Covid-19. Ombudsman alerts the Government to delays in attributing support to companies

The Ombudsman sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Social Security and to the Deputy Secretary of State and for Fiscal Affairs, in which she requested that efforts be made in order to overcome the situation experienced by companies that have been awaiting, for several months now, attribution of extraordinary support for progressive recovery of activity, wherein the justification for the delay lies in the dynamics of articulation between the Institute of Social Security, IP and the Tax and Customs Authority.

The problem, identified following complaints presented to the Ombudsman, resulted from the fact that the two entities are still adjusting the forms of articulation intended to confirm the percentage of invoicing drop invoked by companies in requests for support.

Among the complaints received by the Ombudsman are situations of companies that have not received any support since November 2020, even after having cancelled or corrected the requests in which divergences were detected, or having presented complaints justifying the alleged shortfall in invoicing.

In the letter, the Ombudsman stresses that, in all the complaints she received, the companies claim to be experiencing serious financial difficulties caused by not receiving the support, which compromises the payment of workers’ salaries, putting at risk the very objective of the measure, which is to maintain jobs.

To read the letter click here [in Portuguese only].