Cumulation of aid and the de minimis rule

When a company draws on several sources of public support — calls for proposals, grants, tax credits, guarantees — a question arises that too often comes too late: can this aid be cumulated? Cumulation and the de minimis rule are the principles that govern the overlap of aid. Ignoring them exposes you to a concrete risk: aid declared incompatible, revoked and to be repaid. The golden rule is simple — the mapping is done before the expenses are incurred, not afterwards.

Why there are rules on cumulation

Public support is not unlimited: it follows the logic of fair competition and the efficient use of resources. Hence two fundamental constraints:

a ceiling on aid per company or per project, beyond which support is not permitted;
the prohibition on funding the same cost twice from different sources.

These principles apply, in different forms, both in national instruments and — in a particularly structured way — in European programmes and in EU State aid law, which is relevant for Swiss companies that take part in European calls or operate on the single market.

The de minimis rule

The de minimis logic starts from a practical idea: aid of modest amount does not appreciably distort competition and can therefore be granted through simplified procedures. The typical mechanism provides for:

an overall ceiling of de minimis aid that a single company may receive;
calculated over a rolling time frame (the most recent financial years);
referring to the single undertaking, that is, treating linked and controlled companies as one entity.

The delicate point is precisely this last one: two companies in the same group do not have two separate allocations if they are bound by control relationships. The count must be made at group level. The exact amounts of the ceilings and the length of the period depend on the applicable rules and their version in force: they must be checked case by case, without relying on memory.

Cumulation between different types of aid

Beyond de minimis, there is aid granted under specific schemes, each with its own thresholds and cumulation rules. The recurring principles:

Same eligible costs: if two forms of aid cover the same costs, cumulation is permitted only up to the maximum intensity allowed for that type of aid. Beyond the threshold, the excess is not eligible.
Different costs: aid covering distinct cost items can generally coexist more freely, provided there is no overlap.
Aid intensity: many schemes set a maximum percentage of costs covered by public support; the rest is mandatory private co-financing.

Determining precisely which costs each form of aid covers is therefore the central technical task. A well-structured project budget that assigns each cost to a source is the basis for respecting the limits.

The risk of double funding

Double funding — the same cost reimbursed by two sources — is among the most serious findings during audits. It is not a matter of form: it means having received public resources to which you were not entitled. The consequences range from cutting the contribution to revocation with repayment and interest. Typical examples to avoid:

charging the same hours of staff time to two funded projects;
covering the same invoice with a grant and with a tax credit;
declaring recoverable VAT as a cost in more than one instrument.

How to manage cumulation in practice

Map the aid before spending: list active and potential sources and the costs they cover.
Think by cost, not by project: assign each item to a single funding source.
Consider the group: check the ceilings at single-undertaking level, not at individual-company level.
Keep a register of the aid received, with dates and amounts, to meet the reporting obligations.
Document your choices: in an audit, what counts is being able to demonstrate that each cost is funded only once.

How we help

We help companies map the available aid, check the de minimis ceilings at group level and structure the project budget so that every cost has a single funding source. This maximises the support obtainable without ever crossing the cumulation limits. Let’s talk about your project.