Today, compulsorily closed self-employed persons or self-employed persons who depend on a compulsorily closed sector can claim the (doubled) bridging fee due to closure. The independents who were allowed to stay open but still had to close their doors in the first lockdown can then make another claim for the relance bridging right, if they can demonstrate a decline in sales.
This distinction will most likely be overturned as of January 1. The federal government recently approved a preliminary draft that has now been submitted to the Council of State for its opinion. The relance bridging right would disappear, and in its place would be a new bridging right based on a serious loss of turnover. The approach of the amendment is to provide protection to every self-employed person affected by the corona crisis, regardless of the sector to which his/her activity belongs.
As of January 1, 2021 one could make a claim for bridging rights in the following situations.
1. If your activity is mandatorily closed
Self-employed persons who are forced to close their doors will be able to invoke the bridging right due to closure until March 31, 2021. Although the conditions will become stricter as of February 1:
- Until January 31, any self-employed person who is obliged to close his activity or is dependent on a sector that is compulsorily closed will be able to claim this bridging right,
- As from 1 February, only the self-employed who are closed and have interrupted their entire activity will be eligible. In other words, the self-employed who depend on a sector that is compulsorily closed or the compulsorily closed self-employed who still exercise a limited activity (e.g. take-away) will no longer be able to invoke the bridging right due to closure.
The amount paid is 2,421 euros (with family burden) or 1,937.53 euros (without family burden).
2. If you are facing a severe decline in sales
The self-employed who are not in the first situation can still benefit from a bridging right if, in the calendar month preceding the month for which the bridging right is requested, they suffer a decrease in turnover of at least 40% compared to the same calendar month in the year 2019. Thus, the self-employed person applying for this bridging right for the month of January 2021 would have to suffer a 40% loss of turnover in the month of December 2020 compared to December 2019.
The amount paid is 2,421 euros (with family burden) or 1,937.53 euros (without family burden).
3. If you need to quarantine
Self-employed persons who either have to quarantine themselves, or take care of a child who has to be quarantined, or have to take care of a child because the school or child care is closed during a school period, can enjoy a bridging right.
The amount paid depends on the duration of the quarantine:
- If the quarantine lasts between 7 and 13 days: 403.53 euros (with family burden) or 322.92 euros (without family burden).
- If the quarantine lasts between 14 and 20 days: 807.05 euros (with family burden) or 645.84 euros (without family burden).
- If the quarantine lasts between 21 and 27 days: 1,210.58 euros (with family burden) or 968.77 euros (without family burden).
- If the quarantine lasts 28 days or longer: 1,1614.10 euros (with family burden) or 1,291.69 euros (without family burden).
- If the quarantine lasts less than 7 days, there is no entitlement to benefits.
The changes discussed above are still provisional: they still have to pass the Council of State and Parliament. We will keep you informed.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us. You can always reach us at 051 26 82 68 or via e-mail to info@titeca.be.
