With Supplementary Budget Passed, Small Business Owners to Receive 3 Million Won '2nd Quarantine Support Fund' Starting Tomorrow

Supplementary Budget of 1.28 Billion under the Ministry of SMEs Passed in the Plenary Session
Compensation for 3.32 Million Small Business Owners and Simplified Taxpayers
Loss Compensation of 2.8 Trillion Won... Adjustment Rate Raised from 80% to 90%

The Corona Victims Self-Employed General Federation (Coja Federation), composed of 14 self-employed organizations including the Korea Federation of Restaurants, held a "Government Condemnation Rally in Gwanghwamun" on the 15th at the Gwanghwamun Citizen Open Square in Seoul. They demanded the abolition of business hour restrictions, retroactive application of loss compensation and realization of 100% compensation, inclusion of self-employed business owners with sales exceeding 1 billion KRW in loss compensation, preparation of separate support measures by Seoul and local governments, and additional application of loss compensation for all businesses opened after the outbreak of COVID-19. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government will provide a total of 10 trillion won in the '2nd Quarantine Support Fund' starting tomorrow (23rd) to support the livelihoods of small business owners. Considering the prolonged damage to small business owners, the loss compensation adjustment rate has been raised from 80% to 90%.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 22nd that the supplementary budget of 12.81 trillion won under its jurisdiction passed the National Assembly plenary session the day before. This amount is 1.31 trillion won more than the originally submitted 11.5 trillion won.

First, to reduce the fixed cost burden such as rent for small business owners and support livelihood maintenance, a total of 10 trillion won in the 2nd Quarantine Support Fund will be provided.

To support the damages incurred by small business owners due to the extension of quarantine measures, the support amount will be tripled from the previously provided 1 million won to 3 million won.

The support targets 3.32 million small business owners whose sales have decreased due to quarantine measures. Along with the 3.2 million small business owners and small enterprises who were eligible for the 1st Quarantine Support Fund, simplified taxpayers who have difficulty proving sales decline due to lack of tax infrastructure and 120,000 businesses with annual sales exceeding 1 billion won but less than 3 billion won are newly included.

The loss compensation budget necessary for strengthening loss compensation support and advance payment operations was also finalized at 2.8 trillion won, an increase of 900 billion won from the government proposal. Additional budget was allocated for the adjustment rate increase requested by the small business sector.

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

The loss compensation adjustment rate was raised from the previous 80% to 90%. The adjustment rate, a concept used to calculate losses directly caused by quarantine measures, was applied at 80% in the third quarter of last year but has been raised to 90% considering the prolonged damage to small business owners.

Facilities subject to personnel restrictions in November (restaurants, cafes, etc.) that were not reflected in this year's loss compensation budget will also receive compensation for the 4th quarter of 2021 through this supplementary budget.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to start paying the 2nd Quarantine Support Fund from the 23rd. Subsequently, advance payments for facilities subject to personnel restrictions that did not receive 1st quarter loss compensation advance payments will begin on the 28th.

Facilities newly eligible for loss compensation due to personnel restrictions and those additionally confirmed as loss compensation targets for restrictions on operating hours since January this year can apply for an advance payment of 2.5 million won for the 1st quarter of this year.

On the 3rd of next month, applications and payments for the 4th quarter 2021 loss compensation will begin. This will reflect the increase in the minimum amount (from 100,000 won to 500,000 won), the adjustment rate (from 80% to 90%), and deductions for compensation advanced in January.

Minister Kwon Chil-seung of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "In this severe situation where Omicron variant cases exceed 100,000 daily, since the 2nd Quarantine Support Fund and loss compensation have been confirmed by the National Assembly, we will mobilize all administrative capabilities of the Ministry to provide support as quickly as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.