Ökotárs welcomes the decision of the tax authority
Ökotárs Foundation welcomes the decision of the National Tax and Customs Administration to close the year-long investigation in the absence of crime related to the EEA/Norwegian NGO Programme against the foundation and 17 of supported associations and foundations by it.
It has been proven that Ökotárs and the supported organizations were continuosly documenting their activities, they strove comply with the laws, monitored all possible changes and met their reporting obligations as well. The unlawful investigation of this case was therefore entirely unfounded.
Despite the undeserved series of attacks, Ökotárs Foundation and its partners did everything to help the NGOs continue their work for the benefit of society. Although the moves of the government did endanger the supporting mechanism, Ökotárs and it' partners stood their ground with success. In the last two years the EEA/Norwegian NGO Programme supported the launch and implementation of more than 430 civil projects through an open mechanism in very diverse areas: from the protection of human rights through the promotion of young people's active citizenship and environmental protection to strengthening of vulnerable groups.
The decision to close the investigation doesn't mean that the governmental harrasment has ended: the decision about the tax numbers of Ökotárs and it's partners - Autonómia, Demnet and Kárpátok foundations - it is still in the hands of the court . But we are still ready to use every available forum of legal remedies to prove and defend our position in this case or in any other - now we got one step closer to that.
In the future, we will continue our work as we did during the last years. Ökotárs and it's partners remain to be a guarantee of lawful, independent and user friendly supporting mechanisms of civil society.