The government has planned corona aid of around 85 billion euros, the Court of Audit found as of June 2022. This corresponds to about a fifth of the annual production of the Austrian economy. The lion’s share of 83 billion is accounted for by the federal government, with the federal states contributing almost 2 billion euros. In June 2022, so about a year ago, half of this had been paid out or received in some other way. The Court of Audit has also made an assignment as to who the beneficiaries of the Corona support are.
The figures published on Friday make it clear once again that in Austria the focus was mainly on subsidies. The federal government wants to spend 45.8 billion euros on this, the federal states will spend another 1.4 billion euros on it. That’s a total of 55 percent of the planned support. However, not all aid will ultimately be reflected in the budget.
Image: Corona aid in Austria
Revenue waives the second largest item
Revenue waivers, essentially just from the federal government, are the second largest item at $26.3 billion. Consider, for example, extending the submission deadline for the 2019 income tax return or reducing or not determining advances for income tax and corporation tax. Some of these only mean deferred payment. For example, deferral of payment means that “the assumption of future payments only leads to an actual lower income in terms of interest loss,” the Court notes.
Obligations and Warranties
The third major item, liability and guarantees, totaling 11 billion euros, only becomes a financial burden for the republic where it ultimately has an impact.
The lion’s share flows to companies and organizations
The Court of Audit has also given instructions on who is the beneficiary of the Corona support. According to this, the lion’s share of non-reimbursable grants and benefits from the federal government that came into effect by 2022 (a total of 32.7 billion euros) went through companies and organizations. The Court allocates half (15.3 billion) directly to “companies”. The expenditure on short-time work of 9.8 billion euros falls under ‘Companies and non-profit’. EUR 3.9 billion went to “companies and individuals”, almost EUR 2 billion directly to individuals.
As of June 30, 2022, the federal and state governments had enacted 600 financial assistance measures — 449 of them (75 percent) were non-refundable grants. At the federal level, 61 percent of the 145 measures were subsidies, at the federal states 79 percent of the 455 support measures,
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
