By Andreas Kißler
DOW JONES–The Federal Cabinet has decided on the key points of a mechanism for the direct disbursement of public funds (direct disbursement mechanism). In recent years, the federal government has supported people in Germany in crisis situations with extensive aid and relief packages. The Ministry of Finance explained that the fact that the federal government does not yet have a direct way to determine and pay out financial benefits to citizens quickly and in a targeted manner has made things more difficult.
“With today’s decision, we are creating a reliable framework for a disbursement mechanism with which funds can be paid out directly, securely and unbureaucratically to citizens in Germany,” said Federal Finance Minister Jörg Kukies (SPD). “This means we can support people quickly and in a targeted manner.” Such largely automated direct payments from the federal government could also help ensure that public funds are used more efficiently. “Our goal is for the basic mechanism with which flat-rate payments are possible to be available this year. The future federal government must decide on specific benefits.”
According to the information, the basic mechanism should also be open to interfaces that could enable largely automated, for example income-dependent, payments in the future if the appropriate conditions are created. There is no performance associated with the establishment of the basic mechanism; a supplementary performance law is required.
According to the ministry, the core element of the direct payment mechanism is the storage of account details in the tax ID database at the Federal Central Tax Office. “The legal framework for this is in place and the additional storage is already underway,” said the Ministry of Finance. Around 13.9 million account details were stored at the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) via the family fund. Since November 27th, citizens have been able to save their IBAN independently via the BZSt portal BOP and ELSTER. In addition, consent can be given to the house bank for it to transmit the IBAN to the BZSt.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2024 07:26 ET (12:26 GMT)