“The main reason for refusal is that companies have not previously paid even 200 euros per month in taxes to the state – this is 35% of the total number of refusals. The next biggest reason for refusals is the existence of tax debts,” Jaunzeme explained.
She said that in total, around 5,000 companies have applied for downtime benefits for 27,000 employees, while 16,000 employees have so far been granted benefits.
Asked why the benefits paid so far are so small and inconsistent with the previously forecast that 150,000 employees could receive benefits for about 65 million euros, Jaunzeme said that before the start of downtime benefits, it was forecasted that large companies with wages could apply, which are above average.
“Now we see that mostly small companies with not very good tax discipline apply for the benefit. This is also evidenced by the fact that the average amount of the paid downtime benefit is 250 euros, which is significantly less than the average salary in the country,” said Jaunzeme.
She added that very few applications are received from companies that are members of the Advanced Cooperation Program or the so-called “white list”. Only one application has been received from the Silver Level Program for 11 employees, while 22 applications have been received from the Bronze Level Program for 265 employees.
Jaunzeme stated that in total about 1,000 small businesses have so far been denied the benefit.
