Faqs – Digital Kit Program

Beneficiaries

The first call, aimed at SMEs with 10-49 workers (Segment I), opened on March 15, 2022.

The second call, for SMEs with 3 to 9 employees (Segment II), opened on September 2, 2022.

The third and last call, aimed at SMEs and the self-employed between 0 and 2 workers (Segment III), opened on October 20, 2022.

The deadline to apply for any of the three tranches has been extended to December 31, 2024.

Vouchers for businesses with between 10 and 49 employees (first call for applications) will be for an amount of 12,000 euros. For SMEs with 3 to 9 employees (inclusive), the amount of the bonds will be 6,000 euros and , for micro-SMEs and self-employed with up to 2 employees, 2,000 euros.

Red.es has established the following maximum deductible amounts for each type of solution:

Note that, through a new Order of Bases, two new categories of digitalization services have been incorporated: advanced Internet presence and Marketplace.

As a result, the wording of the minimum requirements for each of the categories, which were included in Annex IV of the first Order of Bases, has been modified. The details of the new features of this annex are included in the new Order of Bases, published in the BOE on July 29, starting on page 7.

The first Digitalization Vouchers were delivered on April 18, 2022. This means a processing time for applications of only one month (the call for applications opened on March 15), considerably faster than other “traditional” grant lines.

Aid for the adoption of digitalization solutions may be used to replace solutions already adopted by the beneficiary, provided that they represent a functional improvement.

To be considered a functional improvement, it must meet the following requirements:

1.- The solution must be completely new and meet all the minimum requirements of the category to which it belongs, in accordance with Annex IV of the Regulatory Bases.

2.- That the replaced solution does not comply with any of the minimum requirements demanded in the same category of the corresponding digitalization solution.

N0 will not be considered a functional improvement:

1.- No development, progress, increase or enrichment of the services and functionalities of the existing solution.

Updating of software versions by the supplier, i.e., releases that the supplier releases on a version.

3.- Upgrades or version upgrades.

The Digitalization Voucher will NOT cover VAT or other taxes, which will have to be paid by the beneficiary, regardless of whether they can be deducted later.

Secondly, the non-retroactivity of the Bonus must be taken into account (once the agreement is signed, time starts to count, never before).

They will also not be considered eligible for subsidies:

  • Interest on debts.
  • Interest on late payment, surcharges and administrative and criminal penalties.
  • Expenses derived from legal proceedings.
  • Financial expenses.
  • Infrastructure and civil works expenses.
  • Land.
  • Telecommunication services and Internet connectivity.
  • Expenses related to compensation for services rendered by third parties in order to obtain these grants (expenses for the provision of consultancy, management or similar services).

This list could change in the next Digital Kit calls.

It will be eligible in the 2nd and 3rd calls, as long as the following requirement is met:

“Devices included in the pay-per-use modality shall be eligible for subsidies as part of a digitization solution, when their supply is essential for the provision of the contracted solution, without being used for purposes other than providing this solution”.

In general, they must meet the following requirements (the consolidated accounts of SMEs will be taken into consideration):

  • To be considered a small business.
  • To be registered in the Census of businessmen, professionals and withholders of the State Agency of Tax Administration or in the equivalent census of the Foral Tax Administration.
  • Be up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.
  • Not to be considered as a company in crisis.
  • Minimum seniority of 6 months.
  • Not to exceed the de minimis aid limit.

And, of course, to have completed the Digital Maturity Test and to have had, during the last closed fiscal year, an average workforce of between 10 and 49 employees (as reported by the latter to the Social Security).

(+ info: Article 9 of the Regulatory Bases. Obligations of the beneficiaries)

Yes. Self-employed corporate entities would count when establishing the number of employees for selecting the Company Segment.

However, the modification of the Order of Bases, dated July 26, clarifies that:

They may not be beneficiaries: a) Temporary joint ventures (UTES), or individuals or legal entities that are Adhering Digitizing Agents, under the terms of Article 10 of this Order, or those with which they contract or subcontract for the provision, in whole or in part, of digitization solutions. b)Persons in a situation of self-employment who have the status of corporate self-employed persons or self-employed collaborators under the terms provided in the applicable regulations“.

