficiaries eligible for these grants are classified in the following categories:

Entrepreneurs or professionals and companies covered by the CNAE activity sectors defined in the Order of 31 May 2021 by the Department of Enterprise, Employment, Universities and Spokespersons, and created prior to 2020, whose annual volume of business in terms of VAT or equivalent indirect tax in 2020 fell by more than 30% with respect to 2019.
Entrepreneurs or professionals applying the objective-estimate personal income tax system in the CNAE sectors defined in the Order.
Consolidated groups paying corporation tax in consolidated format whose annual volume of business in 2020 fell by more than 30% with respect to 2019.

What requirements must I satisfy?

Beneficiaries of the grants must meet the following requisites:

They must be registered for tax purposes in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (with the exception of the scenarios stipulated in Article 6.2 of the Order)¹.
Attest to an activity classified in Annex I of the Order, in 2019 and 2020, which must still be ongoing at the time of submission of the application (see link).
Other requirements:

They must not have been convicted on a firm ruling barring them from obtaining subsidies or public grants, or for offences relating to prevarication, bribery, misappropriation of public funds, influence peddling, fraud and illegal collection of funds or urban development offences.
They must not, for any proceedings in which they have been found guilty, have given rise to the definitive termination of any contract drawn up with the authorities.
They must be up to date with the payment of their obligations in relation to refunds of subsidies or public grants.
They must be up to date concerning compliance with their tax obligations and social security obligations.
They must not have requested voluntary bankruptcy proceedings, they must not have been declared insolvent in any proceedings, they must not be in bankruptcy, unless an agreement has been reached in such proceedings, they must not be subject to judicial proceedings or have been declared ineligible as per Bankruptcy Law 22/2003 of 9 July, if the period of ineligibility established in the bankruptcy ruling has not terminated.
They must not have tax residence in a country or territory officially classified as a tax haven.

In addition to these requisites, the beneficiaries of the grants must expressly undertake the following commitments and obligations on submission of the application:

Continue the activity corresponding to the grant up to 30 June 2022.
Refrain from distributing dividends in 2021 and 2022.
Refrain from approving any increases in the remuneration of senior management over a period of two years following the date of resolution of approval of the subsidy.
Within one month of notification of approval of the subsidy, beneficiaries must undertake the following publicity and maintain it for 2 years, by means of, as the case may be, the beneficiary's website: “this company has received a subsidy from the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia funded by the Government of Spain, to support business solvency in response to the Covid-19 pandemic”.
Beneficiaries will be subject to the obligations established in Article 14 of Law 38/2003 of 17 November, and Article 11 of Law 7/2005 of 18 November on Subsidies from the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.

Nor will the authorities consider as beneficiaries any entrepreneurs or professionals, consolidated entities and groups which, in their direct estimate of personal income tax, corporation tax or non-resident income tax for 2019, declared a negative net result.

How much is the grant?

The amount of the grant cannot exceed the amount of any subsidisable expenses paid by each beneficiary, and the following thresholds will also be considered:

Entrepreneurs or professionals applying the objective-estimate personal income tax system: the amount of the grant will be a maximum of EUR 3,000.
Remaining beneficiaries: as a general rule, the maximum amount of the grant cannot be less than EUR 4,000 or more than EUR 200,000. In addition, the following specific thresholds are established:

In the case of entrepreneurs or professionals applying the personal income tax direct-estimate system, and permanent establishments and entities with a maximum of 10 employees, the amount of the maximum grant to be allocated will be 40% of the downturn in volumes of business in 2020 with respect to 2019 in excess of 30%.
In the case of entrepreneurs, professionals and permanent establishments and entities with more than 10 employees, the maximum amount of the grant to be allocated will be 20% of the downturn of the volume of business in 2020 with respect to 2019 which exceeds 30%.

What documentation will I be asked for in the application?

During proceedings for the application, the authorities in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia will demand presentation, along with the form, of documents to substantiate the statements of the applicant. Two procedures have been set up to gather the information:

Authorisation to the Region of Murcia's Institute of Economic Development for it to obtain from the state tax agency, the Region of Murcia's tax agency and the general social security treasury office the data required by the Order.

