Covid-19: Last days for small firms to claim €500 grant

We run a Chambre d'hôtes as auto-entrepreneurs. We claimed the solidarity fund during the last lockdown and we will claim again for November as we were busy until October. We see there is a new fund available and we would like to know how we can apply for this help.

You must act quickly as you have only up to November 30 to apply for this grant. The Demande d’intervention du fonds d’action sociale is open to auto-entrepreneurs (also called micro-entrepreneur) and other self-employed workers who have not been able to work at all since November 2, 2020 due to confinement and it must be applied for before November 30.

The grant is a one-off sum of €500.

To apply you must have been registered as auto-entrepreneur before January 2020, earned at least €1,000 in 2019 and be up to date with your social contributions up to December 2019.

Your business must be your main source of income and you must not also have applied for another fund, the ACED, aide aux cotisants en difficulté since September 2020.

Applications are managed by the social security for self-employed workers, Sécurité sociale des indépendants.

First you have to complete a form available on the body’s website.

You then apply via your personal account at autoentrepreneur.urssaf.fr

You should go to Ma messagerie and under Votre demande concerne choose Gestion quotidienne de mon-auto-entreprise and under Et plus particulièrement choose Je rencontre des difficultés de paiement.

A choice of options will appear under which you choose Demande de délai de paiement and you then write a message asking for the fonds d’action sociale and adding the form you have downloaded and filled in and your personal RIB (bank details).

Self-employed artisans, those in commerce and those with a profession liberale who are not under the micro-entreprise (auto-entrepreneur) regime can instead apply at this website.

You can apply for this grant as well as the separate 'solidarity fund'.

President Macron confirmed in his speech on November 24 outlining the next phase of confinement that the solidarity fund will continue to be available for businesses which have had to close during the second confinement period, whatever their size and their status. He said this will be maintained for as long as the business remains closed.

There are different rules for October and for November.

For November the solidarity fund is available for all businesses included on the ‘S1 list’ here. This includes chambres d’hôtes which should come under Hébergement touristique et autre hébergement de courte durée or Hôtels et hébergement similaire.

Chambres d’hôtes can apply for an amount equivalent to their loss of earnings for November, up to €10,000.

For applications for October this is the same if you were living in a curfew zone.

If not, you have to show you lost more than 50% of your turnover. If you lost between 50 and 70% you could claim €1,500. If you lost more than 70% you can ask for a loss of earnings up to €10,000.

You apply via your personal space at impots.gouv.fr and need your SIREN, SIRET, RIB, turnover for month you are applying for and the equivalent for 2019, and a declaration on your honour that the information you are giving is correct.

For October applications were open from November 20. Applications for November are set to start on December 4.

The solidarity fund is open to other businesses not in the 'S1' sector but different rules apply.

There is other help available too, including state-guaranteed loans and the possibility to postpone social charges.