Only if they exercise an economic activity and have legal personality. They are based here on the definition of an undertaking in Article 1 of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014.

Once again, the modification of the Order of Bases, dated July 26, clarifies and delimits concepts that were the subject of many doubts and requests, such as the concept of “functional improvement”, the economic actors that may and may not be involved in the project, the concept of “functional improvement”, the economic actors that may and may not be involved in the project, the concept of “functional improvement”, and the concepts that may and may not be involved in the project. to be beneficiaries of these aids, the incompatibility between the figures of beneficiary and digitizing agent, the deadlines for execution, justification and payment.

Specifically, The following will not be eligible for the Digital Kit: a) Temporary joint ventures (UTES), or individuals or legal entities that are Adhering Digitizing Agents, under the terms of Article 10 of this Order, or those with whom they contract or subcontract for the provision, in whole or in part, of digitization solutions. b) Persons in a situation of self-employment who have the status of corporate self-employed persons or self-employed collaborators under the terms provided in the applicable regulations”.

Although the beneficiaries of the Digital Kit grants are SMEs, the money will never be paid to them, but directly to the Digitization Agents with which they have signed the relevant Digitalization Solutions Provision Agreement.

In this sense, the Digitalization Vouchers are not liquid for SMEs, nor can they be used to pay for services that are not part of the Acelera Pyme catalog.

The amounts that are not exchanged for solutions will not be passed on to the Digitalizing Agents, and those that have been contracted but have not been developed or implemented (over a number of months yet to be determined) will be reimbursed to Red.es.

Yes, SMEs will be able to contract as many solutions as they wish until their Digitalization Voucher is exhausted and during the period of time established for this purpose.

However, only one solution may be contracted for each Digitization Solution Category of the Program’s Digitization Solutions Catalog.

Yes, in cases where the maximum eligible amount is established per user, and an SME hires a sufficient number of users to exhaust the 12,000 euros of its Bono.

If the cost of the solution exceeds this figure, the beneficiary SME will have to pay the difference, although it will be eligible for ICO aid (as long as it does not exceed the de minimis aid limit).

SMEs will be able to contract as many solutions and sign as many contracts with Digitization Agents as they wish, until the amount of their Digitalization Voucher is used up and during the time period established for this purpose.

Yes, the payment model is indifferent. The SME will be able to contract new digital solutions available from Acelera Pyme (www.acelerapyme.gob.es) until its Digitalization Bonus is exhausted.

Yes, as long as the beneficiary SME does not exceed the amount of de minimis aid established in the Subsidies Law.

In such cases, the Digitizing Agent will deduct this amount from the invoice.

Yes, the beneficiary SME must declare the aid.

The beneficiary must record in its accounts, in a separate accounting code, the details of all transactions related to the subsidized activity. Likewise, it must have the accounting books, diligent records and other documents in the terms required by the commercial and sectorial legislation applicable to the beneficiary in each case, as well as keep the invoices and other proof of expenditure of equivalent probative value and the corresponding proof of payment and of the application of the funds received.

This set of documents constitutes the supporting support for the aid granted, guarantees its adequate reflection in the beneficiaries’ accounts and must be kept for a minimum period of 4 years, counting from the expiration of the deadline for justifying the aid.

Yes, in case of non-compliance on their part, Red.es will also ask them to reimburse the subsidy.

The assignment of the right to receive the aid (digital voucher) does not exempt the beneficiary from fulfilling its obligations. The effective payment of the aid will be made after the correct justification, in those cases in which the justification is not presented correctly and completely, the right to receive the aid will be lost and it will be the beneficiary who must respond to the debt, as established in article 30.3.d of the Order of Bases “The beneficiary will pay the costs incurred to the Adhering Digitizing Agent in the event of non-compliance due to the former that causes total or partial loss of the right to the associated payment”.

For more information, see articles 36 and 37 of the Rules and Regulations.

The first thing that SMEs must do is to register in the Acelera Pyme portal (www.acelerapyme.gob.es). They must then complete the first of the 3 self-assessment tests available through this platform. This is a very basic test, consisting of 13 questions.

The application forms can now be filled in.

