Last March the Government announced the concession of 7,000 million euros in direct aid to the self-employed and SMEs most affected by the pandemic, 1,000 of which would go to the hospitality industry. Six months later, the deadline for requesting the aid has expired in most of the autonomous communities, but, according to the latest data published by these, more than 60% have been deserted.
As explained by Javier Ruiz in Cadena Ser, twelve communities have already closed the deadline to request the funds, despite the fact that not even half the money has been distributed. In the Community of Madrid the call has been reopened, something that could happen in other communities. But this does not imply that the money will be distributed.
The problem is that, as the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA) denounced months ago, the requirements that are asked of the beneficiaries they are impossible to fulfill for most small businesses and especially for bars and restaurants.
With debts there is no help
The main obstacle to receiving aid, apart from the complex paperwork that must be carried out to request it, is that it is necessary not have debts with the public administration. It is not a rare requirement, it is present in all the aids. The problem is that, with bars and restaurants closed for months, many businesses have not been able to catch up with the Treasury or Social Security, which makes it impossible for them to ask for help.
UPTA asked the Ministry of Economy, at the end of July, to the wording will be modified of the Royal Decree that regulates the aid, to be able to request it by subtracting from it what the businesses owe to the Tax Agency or the Social Security Treasury.
“The Government must establish mechanisms that allow the CCAA to change the aid orders and thereby achieve a double effect, on the one hand, pay off existing debts with the central administration and, on the other hand, that the self-employed can benefit from the aid of all the administrations ”, he explained Eduardo Aband, president of UPTA.
But, more than a month later, the requirements have not been changed. And time is running out. As explained in the law, aid that is not granted before November must be reimbursed to the State, which, it says, has already distributed all the money to the communities.
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