In this case, the applicant will not be obliged to provide any further documentation during this phase.
If no authorisation is granted for the consultation of data to the Region of Murcia's Institute of Economic Development, the applicant must provide the following additional documentation:

Documentation attesting to legal representation for third parties, which will not be necessary when the representative is acting by means of a certificate accrediting their representation (provided it is signed with a representative's certificate).
If the total accumulated grant received by the applicant from the beginning of the Temporary Framework, and pursuant to same, has exceeded EUR 1.8 million, they must provide documentation evidencing the fixed costs not covered and other requisites of European Union grant regulations.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting to the delegation or special delegation in which the tax address is located.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting to the sections of business activities tax (IAE) and codes of national business activity classification (CNAE -09-) considered equivalent used to classify the activity carried on by the applicant in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting to the annual volume of operations declared or verified by the authorities for the purposes of value-added tax in 2019 and 2020, whether this volume of operations fell by more than 30% in 2020 with respect to 2019, and the percentage fall.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting to all taxable eligible income from their economic activity reported in their 2019 tax declaration, and the sum of all taxable eligible income from their economic activity reported in their self-assessments of payments by instalments for 2020, for personal income taxpayers, when the applicant for the grant is tax-resident in the Cities of Ceuta or Melilla or exclusively carries out operations with no obligation to submit a periodic self-assessment of VAT, and did not apply the objective-estimate personal income tax system in 2019 or 2020.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency stating the tax base declared in the last instalment payment in the years 2019 and 2020 respectively, if these instalment payments are calculated in accordance with the provisions of Article 40.3 of Corporation Tax 27/2014 of 27 November, for taxpayers liable for corporation tax or non-resident income tax with a permanent establishment, when the applicant for the grant is tax-resident in the Cities of Ceuta or Melilla or exclusively carries out operations with no obligation to submit a periodic self-assessment of VAT, and did not apply the objective-estimate personal income tax system in 2019 or 2020.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency stating the number of employees, taking account of the average number in 2020 of those receiving economic gain from work as stipulated in the monthly or quarterly declarations of withholdings and prepayments.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting application to the objective-estimate personal income tax system in 2019 or 2020.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency stating that no negative net result appeared in the 2019 personal income tax return.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting whether the applicant is registered in the census of entrepreneurs, professionals and withholders and, if registration or deregistration occurred in 2019 or 2020, information on the dates of registration and deregistration in the census, and reason for deregistration.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency attesting to a downturn in business in the territory, focusing on the weight of remuneration for personal work by their employees in the territory, in relation to any groups and entrepreneurs, professionals or entities whose volume of business in 2020 exceeded EUR 10 million, carrying on their economic activity in more than one autonomous territory or in more than one autonomous city.
Certificate from the tax agency in the Region of Murcia stating that the applicant is up to date with tax obligations in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.
Certificate from the General Treasury of the Social Security stating that the applicant is up to date with their social security obligations.
Certificate from the AEAT tax agency stating that the applicant is up to date with their tax obligations for applications for grants and subsidies.

When all the applications have been received, and after the deadline has expired, a pre-assessment will be carried out to verify compliance with the conditions imposed for eligibility as a beneficiary. Any applications which do not meet the minimum conditions imposed for eligibility as a beneficiary will be rejected.

It is important to point out that the applications will be resolved jointly on a competitive basis (the order in which applications arrive within the deadline is irrelevant for the purposes of securing the subsidy), by means of a comparison of the applications submitted, to which the following priority criteria will be applied (when the aforementioned pre-assessment of requisites has been addressed):

The first priority will be given to entrepreneurs or professionals applying the objective-estimate personal income tax system, in the sectors defined in Annex I, in ascending order of amounts of subsidies.
The process will then continue with the other applicants according to the greatest percentage fall in volumes of business in 2020 with respect to 2019, of applicants whose activities are in the sectors defined in Annex I.

If more than one application has the same percentage fall, priority will be given to applicants with lower volumes of business in 2020.

How is my grant justified when it is approved?

Presentations of justification for grants will be in electronic format via the portal of the Region of Murcia's Institute of Economic Development (see link) and presentations may be made no later than 3 months from the deadline for payment of debts covered by the subsidy, attaching the following documents:

Subsidies under EUR 60,000:

Provision of a simplified justificatory account which will include:

A justificatory report of compliance with the requirements of the public notice
A classified list of the activity's outlays paid with the subsidy, with identification of the creditor and of the invoice or payroll, the amount, the date of issue and date of payment, or, where applicable, loan contract or bank debt contract, stating the repayments made, and, where applicable, the fixed costs not covered, during the subsidisable period between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2021.
Breakdown of any other income, subsidies and other grants that have financed the activity subsidised, with an indication of the amount and origin.
If applicable, responsible declaration of the publicity adopted by the beneficiary on its website.
Where applicable, letter of payment of a refund in the event of any remainders not applied, and the interest they carry.

Accreditation of compliance with the commitments and obligations undertaken on applying for the grant, unless verification of this has been authorised via the authorities' databases.

