🏦 Grants and funding
In brief
Public grants come with conditions. The most important are in the grant notice (Zuwendungsbescheid) and in the ancillary provisions incorporated there (for project funding often ANBest-P).
You must prove how the money was used: a financial part with income and expenditure and a narrative report. Records must be kept. The authority may check.
Whether you must observe procurement rules when buying things is stated in the notice. Associations are not automatically public contracting authorities, but can be bound to this by conditions in the notice.
Step by step
- Read the notice and ancillary provisionsPurpose, period, cost plan and conditions are set out there, not in general guides.
- Keep separate accountsRecord the project's income and expenditure in a traceable way.
- Check procurement conditionsWhen buying with grant money, follow and document the prescribed steps.
- Submit proof of use on timeDeadline and form from the notice; keep receipts.
Deadlines
- Ancillary provisions differ between federal government, states and the EU. Always read your own notice.
- Funds not used for the purpose or not proven in time can be reclaimed (not checked verbatim against a primary source).
- Grants are not automatically funds subject to prompt use within the meaning of non-profit law; the funder's rules take precedence.
- Procurement law thresholds are not reproduced here. The notice and the funder are what counts.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Grant law
The general ancillary provisions for grants for project funding (ANBest-P) form part of the grant notice unless expressly provided otherwise. In the proof of use, the actual project-related income and expenditure must be shown in figures, and the use for the intended purpose and the project's progress must be described in a narrative report. The approving authority is entitled to request books, receipts and other business records and to check the use by an on-site audit. Example ANBest-P NRW: the proof of use is to be submitted six months after the grant purpose is fulfilled, at the latest six months after the end of the approval period (Nr. 6.1); interim proof within four months after the end of the budget year. Funds are to be used within two months of payment, otherwise interest of 5 percentage points above the base rate accrues (Nr. 5.4, 8.3.1, 8.4, 8.5). Receipts are to be kept for five years after submission of the proof of use (Nr. 6.8). The version of the respective funder and the notice are what counts.
Procurement law in brief
Grant recipients are not automatically public contracting authorities; but procurement obligations can be imposed through ancillary provisions or the notice. Which rules apply follows from the respective notice and the funder's guidelines.
Delimitation
For tax purposes, grants are usually genuine subsidies in the ideal sphere, not donations. A donation receipt may not be issued for public-sector subsidies (not checked here in detail; tax adviser).
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