Relaxation in bankruptcy law should make it easier for companies to survive. If things go wrong, the tax office and social security are preferred as creditors.
Wien. In order to make it easier for companies to weather the crisis, the corona-related easing of insolvency law has been extended, as reported. They are initially valid until the end of March and give companies in distress more time to avoid bankruptcy. In this context, lawyer Eberhard Wallentin points out a little-known detail that affects installment payment models of the social security and the tax office: “The payments made from April 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 on Covid-19-related arrears, but also all current contributions and levies cannot be challenged either under the insolvency order or the avoidance order. “
Other creditors at a disadvantage
There is therefore no risk for social security and tax authorities that such payments will be demanded back from the insolvency administrator, should the company still go bankrupt. That is double-edged, says Wallentin: it will make it easier for companies to conclude deferral and installment agreements because the public tax creditors do not have to fear any contestation. “It is therefore to be expected that they will agree to installment agreements on Covid-19-related arrears more often than before. At the same time, however, the exclusion of avoidance causes a massive disadvantage for all other creditors. “
Because the latter must very well expect to have to reimburse payments received from the debtor in the event of insolvency. At the same time, payments that have been determined to be challenged reduce the mass. “This significantly worsens the prospects of satisfaction for all other creditors,” says Wallentin. His conclusion: “The risk of default is shifted from the public tax creditors to all other groups of creditors – such as suppliers, banks, landlords – in a non-equal manner.”
(“Die Presse”, print edition, January 21, 2021)
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