Even in times of the coronavirus pandemic, we continue fulfilling our constitutional duties of auditing, reporting and advising.
The multi-billion programmes designed to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic will have a major impact on federal financial management for many years to come. In the current situation, it is key for us to ensure that the citizens can place trust in a workable external audit function.
Publicly funded research institutions receive federal funding to fill pandemic-related gaps although they have not stated the additional needs.
The payment of furlough money for shorter working hours aims to stabilise the labour market during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a relaxation of the rules may also give rise to deadweight effects and increase the risk of fraud.
Tax fraud causes billions of losses in tax revenues. To tackle this challenge, fiscal authorities need more and better digital technologies.
Customs and tax authorities do not tackle undeclared work effectively. Legal and technological barriers impede sharing intelligence and data across authorities.
Institutional investors engage in abusive ADR pre-release practices to get hold of illegitimate tax vouchers. Such tax vouchers are used to file for tax refunds on stocks actually held by retail investors who forewent claiming the refund from their tax authority. There is, however, no cause for paying out a refund.
Even without the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital care in Germany is chronically underfunded.
DB Netz AG does not enough to clear the maintenance backlog of the Fehmarn Sound Bridge which has been known for years. Instead of the improvements promised, the condition of the Bridge has deteriorated ever since. The planned electrification may place an additional burden on the Bridge.
The federal government and the Deutsche Bahn AG (German railways) failed to achieve the key objectives of the railway reform. In particular, they did not manage to shift traffic from other modes of transport to the railway or to alleviate the strain on the federal budget. “The federal government needs to live up to its constitutional mandate. The federal government is the owner of Deutsche Bahn and needs to clearly define the strategic direction and the way Deutsche Bahn operates”, said Kay Scheller, President of the German SAI.
The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure is negotiating with the German railways “Deutsche Bahn AG” on a future agreement for rail infrastructure maintenance. “The Federal Ministry of Transport should initiate action today and not wait for the year 2025 to address the system’s shortcomings," said Kay Scheller, President of the German SAI.
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