To: “Stop punishes the wrong ones”, agency contribution (Economy, March 11th)
I’ve been self-employed in the restaurant business for 43 years and I hope for a few more years if we can survive this pandemic together. However, with all the bankruptcies, mishaps and embarrassments that our government and politicians have afforded for over a year, I am no longer entirely sure whether we will all survive.
The corona aid payments have now been suspended after cases of fraud. I am amazed that this was even possible after the announced security precautions. During the first closure of our company in March 2020, we were able to submit the application for emergency aid ourselves with our IHK membership number and our tax number and received the help, even if it was only transferred to our business account after a few weeks. In retrospect, it turned out that fraudsters with so-called bogus companies also made use of this help. In order to be able to rule this out, an IT platform was set up.
From November 25, 2020, it was only possible for a tax advisor, auditor or lawyer to submit an application for his clients. For the months of January, February and March 2021, we can, again only through a tax advisor, auditor or lawyer, submit an application for reimbursement of 90 percent of the fixed costs. Last week I was asked to provide a bank statement from my business account to verify the details. It has only now been discovered that fraudsters, acting as false tax advisors, gained access to the responsible ministry for submitting applications for emergency aid and thus diverted millions into their own account. I ask myself whether it would not have been easier, safer and cheaper if we had submitted our applications to the responsible tax office, stating our tax number. After a quick check, an unbureaucratic transfer to the business account would have been possible for the reimbursement of the aid. But now to impose a collective penalty with the suspension of advance payments for the Corona aid is improper. Thomas Brugger, Lrrach
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