From February 1919 until his resignation in April 1919, Schiffer was deputy to "Ministerpräsident" Philipp Scheidemann and Minister of Finance in the first democratically elected German government. During his time in office, Schiffer developed a temporary tax regime that provided the basis for what later became known as "Erzbergersche Finanzreformen" (named after Matthias Erzberger). Schiffer asked Scheidemann for his dismissal from the cabinet on 28 March 1919, giving "personal reasons". He also named disagreement about the creation and filling of several public sector positions as an issue.