Second Round of Quarantine Support Fund Surpasses 77% Payment Rate in Two Days... "Applications Accepted Without Odd-Even Distinction Starting Today"

On the 27th, when the payment of quarantine support funds began for small business owners affected by the government's COVID-19 quarantine measures, small business owners were waiting for consultations at the Seoul Jungbu Center of the Small Enterprise and Market Service in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The payment targets are small business owners and small enterprises that opened by December 15 of this year and whose sales have decreased or are expected to decrease. Each business receives 1 million won. Applications for the support fund can be made on the dedicated website '소상공인방역지원금.kr'. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 25th that it has paid the second round of quarantine support funds amounting to 7.7 trillion KRW to approximately 2.58 million companies over two days starting from the 23rd. This corresponds to a payment rate of 77.7% based on the total eligible 3.32 million companies, and 84.8% based on the 3.04 million companies eligible to apply during the two-day period.

Following the odd-even number system implemented over the two days, from today onward, applications are accepted regardless of the parity of the business registration number. Individuals managing multiple businesses can also apply.

This second round of quarantine support funds plans to additionally support small taxpayers, who previously had difficulty proving revenue decline due to lack of tax infrastructure data, as well as restaurants, academies, and wedding halls with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW but not exceeding 3 billion KRW, which were previously excluded for exceeding the small business scope, in order to minimize blind spots in support.

Starting from the 28th, notification messages and payments will begin for approximately 100,000 small taxpayers whose 2021 VAT reported sales have decreased. In early March, payments will also begin for businesses with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW but not exceeding 3 billion KRW.

An official from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated, "To ensure the prompt payment of the second round of quarantine support funds, we collaborated with the National Tax Service and others to pre-select eligible recipients and establish an online application system. Based on this, applications and payments began just two days after the supplementary budget was passed, and in some cases, support funds are deposited within an hour of application, adhering to the principle of 'same-day application, same-day payment' for swift disbursement."

Meanwhile, from the 28th, advance payments will begin for facilities and businesses subject to personnel restrictions that have not yet received first-quarter loss compensation this year. On March 3rd, applications and payments for the fourth quarter loss compensation of last year are scheduled to commence.

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