An in-kind contribution is a non-monetary resource that a third party provides to a beneficiary free of charge: staff, equipment, goods or services. Horizon Europe is a rare case where such contributions can be charged to the grant as eligible costs; in most EU programmes they are allowed but not eligible.
An in-kind contribution is a non-financial resource made available to you by a third party free of charge. The definition points to the EU Financial Regulation: resources provided without any payment.
Why Horizon Europe is the exception
The grant agreement provides three regimes. In most EU programmes in-kind contributions are allowed but not eligible as costs. In some they are not allowed at all. And there is a third regime, which applies in Horizon Europe: in-kind contributions may be charged to the action as eligible costs.
The guidance's own example: a civil servant works as a professor at a beneficiary university but is paid by a ministry. In most EU programmes those costs are ineligible. In Horizon Europe the beneficiary may charge them, even though a third party incurs them.
Free of charge and against payment are different things
If you pay a third party for the resource, it is no longer an in-kind contribution. Those costs go in the ordinary categories: personnel costs for seconded persons, renting of equipment, purchase of goods, works and services. There is no budget category for "in-kind against payment".
How it is valued
The contribution is declared in the budget category you would have used for your own costs. Depreciation of equipment provided free goes under equipment. Beyond the general eligibility conditions, one specific rule applies: the contribution is limited to the direct costs incurred by the third party.
Horizon Europe may also accept a third party's internally invoiced costs, in which case indirect costs may be included according to that party's usual accounting practice.
Three things you cannot do
You cannot give the third party project tasks. Whoever provides an in-kind contribution implements no action tasks and charges no costs – the beneficiary using the resource declares them.
You cannot leave it out of the description of the action. Contributions and the third parties providing them must be listed in Annex 1; the application template has a dedicated table that carries over into the agreement.
You cannot deny auditors access. The beneficiary must give the Commission, the Court of Auditors and OLAF the right to check the third party. The wording is unambiguous: if access is denied, the costs are rejected.
If the contribution appears after signature
Two routes. Submit an amendment to add it to Annex 1 – then you know the answer immediately. Or flag it in the periodic report under the simplified procedure – faster, but the risk is yours: the Commission may not approve it and may reject the costs at payment stage.
Updated 27.07.2026 · Reviewed by: GetGrant editorial team
