The Grand Ducal Regulation of 6 May 2020, which introduced a new certified emergency allowance for self-employed workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, was published in Mémorial A and came into force on 6 May 2020.

The new certified emergency allowance is available for merchants, artisans and intellectual workers who work as self-employed persons, including insurance agents and brokers. The allowance may be granted regardless of the number of employees.

The allowance is a one-off lump-sum capital grant per self-employed worker. It is tax free.

The amount of the new allowance varies depending on the professional income used to calculate social security contributions for 2019 plus, if applicable, pensions paid by a pension insurance body (pensionable income), as follows:

• €3,000 for a self-employed worker with a pensionable income of more than or equal to half the minimum social wage(1) (SSM) (ie, €1,070.99) and less than or equal to one-and-a-half times the SSM (ie, €3,212.98);

• €3,500 for a self-employed worker with a pensionable income of more than one-and-a-half times the SSM (ie, €3,212.98) and less than or equal to twice the SSM (ie, €4,283.98); and

• €4,000 for a self-employed worker with a pensionable income of more than twice the SSM (ie, €4,283.98) and less than or equal to two-and-a-half times the SSM (ie, €5,354.97).

The allowance is allocated to self-employed workers not covered by the exclusions stipulated by the grand ducal regulation, and who:

• are affiliated with the social security system as self-employed as of 15 March 2020;

• have the authorisations and approvals needed for the work that they carry out on a self-employed basis;

• have a professional income more than or equal to half the SSM and no more than two-and-a half times the SSM; and

• are experiencing temporary financial difficulties with a direct causal link to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The application form is available on the Guichet.lu website.

______________________

Endnotes

(1) The minimum social wage is €2,141.99 for an unqualified worker (over 18) as of 1 January 2020 (index 834.76).