The Lucerne government allows certain companies that have received Covid hardship funds to keep their profits. The cantonal council adopted the WAK’s motion by 86 votes to 27. Gastro Luzern comments on the matter.
The Lucerne Cantonal Council is partially lifting the principle that no profit should be made with public funds. Certain companies that have received Covid hardship funds from the canton should be able to keep the profits they made with them.
The Cantonal Council approved a motion submitted as urgent by its Committee for Economic Affairs and Taxes (WAK) by 86 votes to 27. The SP and the Greens voted against it. The government moved that the request be rejected.
The motion demanded that the reimbursement of non-repayable contributions that did not contain a reference to the so-called conditional profit repatriation be waived. These mainly concern payments made before April 21, 2021. This affects companies with a turnover of less than 5 million francs.
Do not finance profits
The government council rejected the demand. Tax money should not be used to finance profits, it explained. Companies that received Covid-19 hardship funds and made profits during the crisis years should therefore pay back the funds up to the amount of the profits generated.
All companies, regardless of whether they received money from the federal government or the canton, should be treated equally, said FDP government councilor Fabian Peter in parliament.
Supporters of the WAK solution
WAK spokesman and SVP politician Guido Müller accused the government council of “stubbornness”. The solution worked out by his commission was a “Solomonic compromise”.
The proponents of the WAK solution from the ranks of the centre, the SVP, the FDP and the GLP argued primarily that the trust lost by the companies must be regained. “À fonds perdu” means “the money is lost”, said WAK spokesman Müller. The demand for repayment must therefore be waived.
“Not a compromise, but a kneeling”
The SP and the Greens, on the other hand, could not do anything with the WAK solution. This was not a compromise, but a capitulation, said SP politician Marcel Budmiger. Simone Brunner – also from the SP – said that many companies that had made a profit had already paid back their hardship funds. Only a few opposed it, she said.
According to government councillor Peter, the total amount involved is 23 million francs. 16 million francs are from the federal government and 7 million francs from the canton of Lucerne.
Statement from Gastro Luzern
In their statement, Gastro Luzern and its members as well as the affected entrepreneurs expressed their gratitude for the decision of the cantonal government.
The association is happy that the canton of Lucerne, especially the bourgeois parties, are supporting the companies with this decision and reaffirming their business-friendliness, it continues.
Now it is important to carefully analyze the implementation documents that define and accompany the further process and to monitor the implementation by the authorities. Gastro Luzern hopes that in this way they can finally put the annoying conditional profit sharing to rest and look positively to the future. (keystone-sda/mm)