Applications are made electronically and the first review of applications is largely automated, making their resolution quick and easy. Once the SME has received the Digitalization Voucher, it can redeem the amount in the Acelera Pyme digital solutions catalog.

For this purpose, once the digital solutions have been chosen, the SMEs must contact the selected Digitization Agents and sign with them the respective service provision contracts (the relevant Digitization Solutions Provision Agreement, and also the private contract between the parties). The Administration shall not take part in such contracts.

In the annexes of the first Call for Applications you will find all the information about the documentation to be submitted in the application for the same, the model Agreement for the Provision of Digitization Solutions, model agreement for the Voluntary Representatives, etc.

Yes, it is mandatory, although the recommendations it provides upon completion are not binding. Nor will it condition the amount of the aid. This test will be very useful to the Government for statistical purposes and to measure the success of successive calls for applications.

It is a very brief test, with only 13 questions, aimed at identifying the level of maturity of SMEs based on the indicators established by the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI).

(Related information: DESI 2021: the report to be used by the EU to measure the success of the Recovery Plan)

In addition to the first test, in Acelera Pyme (www.acelerapyme.gob.es) you will find two additional voluntary tests. One of them seeks to help SMEs identify their needs in digital transformation and the second, developed by INCIBE, assesses the cybersecurity of businesses.

No. The maturity test will be carried out internally, it will not be necessary to attach the result nor will it affect the SME in any other way.

Of course. The Digital Kit program will refer to them as “Voluntary Representative”.

No, this cost is not eligible for the Digital Kit program.

For those applications submitted through voluntary representatives, the authorization of voluntary representation must be submitted with the application. This authorization model is included in Annex II of the Call for Proposals and can be downloaded from the Red.es Electronic Headquarters.

This model is the only one that will be accepted by the Administration and does not admit modifications of form.

Yes. However, in those cases in which the SME applies for aid on behalf of a third party (through a legal representative or Voluntary Representative), it will be sufficient for the latter to have a digital signature or certificate.

The requirements and modalities of signature are established in Annex V of the Call for applications.

In any case, they must be signed with an electronic signature system that complies with the requirements of the Resolution of July 14, 2017, of the General Secretariat for Digital Administration, which establishes the conditions for the use of non-cryptographic electronic signature, in the relations of interested parties with the administrative bodies of the General State Administration and its public bodies.

Yes. Since this is not a competitive bidding process, the order of registration of applications shall prevail.

The deadline for submitting applications will be at least three months from the publication of the corresponding call for applications or until the budgetary appropriation of the call for applications is exhausted. Applications will be resolved and notified within a maximum period of six months from the publication of the call for applications.

The State plans to use direct means of communication with the beneficiary small businesses, micro-enterprises and self-employed individuals. In any case, all grants awarded will be published in the National Grants Database.

Subsequently, the maximum term for the signing of Digitalization Solutions Provision Agreements by both parties will be six months from the date of notification of the resolution granting the aid.

No. It will be necessary to wait for a response to the application (probably negative) to make a new one.

In the event that a correction is required, Red.es will notify both the SME and its voluntary representative (if any).

Digitizing agents

The first thing to do is to apply for membership as Digitalizing Agents, through the Acelera Pyme portal (www.acelerapyme.gob.es), or directly at the Red.es e-Office.

This option became available on January 11, 2022, and will remain open throughout the life of the Digital Kit program (until 2024).

To do so, they must indicate what solutions they want to offer through this platform, what types of SMEs they would target (by their CNAE) or in what territories they could serve. This information will make it easier for SMEs to find suppliers that could provide them with services, depending on their sector of activity and geographical area of operation.

On the other hand, the digital solutions offered must meet all the minimum conditions established for each of the 10 categories of eligible solutions (+info: Annex IV of the Order of Bases).

