It’s billions. The Swiss Federal Court of Auditors (SFAO) looks at this very closely. And so she took a closer look at the Corona self-employment replacement – one of several tools designed to deal with the economic impact of the pandemic.
It was the first time that the federal government gave financial support to self-employed workers in an economic emergency. Several billion francs flowed to managers who were operationally limited. The financial support is limited to the end of 2022.
For many people, help kept them alive
Overall, the SFAO assesses the concept and effect of the Corona loss of profits as positive, as shown by its audit report. The tool turned out to be useful. A large majority of those who received support would have judged the financial support as useful. For many, they would even have had a livelihood effect.
However, the SFAO also points to the instrument’s weaknesses in its report. The provisional AHV annual income for 2019 was not the ideal basis for assessing the loss of wages payment because it is an individually estimated reference.
Inspectors discover different risks
“The SFAO came to the conclusion that the later annual income for 2019, determined by the tax authorities, is a better basis for the assessment,” the report said. Research has shown that in a maximum of one third of the cases the provisionally stated AHV annual income may be too high compared to the later final assessment.
The SFAO recommends the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) of Minister of the Interior Alain Berset (50) to calculate future extraordinary financial support for the self-employed differently. One possibility is, for example, advance payments with subsequent settlement against the definitively determined AHV annual income.
Self-employed not all treated equally
The SFAO also criticizes the unequal treatment of the self-employed whose businesses were forced to close compared to those whose businesses could remain open but who still had to accept large or total sales losses due to a lack of customers. The SFAO recommends assessing claims in the future based on the actual economic impact of business operations.
The federal agency responsible for the Corona revenue loss takes different positions on the report. Difficulties in the implementation of such services should be avoided in view of future crises, the BSV writes.
However, the BSV has little influence on the definition of benefits. The type of measures, the eligibility conditions and the amount of benefits were determined by political decisions. “Therefore, the FSIO notes that in its evaluation, the SFAO mainly criticizes the political decisions of the Federal Council and Parliament.” (SDA)