One in five companies using the financial arrangements related to the corona crisis saw their sales increase in the second quarter. Statistics Netherlands reports this on Friday. The statistics office adds that this does not mean that these companies have received undue aid.
In the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government introduced a number of measures to keep companies afloat. These included the wage subsidy scheme (NOW) and the fixed costs allowance (TOGS). Companies could also ask if they could pay their taxes later.
Statistics Netherlands has calculated that more than 20 percent of the companies that used one or more of these support measures saw revenues increase by at least 5 percent between the beginning of April and the end of June. This does not automatically mean that they have made unjustified use of the schemes.
For example, there is no turnover requirement when applying for a tax deferment. It may also be that companies expected to make a revenue loss in the second quarter and later saw that they could just put an increase in the books. If companies have received undue aid, they must repay it.
The figures also show that the Randstad and Limburg are the regions in which companies made relatively the most use of the support measures. Limburg takes the lead in this. It is the only province where half of the companies have applied for corona support. North Holland, South Holland and Zeeland will follow respectively.
The least requests came from Friesland
The number of applicants is relatively lowest in Friesland. There ‘only’ 38 percent of the companies appealed to one of the support measures from the government. Not surprisingly, most corona support went to hospitality companies, hairdressers, beauty salons and companies in the culture sector.
In determining the figures, Statistics Netherlands disregarded sole proprietorships. As a result, applicants for the small self-employed (Tozo) scheme are not included in the figures.
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