In general, they must meet the following requirements:

  • To be in active status.
  • Be up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.
  • Not to be considered as a company in crisis.
  • Accumulated turnover of at least 100,000 euros in the two years preceding the date of submission of the membership application.50,000 in the previous year, in projects similar to those to be developed for the beneficiaries in any of the digitization solutions categories of the Annex IVIn the case of self-employed persons without dependent workers, the accumulated turnover must be at least 70,000 euros in the previous two years from the time of submission of the application for membership, or 35,000 euros in the previous year, in projects similar to those to be developed for the beneficiaries in any of the categories of digitization solutions of the Annex IV.
  • Commit to generate the necessary employment in Spain to provide the services.
  • The specific employment generated for the provision of these services must guarantee the quality of the service provided through qualities such as, for example, knowledge and adaptation to the particularities of the market.
  • Maintain its tax domicile and center of subsidized activities in the European Union.
  • To have at the time of the application a web page dedicated to the Digital Kit Program in a domain name of the Digitalizing Agent, which will include for each reference the different solutions offered distributed by beneficiary segments, sectors and the names of such solutions. The prices or price ranges of these solutions should also appear here.

(+info: Article 10 of the Regulatory Bases. Adhered Digitizing Agents)

In addition to the above, the Affiliated Digitizing Agents with more than 1,000 employees or with an annual turnover of more than 100 million euros shall ensure the provision of their services throughout the national geography, through their own commercial network. or through contracted third parties.

Indeed, this program establishes conditions related to the performance of the last fiscal years (closed fiscal years).

It should be noted that the Digital Kit program -and therefore the possibility of applying to become a Digitalizing Agent- will remain open until well into 2023 or 2024.

Only one application per Digitizing Agent will be accepted. Any application received from the same applicant after the first one submitted will not be considered until the first application has been resolved. In the event of a negative decision on an applicant’s application, he/she may resubmit a new application for membership.

There are some minor delays in the response from Red.es to the companies, since 30% of the applications to become Digitalizing Agents require correction.

Yes. Within the space on the Digitizing Agent’s website enabled for the Digital Kit (a single URL), the Digitizing Agent may combine as many solutions as it wishes, as long as they meet the minimum conditions established in Annex IV of the Order of Bases.

However, in order to register new categories, a minimum of 6 months must elapse before submitting the relevant application.

Article 12.4 states that “Adhering Digitizing Agents may register and deregister in the Program’s Digitization Solutions Catalog onlyone reference for the solutions they offer in the market in each Digitization Solutions Category”. Here, “reference” means a single URL address.

The details of the requirements are detailed in Annex IV of the Order of Bases of the Digital Kit program, which can be consulted here.

Subsequently, the Digitizing Agents will have deadlines for the completion of the projects and for their justification. These justifications will be necessary to receive the payment of the grants.

The relationship between the company benefiting from the aid and the digitalizing agents will be formalized by means of a Digitalization Solutions Provision Agreement, which will include the functionalities to be implemented, its execution term, the obligations between both with respect to the aid granted, and the amount of the applicable Digital Voucher.

In the Digitalization Solutions Provision Agreements corresponding to replacements of solutions already adopted by the beneficiary, the functional improvements of the solution with respect to the one previously adopted by the beneficiary shall be detailed.

The model is established in Annex III of the Call for Applications. It will be available at the Red.es Electronic Headquarters and can be accessed from the Acelera Pyme platform (https://www.acelerapyme.gob.es/), accepting the conditions established therein.

The contract previously signed with the SME prevails.

It should be recalled that these are private contracts, outside the legal regime of the Call for Proposals, and therefore do not constitute one of the documents for the justification of the aid. The Call for Proposals also does not provide for the definition or inclusion of a model contract.

The assignment of the right to receive the aid (digital voucher) does not exempt the beneficiary from fulfilling its obligations. The effective payment of the aid will be made after the correct justification, in those cases in which the justification is not presented correctly and completely, the right to receive the aid will be lost and the beneficiary will be the one who will receive the aid. who shall respond to the debt, as established in Article 30.3.d of the Order of Bases “The beneficiary shall pay to the Adhering Digitizing Agent the costs incurred in the event of non-compliance due to the former causing total or partial loss of the right to the associated collection.”

From the time the contract is signed, you have up to 3 months to implement the solution and another 3 months to present the justification. Therefore, the first payment would be received in a maximum of 6 months.

There may be some slight delays due to the time it may take Red.es/ICO to review the documentation. Once reviewed and approved, payment will be automatic.

