Old EMF forms and funding figures remain online. Check the current application position before preparing a budget.
What to have ready
Before you start
TID's current EMF FAQ states that EMF has consolidated into BUD. Applications submitted on or before 29 August 2026 whose receipt was acknowledged through the Department's receipt notice will continue to be processed. The former activity-completion and submission windows do not apply to a new October activity. Keep follow-up documents for an existing EMF case separate from a new BUD proposal. Approval of an old promotion does not establish eligibility for the new project.
What to do, step by step
- Check an existing application through the official enquiry route and obtain receipt, deferment or document-request notices. Distinguish a saved draft or consultant's email from acknowledged receipt. Preserve genuine historical dates rather than rewriting paperwork to make a later activity appear inside the former window.
- For the existing case, match contracts, activity periods, invoices, payments and deliverables. Assemble the exhibition, advertising or website evidence specifically requested. Ask the case officer a precise question about a missing item, including the application reference, instead of resubmitting a large unexplained folder.
- Start a separate BUD assessment for new promotion, checking substantive operations, market, project content and timing. Reassess a supplier, website or event even if it previously received EMF support. Ask about overlapping expenditure and keep each invoice assigned to its genuine activity and funding route.
- Show pending old claims, self-funded new work and potentially eligible new items separately in the budget. Distinguish expected support from formally approved amounts. After a decision, check conditions, reporting and payment steps. An enquiry response helps planning but is not an award or a receipt of funds.
Costs, timing, and things to check
The continued availability of an old form does not establish that applications have reopened. Read the official latest-development section and case notices, retaining the review date. If pages appear inconsistent, ask TID using actual activity and submission dates rather than selecting whichever page looks more favourable.
Do not seek duplicate funding for the same cost merely because the programme changed, or relabel completed work as a new activity. Explain cost allocation, related suppliers and other public support transparently. Clear history reduces avoidable confusion during review and supports an accurate business budget.
A practical example
An enterprise participated in a June exhibition, submitted EMF in time and received acknowledgement. It now plans October advertising. The exhibition evidence is supplied under the original case number; the advertisement is assessed separately against current BUD guidance. The budget does not reuse EMF's old matching formula as a promise. Only formally approved support enters the awarded-funding column, while other spending is planned as self-funded.
Follow acknowledged EMF cases through their existing route and assess new activities afresh under BUD.
Official information and enquiries
These are the reference and service entry points for this guide. Check current fees, eligibility, and schedules with the authority. The preparation date is not each source's official update date.