Hoteliers' association demands payment of delayed Corona aid

Many companies are still waiting for their Corona support to be paid out. The hoteliers' association assumes that the Austrian federal government would allegedly use a decision by the Constitutional Court to further delay payments.

“Since the start of COVID, outstanding compensation, the reclaiming of sums that have been verified several times and lessees being put in a worse position than tenants, and COFAG communicates what it wants, when and how it wants, without any number or process being able to be verified. That doesn't work when it comes to tax money. It's good that the Constitutional Court is intervening," says Walter Veit, President of the Austrian Hoteliers Association, spokesman for more than 1.700 businesses closed during the lockdowns, signing every word of the loud criticism of COFAG.

At the same time, he warns of an imminent payout stop: “Overturning a payout because the law incorrectly lacks the legal right to it? The cat bites its own tail!” Companies need to be supported, not hindered. The Constitutional Court must take this into account if it does not want to unintentionally become a stooge of the federal government.

The payment must be able to be implemented quickly and taking record inflation into account: after all, amounts recorded in March 2020 are now worth 20% less. “Just as the federal government charges interest on tax debts, it also has to adjust its long-term outstanding debts to inflation. “Hopefully the VfGH has also taken a look at this given the record inflation,” says Veit.