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After weeks of preparation, the regular November aid can now flow to companies.
The Federal Ministry of Economics announced that the technical requirements are in place.
This means that the payouts by the federal states could start and be implemented immediately.
At the beginning of the week there were technical problems, which is why the announced start had to be postponed again.
So this works now.
The dissatisfaction in the economy with the implementation of the once full-bodied announced aid packages is still great.
Above all, a change in the so-called bridging aid, which replaces fixed costs such as rent, lease and insurance for the companies concerned, is currently causing trouble.
Harald Elster, President of the German Association of Tax Consultants, experiences this every day from his clients.
37,000 independent tax consultants in the country are organized in the association.
WORLD:
What rating do you give the federal government's aid packages?
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Harald Elster:
As a grade for the aid packages, I would give the government a 2, maybe even a 2+.
Politicians quickly set up the programs to support companies that have been extremely affected by the Corona crisis.
You have to praise that.
WELT:
But many of these companies are still waiting for money, especially in the catering industry.
Elster:
Unfortunately, that's true.
Much of the workmanship was not so well implemented.
For example, it sometimes took weeks before any down payments were made.
Some of our clients had 50,000 euros in their account within a few days, others waited a long time for 5000 euros.
No pattern could be seen.
At some point it turned out that there was a programming error in the digital application process.
It has now been fixed.
Source: WORLD infographic
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WORLD:
So the idea gets a good, the implementation a defective?
Elster:
You can say it that way.
In the past few months there has been a permanent revision of the small print in the individual aid programs for the economy.
For us tax consultants, this means an enormous amount of testing.
We tax consultants have to revisit applications that have long been submitted and adapt them to the changing requirements.
That’s a lot of work.
WORLD:
What has changed?
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Elster:
Just before Christmas it became clear that the bridging aid should only be a contribution to the uncovered fixed costs.
So a company must have made a loss to get the help.
There was no mention of that before.
This is currently causing the greatest trouble for clients.
WELT:
But can't they understand that the taxpayers' money isn't also being used to support those companies that still have enough money in their coffers even in the crisis months?
Elster:
That is understandable.
The government announced this differently.
Take gastronomy.
If the fixed costs of a month can still be covered by the sales, for example thanks to a parallel pick-up service, the restaurateur is not entitled to any bridging assistance.
The EU Commission insisted on this.
I am now talking about the aid that can be applied for up to January 31st for the months September to December - not the November aid, where a different regulation still applies.
Harald Elster, President of the German Association of Tax Consultants
Source: Steuerberater-Verband eV Cologne
WORLD:
Whom do you blame the most?
Elster:
That happens when politicians make decisions and only then do the specialist departments in the responsible ministries take care of the details.
Representatives of the German Association of Tax Advisors currently sit twice a week in telephone conferences with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Economics or the economics ministries of the states.
There, new questions about the concrete implementation of aid measures that have already been decided are discussed again and again.
I do not want to criticize this procedure too sharply.
If each aid program were discussed to the end before it was then decided, the companies could still get the money much needed much later.
Much had to be decided quickly.
WORLD:
How high is the correction effort?
Elster:
It's huge.
I assume that because of the new fixed cost rule, 80 percent to 90 percent of all applications for bridging aid will have to be tackled again.
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WORLD:
And for most of them it will result in less money?
Elster:
Many will either have to repay aid that has already been paid or they will receive less money than they originally thought.
WORLD:
What size are you talking about?
Elster:
The operator of an ice cream parlor would actually have received 15,000 euros bridging aid, now it will be around 4,700 euros less.
This is the great concern of many clients: They fear that they will have to pay back money overnight that has long been spent on rent.
They simply lack liquidity.
Source: WORLD infographic
WORLD:
What else are you annoyed about, besides overly overbearing political promises?
Elster:
Many tax advisors and their clients are annoyed that the payment is so slow.
Companies are at their financial limits, there is no more money from banks, as they do not know whether the company will survive.
If even the discounts are a long time coming, it creates a great lack of understanding.
WORLD:
In the November and December aid, discounts of more than 1.5 billion euros have already been paid out.
And now the regular payout also starts.
Elster:
As I said, it worked for one, but not for the other.
It is important that there is security in the flow of payments.
We also ask tax consultants more time to process applications.
The deadline for Bridging Aid II ends on January 31.
That is definitely too short, after all we have to revise a large part of the applications.
An extension of the deadline to February 28th is necessary.
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WELT:
Are you currently doing anything other than submitting and correcting requests for assistance?
Elster:
There is hardly any time left for anything else.
In essence, we have been processing the aid requests for weeks.
An additional service that many tax consultants did not even invoice their clients separately has now become the main content of our work.
WORLD:
For which you are now also writing an invoice?
Elster:
Of course, the continuous post-processing of applications leads to enormous additional work.
WORLD:
Will the help for a small business still pay off?
Finally, he must submit the application through a so-called auditing third party, i.e. a tax advisor or auditor.
Elster:
That's right.
But 90 percent of the consulting costs are reimbursed by the state to the entrepreneur.
This is also part of the utility programs.