Double financing is a situation where the same expense is reimbursed more than once from public funds – for example from two different grants, from an EU-funded project and at the same time from a national grant scheme, or where a recipient claims a cost reimbursed from a grant also as a tax deduction. It is one of the most strictly monitored breaches, because it directly harms both the EU budget and the state budget. It is detected by cross-checking data in ITMS, comparing accounting documents across projects, and risk-scoring recipients and suppliers. Prevention lies with the recipient: every document included in a payment request must be unambiguously assigned to a single project, ideally through analytical accounting records and marking of original documents. If double financing is proven, an irregularity follows, along with a financial correction and repayment of funds; in the case of intentional conduct, the matter is also assessed under criminal law.
See also: Irregularity, Financial correction, Return of funds.