The invoice can be presented, but the payment will not be 100%. The percentages that indicate the specific category are applied.

In case there is any doubt, within the Acelera Pyme platform, in the digital solutions categories, is the detail. In the section on “Further information” the distribution of payments (e.g. 70-30%, or $60-40, depending on the category) and the amounts for each type of company are detailed.

The Digitizing Agent will issue a single invoice to the beneficiary for the total amount of the contracted digitization solution associated with the Digitization Solutions Provision Agreement.

The invoice will reflect the reduction in the amount to be paid by the beneficiary, with respect to the amount of the subsidy granted associated with the Agreement for the Provision of Digitization Solutions, whose collection right is expressly assigned to the Adhering Digitizing Agent in the formalization of said Agreement.

The invoice issued by the Adhering Digitizing Agent must comply with the following requirements to be admitted in the justification of the aid, without prejudice to those established in each call for proposals:

  1. Indication of the reference number of the Digitization Solutions Provision Agreement (generated by the system in the platform).
  2. Express indication of the digitization solution adopted and the period for which it will be provided (specific dates must be indicated).
  3. Express indication of the amount corresponding to the subsidy granted under the Digital Kit Program and included in the Agreement for the Provision of Digitization Solutions.
  4. Express indication that it has been financed through “Funded by the Digital Kit Program. Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for Spain Next Generation EU.

Yes, for example, if the cost of the website is 3,000 euros, but the bonus obtained is 2,000, the SME can pay the rest via invoice.

Yes, in fact the Large Digitizing Agents are required to do so. In these cases, the Adhering Digitizing Agents must execute, through the companies they contract, at least 50% of the business volume obtained as a result of the Digitization Service Provision Agreements signed within the framework of the Digital Kit Program.

No, it is not possible to be both a Digitizing Agent and a beneficiary of aid at the same time. This standard applies to subsidiaries and investees of the companies.

No, the Digitizing Agent logo must be for the exclusive use of the company (NIF) that has been approved as such.

Yes, although this dual role cannot be exercised when there is a conflict of interest with the same beneficiary SME. In other words, a Digitizing Agent acting as a Voluntary Representative can apply for assistance on behalf of an SME, but can NOT sign the service contracts for the SME (he/she would sign the contract with him/herself…).

For the same reason, a Digitizing Agent who has acted as a Voluntary Representative cannot sign on behalf of the SME the conformity of the service received.

In practice, this implies that a Digitizing Agent could not formally act as a Voluntary Representative for a beneficiary SME to which it is going to provide its services.

Specifically, a Digitalization Solutions Provision Agreement may not be formalized in the following cases:

a) When there is a relationship between the Adhering Digitizing Agent and the beneficiary in cases such as those set forth in Article 68.2.a), b), d), e), f) and g) of Royal Decree 887/2006, of July 21, which approves the Regulations of Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Subsidies Law, for cases of subcontracting of the subsidized activity.

b) When the voluntary representative is a signatory Digital Signing Agent or any other company or entity that is part of the same business group.

For further details, see article 30.8.a of Order ETD/1498/2021, as well as provision 21873 of the BOE.

The Voluntary Representative may apply for assistance on behalf of an SME, but may NOT sign service contracts for the SME.

SME Digital Kit

It is important to remember that the models should not be modified in any way (e.g. no deletion or addition of boxes).

All details regarding invoicing and justification of projects are provided in the Call for Proposals, starting on page 27: https://www.infosubvenciones.es/bdnstrans/GE/es/convocatoria/612093.

It indicates, for example, that the invoice format must be Facturae ( page 31) and details how to fill in the different fields (page 49).

Each volunteer representative (including, if applicable, its associated and related companies) may submit a maximum of 500 applications per day. This limit includes its associated and related companies.

For the next calls, the daily limit for massive loads is expected to be extended.

Although it is not a commitment established in the Regulations, Red.es will try to resolve all possible technical incidents within 24 hours (working days).

For information on the operation and requirements of the Red.es e-Office, please consult this Frequently Asked Questions document prepared by Red.es.

For other inquiries, the contact telephone number available to applicants is 901 904 060 / 919 343 677 and e-mail soporte.sede@red.es. The schedule is from Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

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