Entrepreneur difficulties due to the support promised by the state: he will receive the money, but to a non-existent account

In the app, email is no longer used for 20 years. mail and bank account

The small company UAB San Marco Dažai asked the STI for support for a subsidy for micro-enterprises. The application in the STI system is automatically formed and the applicant cannot manually adjust it.

Audrius Žurauskas, the head of the company, says that Delfi’s application for the grant indicated that the company’s email was used 20 years ago. mail and an incorrect bank account opened in 2003. credit card.

“Even if you grant a subsidy, you will try to transfer the money to the wrong and oldest account that does not exist,” said the interlocutor.

Last week, the company’s finance specialist called STI and stated that the details provided in the application were incorrect, so the account number needed to be changed:

He asked the bank for clarification, to which he replied that the bank had already sent letters to the STI on several occasions about various companies, indicating that the incorrect or incorrect accounts had been created automatically, and indicating which accounts to use for specific companies. However, a response was received from STI with a request not to send any more letters as they will not correct the information. I don’t know if they can’t or don’t want to because nobody from the ITS can comment on that. “

The last account with the bank was opened in 2015, and the STI sees

Finally, the company’s own boss called the STI to report incorrect data and request that it be changed. However, the Information Department consultant allegedly did not hear anything, since it did not see the company accounts.

“I heard that no one can help me with the STI, and I need to contact the bank because it was incorrect data. According to the consultant, the system works automatically and presents the last account opened in the application, although the bank declares that the last account opened was in 2015 , and the STI system takes the account opened in 2003, ”said the businessman.

“When asked which accounts he sees, he assured that he did not see any, but after that he miraculously identified my personality, joined the” magic “system and saw many different accounts in litas, crowns, zlotys and other coins. I don’t know why they were not included in the app, maybe it would be relevant for us to get support eg zlotys.

All of those accounts would likely be blocked very quickly if there were back taxes or unpaid taxes, and everyone knows that there are never any questions or difficulties in “canceling” the money and there are no questions about which account was last used, “says A. Žurauskas.

The head of the company assures that after repeating many times which account should be marked in the system as the only one and the main one, which has been used for approximately 20 years, he received the answer that no STI can do that.

“The bank can help with invoices, but who will change the information about the company’s new email? Although for some reason we receive messages from the STI in a completely different email. Mail,” asks the interlocutor.

After calling the bank, the man heard that there are multiple closed, multi-currency old accounts in the bank’s automated system, because once the company bought something from other countries.

“Why STI automatically sends invalid invoices and why it doesn’t close them, it cannot respond. The bank confirmed that there is a problem with the ITS, which sees and knows everything but does not want to do anything. I don’t see any old accounts in my bank’s electronic banking and I don’t even know anything about them, “emphasizes the head of San Marco Paints.

LBBA proposed changes

Daiva Čibirienė, president of the Lithuanian Association of Accountants and Auditors (LBAA), interviewed by Delfi, considered that the ITS did not automatically charge the oldest, but the last, account to this businessman in the application.

“The last account opened could be a credit card account that a company does not use to pay taxes, but uses it more for billing. For example, if a company has opened a card for an employee to pay on behalf of the company Then it appears in the application as “most recently” opened. If the company has not closed the unused account, it must be understood that it is in the system, so it must be repaired, “says D. Čibirienė.

The LBAA requested that ITS requests not indicate the last account opened, but the account from which the fees were last paid. According to her, this account would be considered as the main tax payment.

“The ITS said it would take time because they had to make this decision in record time. In fact, the application system was already operational, although the bug had not yet been approved. They really did their best. No one has neglected this feature. , that it is supposed that someday it will be necessary to distribute subsidies, that statistics will be needed from its database: bank account numbers and company emails.

What can I do to make sure the data in the apps is correct?

According to D. Čibirienė, before completing the requests for assistance, you must first organize your data, for example, update the email. mail. After changing the data, the system supposedly processes it for several days.

“It is possible that only after processing the data, the system prepares the applications with new data. It is possible that the algorithm has formed the call and no longer modifies it, even if the data has been refined. These are technical issues,” he explains. the interlocutor.

The LBAA President, if incorrect data is found in the automatically completed application, advises writing the applications in writing through the “My STI” system, and specialists will change the data manually.

“His quick tool doesn’t have the automation to choose which bank account he wants or to choose other contact details. There was no time for that,” he says.

Mr Čibirienė also points out that old invoices must be settled. Another possible option is to open a new bank account: “Then employers can request the STI to re-form the application. According to the algorithm, when a new account is opened with the bank, the last account must appear in the application. “

Accountants don’t always separate company accounts

When asked if there are cases in which a stranger’s account appears by mistake in the request made, D. Čibirienė points out that the accountants of the companies simply do not recognize the accounts.

“Some accounts are used less frequently, or company executives did not provide accountants with information about them. You can open an account for a transaction or purpose, it was not used later, there is nothing in it and the accountant does not know anything about it ”, the interlocutor mentions the possible reason.

There have been cases in the association where company accountants reported erroneous invoices on requests and it later became apparent that such company accounts exist or have an incomplete account number that is not in SEPO format.

“What I had to see, for example, the Paysera account, in one way in the account statement, in another way is the STI, which adds the bank code in SEPO format, and if we take the Paysera account statement, it’s the same number, but shorter, there are no starting numbers. ” Therefore, accountants may quickly review the account number and say that the company does not have one. If you take a closer look, they could see that there is no mistake, ”says D. Čibirienė.

According to her, it is possible to find out who owns the bank account in the application, all you have to do is contact the bank, because the account number can be used to determine which bank it belongs to.

Commenting on the case of businessman A. Žurauskas, D. Čibirienė also noted that Lithuanian banks must notify STI of all accounts opened by companies. The ITS database must contain all bank accounts in Lithuania.

73 micro companies adjusted their accounts

STI Communication Manager Rūta Asadauskaitė comments that to ensure a quick and convenient process of providing subsidies, the STI submits a complete application to micro-enterprises. As a result, companies no longer have to complete anything on their own, all that remains is to approve and submit the application. The application contains the most recently opened company account.

“The STI receives the data from the corporate accounts of the payment institutions, i. and. banks, unions, etc. In the automatically formed application, the last current account or payment card of the company is selected, in which the currency used is the euro, ”says R. Asadauskaitė.

However, according to her, if it is an unused company account and the company wants to receive a subsidy to another account, the STI recommends closing the unused account or opening a new bank account before sending the request.

“When receiving the data from the banks when closing or opening an account, the system will automatically select a new valid or payment card account and it will be updated immediately in the application,” explains the STI representative.

When asked about the frequency of incorrect data in company applications, the interviewee pointed out that 73 micro-companies changed the details of their account with a credit institution.

The. Mailing address: as provided by the taxpayer

According to R. Asadauskaitė, the application uses the taxpayer’s email. the postal address is that indicated by the taxpayer himself to the ITS. That’s why the tax administrator constantly emphasizes the importance of correct and up-to-date company registration details.

The. The taxpayer can easily change the email address through “My ITS” by completing the notification about the change of the registration data of the taxpayers.

“When changing email and contact details, the taxpayer must send the revised data to the STI within five days,” adds the LBAA president, mentioning that the lack of correction of the data threatens even with penalties.

In total, the ITS has already sent around 36.5 thousand. asks that micro-businesses apply for a grant. 27 thousand microenterprises have already submitted the request and the ITS transferred 26.5 thousand. requests from companies to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation 68.8 million. to receive subsidies in euros.