BSW criticizes handling of reclaims of corona aid

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) in the Saxon state parliament criticizes the handling of reclaims of corona emergency aid. The practice of the Sächsische Aufbaubank is "bureaucratic, non-transparent and particularly burdensome for solo self-employed and micro-enterprises", explained MP Jens Hentschel-Thöricht and called for improvements to relieve those affected.

Hentschel-Thöricht had submitted two minor questions to the state parliament and received an answer from the Ministry of Economic Affairs. According to this, more than 66,000 companies have already been contacted to take part in the feedback procedure for the aid. They must declare the extent to which subsidies were actually required at the time. If, contrary to expectations, income was higher than expenditure, the money is to be repaid.

Many recipients of emergency aid made voluntary repayments

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, more than 13,600 recipients of the coronavirus subsidy had made voluntary repayments by the end of March 2024. A further 2,550 or so repayments were made following reclaims in the context of audits, for example due to criminal charges. "These figures do not include repayments as part of the feedback procedure, as this procedure was not started until November 2024," it said.

Hentschel-Thöricht complained: "Particularly affected are those who needed help quickly during the pandemic, but now have to submit detailed feedback years later under changed conditions - without any entitlement to an entrepreneur's salary or consideration of their real living costs." In addition, the aid was communicated at the time as non-repayable grants.

According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the recipients were "aware, both from the approval notices and the FAQs published during the application phase, that the grants could only be used to compensate for the economic bottlenecks directly caused by the coronavirus pandemic during the performance period".

BSW demands immediate halt to clawbacks

Hentschel-Thöricht emphasized: "The BSW demands an immediate halt to these clawbacks until a transparent, comprehensible and fair audit is ensured for all parties involved. It is unacceptable that those who relied on government promises at the time are now being punished twice over."