Documento de la AEAT acreditativo de que el beneficiario no ha repartido dividendos durante 2021 o 2022.
Documento de la AEAT acreditativo del mantenimiento de la actividad económica hasta el 30 de junio de 2022.

Subsidies over EUR 60,000:

Invoices issued by suppliers and other creditors, and employee wages, paid by the beneficiary against the subsidy approved.
Banking evidence of payment of invoices and/or wages. When the creditors are financial institutions, certificate from the financial institution attesting to total or partial cancellation of the debt. Justification of bank debts must be furnished if they have a public guarantee.
When invoices and payment obligations are subsequent to 13 March 2021, contract or contracts from which payment obligations to suppliers and other creditors arise or, if there is no written contract, order or acceptance of the offer or the estimate, with attestation in any case of the date on which the debt or payment obligation is undertaken.
If applicable, justification of the publicity adopted by the beneficiary on its website.

By way of an alternative to presentation of the documents listed above, they may be accredited by an auditor's report, expressly stating the following:

List of usages of the grant.
Whether the subsidy received has been used to pay the related expenses, with identification of the creditor and of the invoice or payroll, the amount, the date of issue and date of payment, or, where applicable, loan contract or bank debt contract, stating the repayments made.
Breakdown of any other income or subsidies that have financed the activity and expenses subsidised, with an indication of the amount and origin.
Where applicable, the amount of a refund in the event of any remainders not applied, and the interest they carry.

Accreditation of compliance with the commitments and obligations undertaken on applying for the grant, unless verification of this has been authorised via the authorities' databases.

AEAT document demonstrating that the beneficiary did not distribute dividends in 2021 or 2022.
AEAT document attesting to continuation of economic activity up to 30 June 2022.

Also, within one month after two years have elapsed since the date of resolution of approval of the subsidy, the beneficiary must furnish, using electronic means, a certificate demonstrating that it has not approved any increases in the remuneration of senior management over a period of two years since the date of resolution of approval of the subsidy.

What is the deadline, and how can I apply for the grant?

Applications may be submitted between 7 June and 28 June 2021, both inclusive.

Applications, along with the documentation required, may be submitted in telematic format only by means of the electronic ID or one of the electronic certificates recognised by the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia.

Applicants must use the forms to apply for the grant electronically on the Institute of Economic Development's website (see link).

For more information on the public grants scheme, go to the Official Gazette of the Region of Murcia for details of the notice posted.

Annex. CNAE activity codes of additional sectors eligible for grants, as approved by the Department of Enterprise, Employment, Universities and Spokespersons of the Region of Murcia

CNAE-2009	DESCRIPTION ACTIVITY
811	Extraction of ornamental rock and rock for construction, limestone, gypsum, chalk and slate
1013	Preparation of meat and poultry products
1021	Processing of fish, crustaceans and molluscs
1039	Other processing and conservation of fruit and vegetables
1043	Production of olive oil
1071	Production of bread and fresh bakery and cake products
1072	Production of long-duration biscuits and bakery and cake products
1082	Production of cocoa, chocolate and confectionery products
1102	Winemaking
1512	Production of leatherwork items, travelwear, saddlery and harnessry
1520	Production of footwear
1610	Wood sawing and brushing
1621	Production of wooden sheets and planks
2370	Rock cutting, carving and finishing
2511	Manufacture of metal structures and their components
2550	Metal forging, stamping and drawing; powder metallurgy
2740	Manufacture of lamps and electrical lighting equipment
2829	Manufacture of other general-use machinery not included elsewhere
2899	Manufacture of other machinery for specific usages not included elsewhere
4520	Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles
4649	Wholesale trading in other household items
4729	Other retail trading in foodstuffs in specialist establishments
4730	Retail trading in clothing in automotive fuel in specialist establishments
4753	Retail trading in rugs, carpets, wall and floor claddings in specialist establishments
4759	Retail trading in furniture, lighting equipment and other household items in specialist establishments
4764	Retail trading in sport equipment in specialist establishments
4775	Retail trading in cosmetic and hygiene products in specialist establishments
4778	Other retail trading in new items in specialist establishments
8292	Packing and packaging activities
8551	Sport and recreational education
8559	Other education not included elsewhere
8560	Ancillary educational activities
8891	Daytime child care activities
9512	Repair of communication equipment
9602	Hairdressing and other beauty treatment
9609	Other personal services not included elsewhere

1. Groups and entrepreneurs, professionals or businesses whose volume of operations in 2020 exceeded EUR 10 million, carrying on their economic activity in more than one autonomous community or in more than one autonomous city, can apply for schemes in all territories in which they operate.

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