Former Treasury Secretary Thomas Schmid has officially corrected his statements about the tax audit of the “Erwin Proell Foundation”. Schmid, who is seeking leniency in several cases involving the ÖVP, was wrong when questioned by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption (WKStA). In a letter to the authority, he clarified that the test took place in 2017.
Schmid had accused the now chairman of the National Council Wolfgang Sobotka (ÖVP) for his statements about alleged interventions in tax audits. In addition to the Erwin Proell Foundation, Schmid testified that he was also involved in an investigation by the Alois Mock Institute.
ÖVP sees Schmid refuted
Sobotka vehemently denies this and speaks of Schmid’s false claims. The ÖVP saw Schmid refute that there was demonstrably no audit of the “Erwin Proell Foundation” in the period he mentioned for the first time. The exam was “in the final phase of Minister of Finance (Hans Jörg, note) Schelling”, he corrected the WKStA. In 2017 there was actually an exam.
“No Intervention”
The Austrian tax authorities have confirmed to the subcommittee that there was an audit at the Erwin Proell Foundation, but that there were no interventions, ÖVP faction leader Andreas Hanger stressed. In fact, the head of the Austrian tax office, Siegfried Manhal, writes in an email that, from the memory of the head of the tax office, there was “no intervention whatsoever”. It also states that “in the entire period 2014 – 2019” there was “no tax audit” at the Alois Mock Institute and that no such audit was planned.
Proell Foundation was dissolved in May 2017
The “Erwin Proell Private Foundation” was dissolved in May 2017 and 300,000 euros in grants and interest were repaid to the state of Lower Austria. The foundation, which was set up for Proell’s 60th birthday, came under fire earlier because no visible projects had been carried out with the money.
Capital gains tax had to be paid afterwards
After the repayment of the 300,000 euros, the tax authorities were curious whether the money was a subsidy or a donation, which makes a difference from a tax point of view. The responsible tax officials initially agreed that there could be no financing because the financing guidelines had not been followed. In August 2018, however, the responsible official changed his mind and, based on the report of the Court of Auditors, suddenly judged the 300,000 euros as funding, although a corresponding report had been available at the ministry for almost a year. As a result, only capital gains tax had to be paid afterwards.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
