Standard Budget Categories
In the proposal and in each financial report, costs must be broken down into the following categories:
General Eligibility Criteria
For costs to be eligible, they must:
- be actually incurred by the beneficiary (no estimates),
- be incurred during the project duration
(exception: costs for the final report within 60 days after project end),
- be budgeted (see Annex 2 GA),
- be necessary for the project implementation and covered by the project description (see Annex 1 GA),
- be identifiable, verifiable and recorded in the beneficiary’s accounts in line with (inter-)national accounting standards and its usual cost accounting practices,
- comply with applicable national laws on taxes, labour and social security, and
- be reasonable, justified and comply with the principle of sound financial management.
Non-eligible Costs
e.g.
- interest owed
- currency exchange losses
- bank charges for transfers from the EU Commission
- deductible VAT (Please note: Non-deductible VAT is eligible if the beneficiary is not entitled to deduct input tax.)
Special Forms of Costs
Besides actual costs, the GA may allow the following forms:
- Unit costs
based on pre-defined units; evidence for project link, necessity and used during the project duration
- Indirect costs
flat rate of 25% of eligible direct costs (excluding certain cost categories, e.g. subcontracting); no evidence required
- Lump sums
pre-agreed fixed reimbursement for costs
Principles and Evidence
- The maximum grant amount set out in the GA cannot be exceeded.
- If a beneficiary’s requested EU contribution (including the 25% flat rate for indirect costs) is EUR 430,000 or more, a Certificate on the Financial Statements (CFS) must be submitted with the final report.
- For-profit beneficiaries must declare any project-generated revenues.
In general, Horizon Europe applies a non-profit principle. Revenues may reduce the EU contribution.
Further information