Amendments to the Regulations on the MOEA Relief and Revitalization Measures for Industries and Enterprises Suffering Operational Difficulties due to COVID-19

06/30/2021

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Amendments	Details
Target Recipients	Revised definition of an "Affected Enterprise": For the purpose of determining whether an enterprise is an "Affected Enterprise" under the Amendments, during the period from 1 January 2020 to "31 December 2021," where an enterprise's monthly average revenue of any two consecutive months or the revenue of any one month has been verified by the competent authority as having dropped by 15% or more compared to one of the designated comparable periods, the enterprise would be considered an "Affected Enterprise"(Subparagraph 2, Paragraph 2, Article 3).
	The enterprises in the service industry and the MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) industry that meet the following criteria would be considered "Suffering Enterprises" and may be entitled to certain subsidies as elaborated below: Ÿ   The service industry: having experienced a 50% or more reduction in revenue in any month between May and July 2021 compared to the monthly average of March and April 2021 or the same period in 2019. Ÿ   The MICE industry: having experienced a 50% or more reduction in revenue between July and September 2021 or between October and December 2021, compared to the same period or same month in 2020, 2019 or 2018.  The provision of subsidies to the Suffering Enterprises in the MICE industry is at the discretion of the competent authorities, depending on specific circumstances on the budget, the status of the pandemic and the degree of impact on the industry from the pandemic (Paragraphs 5 and 6, Article 3).
Scope of Subsidy*	In addition to the existing salary subsidies and working capital subsidies, the Amendments include a one-time business impact subsidy for enterprises in the service industry that meet the definition of a "Suffering Enterprise": Ÿ   Such Suffering Enterprise will receive a subsidy of NT$40,000 times the number of its employees. If such Suffering Enterprise is ordered by the central competent authority to suspend its business due to the pandemic, during the suspension period, to pay salary to its employees, the Suffering Enterprise shall pay NT$30,000 (out of said subsidy) to each employee who is paid below the statutory minimum wage; an additional NT$10,000 of living subsidy will be provided to each such employee from the Employment Security Fund. Ÿ   While being subsidized, if the subsidized Suffering Enterprise violates the subsidy rules, has departing employees exceeding a certain percentage, is in material breach of labor laws, dissolves or shuts down its business or otherwise, the competent authority may rescind or terminate the subsidy and order the return of the subsidy granted (Article 5-1).
	Additional applicable periods for determining the revenue qualification for receiving the salary subsidy: The enterprises in the MICE industry that meet the definition of a "Suffering Enterprise" under the Amendments may be entitled to the same salary subsidy and working capital subsidy that have been offered to the other Suffering Enterprises under these Regulations before the effective date of the Amendments.  For the salary subsidy, July to September 2021 and October to December 2021 have also been included as the applicable periods for determining the revenue qualification for receiving such subsidy (Paragraph 2, Article 5).
	Exception to the rule that subsidized Suffering Enterprises shall not furlough their employees: Before the Amendments, during the period of subsidy and the time designated by the competent authorities, the Suffering Enterprises shall not furlough, reduce the salary of or lay off their employees, or dissolve or shut down their businesses; otherwise, the competent authorities may rescind or terminate the subsidy and instruct the return of all or a part of the subsidy granted.  Under the Amendments, the Suffering Enterprises are permitted to furlough, reduce the salary of or lay off their employees, or dissolve or shut down their businesses under the exceptional circumstance of "having to make adjustments in response to the national policy of pandemic prevention" (Paragraph 3, Article 5).
Working Capital Loan	Broadening the scope of the loans eligible for repayment extension: Before the Amendments, only the loans extended to the Affected Enterprises on or before March 12, 2020 are eligible for principal repayment extension. The Amendments have changed such cut-off date to June 3, 2021 (Paragraph 1, Article 6).
	Raising the cap on working capital loans: Before the Amendments, an Affected Enterprise may borrow up to NT$5 million from a financial institution for its working capital needs to cover the salaries of its employees and the rental of its plant, business premises or office space.  Under the Amendments, such cap has been raised to NT$6 million (Paragraph 2, Article 7).
	Exception to the rule that the Affected SMEs receiving interest subsidy for working capital loans shall not furlough their employees: Before the Amendments, the condition for receiving interest subsidy for working capital loans is that the affected small-and-medium sized enterprises (Affected SMEs) shall not furlough, reduce the salary of or lay off their employees, or dissolve or shut down their businesses during the subsidy period.  Under the Amendments, such Affected SMEs are permitted to furlough, reduce the salary of or lay off their employees, or dissolve or shut down their businesses during the subsidized period under the exceptional circumstance of "having to make adjustments in response to the national policy of pandemic prevention" (Paragraph 4, Article 7).
	No overlap of interest subsidies: Under the Amendments, where a loan is eligible for more than one type of interest subsidies (e.g., interest subsidy for the revitalization loan and the interest subsidy for the extended period of an existing loan), only one type of interest subsidy will be provided for the same period of time (Paragraph 1, Article 9).
* Where the salary subsidy, working capital subsidy, business impact subsidy, interest subsidy or insurance premium subsidy is of the same nature as another stipend, subsidy or allowance offered by another government agency, only one of them shall be provided (Article 9).

In addition to the MOEA’s Amendments, other government agencies have also launched relief programs in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.  If you would like to learn more about the Amendments and/or other relevant laws and regulations, please feel free to contact us.