Austria(Bureau Report) SPÖ Boss Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner calls for more fairness in the government’s economic aid. Small businesses should be supported quickly – and crisis profiteers should repay too much economic aid received into the tax pot. The government’s economic aid must be controlled in parliament!
In the “Red Foyer”, Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner emphasized that it is the government’s central task to protect jobs and companies, especially in times of crisis. But numerous small businesses and self-employed people have lost their jobs and livelihoods. “We were the first to ask for economic aid,” recalls Rendi-Wagner. But of all people who have the fewest reserves, such as self-employed craftsmen, restaurants or hairdressers, are still waiting for support. “You are being left in the lurch!” Criticized Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner. At the same time, large companies have received millions in grants and, of all times, posted record profits during the crisis, while others are faced with the ruins of their existence. For Rendi-Wagner it is clear: “It is not the task of the Austrian taxpayers to subsidize corporate profits and bonuses in the millions, but it is the task of the state and government to support companies and to secure and create jobs. One-person businesses, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, need to be helped quickly and efficiently in order to achieve justice. They are the backbone of our economy! “ÖVP finance minister Blümel apparently recognized the imbalance,” but looks for the blame in the economy, not in himself! “SPÖ economics spokesman Christoph Matznetter also emphasizes. Companies that have made big profits – more than in 2019, before the crisis – should pay their economic aid, i.e. taxpayers’ money, back into the tax pot and not distribute them in dividends and bonuses,”. The money is to flow into an employment fund to help small businesses and to support them in creating additional jobs. It is a matter of justice and economic common sense to shape economic aid in such a way that it gets those who need it most. Parliamentary control over economic aid required. The COFAG distributes the economic aid in the billions without any parliamentary control. “Nobody knows how much, for whom and why money is flowing. That is pure lack of transparency ”, criticizes Rendi-Wagner. We therefore demand transparency in the allocation of aid funds – in the form of a COFAG subcommittee in parliament. Economic aid based on the Swiss model. SPÖ economics spokesman Christoph Matznetter explained that the SPÖ wanted a different model of economic aid. Following the example of Switzerland, aid to the extent of the previous tax payments should be accounted for immediately; the final settlement should be made with the assessment. “If a company has received more than the profit made in 2019, part of the aid money has to be repaid. In this way, crisis profiteers would have been prevented from the start, who would get more from economic aid than they had before the crisis! “Skim off aid money wrongly received through a special levy. The government rejected this and instead installed a confusing system of subsidies and a completely opaque COFAG. “We are forced to initiate a legal review because the government has taken almost 40 billion euros and distributed it at will and without control,” said Matznetter. We propose to siphon off the unjustly flowed public aid money through a special levy. The beneficiaries of the crisis should make their contribution through repayment for those who still fear for their livelihood. Examples are McDonald’s and KTM
McDonald’s, for example, has collected fixed costs and sales compensation, money for short-time work and the halving of VAT – in an absolute record year. “While country inns feared for their existence, there was public funding for profit profiteers in the crisis,” criticizes Matznetter. KTM has received 11 million euros in aid and plans to pay out just as much in dividends. Blümel and Kogler had promised restrictions on dividends and bonuses for companies that receive public aid, “but there are none, the payouts are just postponed”.
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