Manifesto
2023-09-13
NoÁr organises a solidarity event to stand up for us!
2023-09-28
If the government does not stop bleeding out the HEF institutions systematically, hundreds of homeless people could end up back on the streets or dying because they remain unserved. Hundreds of families will lose their only source of food, thousands of disadvantaged children will lose their chance of an education. The lives of the mentally handicapped, the elderly and abused mothers are at risk. There is no pressure for these tasks to be done by others. All we ask is that we be allowed to continue our work for the poorest, the most vulnerable.
A STATEMENT OF APPRECIATION
– The Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship and the Oltalom Charity Society would like to express their gratitude for the donations received so far.
– Since the launch of our Manifesto last week, individual donors have contributed nearly 45 million HUF to help our employees from the Crisis Fund, from which we have provided fractional payments to around 550 employees.
– We are grateful to all those who have publicly pledged their support, who have taken the manifesto seriously and are spreading the word about our plight and our pleas as widely as possible.
– We also want to thank the General Assembly and the Mayor of Budaörs and Szeged for their extraordinary support of 10-10 million HUF support for the Wesley kindergarten and school in Szeged and our nursing home in Budaörs. – We are also thankful to those who donated 1% of their income tax to the Oltalom Charity Society, giving it 71 million HUF.
– To the 73,000 people who have contributed a nearly one and a half billion HUF to our budget by donating 1% of their income tax reserved for churches – this means that the number of our supporters has increased by almost 50% since last year and we remain the 5th most supported church in the country.
– A special thank you to the thousands of staff who persevere and continue to work despite the critical circumstances, running our homes for the elderly and our educational institutions across the country.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE HUNGARIAN PUBLIC EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
– We would like to express our solidarity with all those working and studying in the totally dysfunctional Hungarian public education system, as we ourselves are affected, running 4 nurseries, 8 kindergartens and 21 schools, responsible for the education and nutrition of 3000 children. Unfortunately we are no longer able to pay our staff their unjustly low salaries either, due to the state cutbacks.
CORRECTIONS TO GOVERNMENT AND NAV (Tax Authority) COMMUNICATIONS
– In his reaction to last week’s government briefing, Gergely Gulyás, Head of the Prime Minister’s Office, claimed that the state no longer owes us. In contrast, the truth is that, based on the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, the state has only reimbursed HEF for the damage caused by the unlawful withdrawal of the church status until 2016 (or until 2015 in the case of the 1% of the income tax).
The compensation covered only the reimbursement of the loss of income owed to MET on the basis of the titles recognised by the State (1% VAT, social and public education ecclesiastical normative, aid for religious education).
– The status has not been settled after the compensation period, so the Hungarian state is liable for the compensation of the damages incurred since 2017.
– The withdrawal of our ecclesiastical status deprives us of an annual subsidy of around HUF 2 billion. Thus, the Hungarian state’s debt towards us is estimated at 14 billion, which is almost ten times our debt. – We are awaiting the final decision regarding our legal status as a registered and recognised church, the case is currently before the Hungarian Curia due to the appeal of the prosecution, but the two previous courts have already ruled in our favour.
– If the Curia gives a final decision, we will then be able to go back to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg for a possible appeal.
– Gergely Gulyás also claimed that in 2023, HUF 963 million has already been allocated to the organisation as a normative for the social field. Unfortunately, this does not correspond with reality, because only 304 million of this amount was received, the rest was claimed by the Tax Authority.
– According to a statement by the Tax Authority last week, “In the case of organisations performing public tasks, the Tax Authority acts in a particularly fair manner. Thus, the execution of 1.5 billion HUF of debt owed by HEF and its institutions was suspended by the Tax Authority months ago and is currently suspended. However, the aim is to ensure that the taxpayer stops its illegal activities and has a reasonable plan to meet its obligations.”
– This is now the practice of deducting public debt from the normative: The Hungarian Treasury declares to the Tax Authority (NAV) whether the maintainer or the institutions have public-law liabilities before the monthly normative is transferred. If Tax Authority declares that there are outstanding public debts, the corresponding amount is automatically transferred to the Tax Authority and not to the Institution – but it is considered as a paid normative.
– This is a statutory process that can only be blocked by Zoltán Maruzsa, the Minister
of State for Public Education and Attila Fülöp, the Minister of State for Social Affairs (or by Sándor Pintér, the Minister of Interior), by granting a waiver from the deduction obligation. Thus, even if there is a debt to the Tax Authority, the amount of the normative is not paid to the Tax Authority but to the maintainer.
– Such a waiver can be granted under the legislation if the institutions would otherwise be unable to operate. Unfortunately, as obvious as it is that the impossibility of operation already applies to all our institutions, since spring
2023 we have not received any exemption from the relevant state ministers and the minister responsible. In case you have not been aware of the consequences of your actions, we would like to point out once again that the fate of thousands of staff and 20,000 beneficiaries is now in a hopeless situation. In view of the critical situation created by their actions, we call on the relevant public officials to comply with the relevant legislation and to suspend the deduction of public debt from the normative subsidy.
– The TAx Authority, acting on its own initiative, may suspend the enforcement of the recovery of the public debt. The Tax Authority has now stated in a public notice that they have done so. In contrast, the reality is that the period of suspension expired on 15 September. Applications for extensions were submitted last week. We trust that they will continue to provide the possibility of suspending enforcement.
– We would be very pleased if the Hungarian state would heed the Tax Authority’s admonition and the government would also cease its illegal activities, settle HEF’s church status and this way ensure that the debt for the non-payment of the associated subsidy is paid. If this happens, we will immediately pay the full amount of our debt.
ADOPTATION’ CAMPAIGN FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE INSTITUTIONS
– We are working to resolve the situation and to alleviate the long-term financial dependence on the state, but unfortunately time is very short: we need to increase the funding for our institutions in October to enable them to provide for the 20,000 people in need until the situation is resolved and to avoid staff being forced to resign. – We are asking the municipalities where we have other institutions to follow the example of Budaörs and Szeged and give them the extraordinary support they can until the situation is resolved. – We are therefore appealing to the Hungarian and international public: we are looking for applications from companies, businesses and private individuals in Hungary and abroad who would be willing to ” adopt ” a HEF or Oltalom institution, even for a month, i.e. to take over the wage costs of a school, social home or homeless shelter for the period in question. We have drawn up a list of how much this would involve per institution and per month, attached it to the press release and made it available on our website. Please help us to contact the companies open for support through the press publicity.
Contact us: gazdasagi@oltalom.hu
- PUBLISHING INVESTIGATIVE ARTICLES, BACKGROUND MATERIAL – We would like to ask the representatives of the press to help us to inform and make the Hungarian and international public aware of our situation by writing and publishing factual articles on the human and international legal aspects of the situation, the background of the situation and the operation of our organisation.
- OCTOBER 1 – THE CHURCH IN BÉKÁSMEGYER IS 25 YEARS OLD – On 1 October, at 9:00 am, we will gather in the church and its garden in Békásmegyer to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the consecration of the church. It is very uplifting to see how many civic and public figures and well-known artists have already expressed their support and willingness to participate in the celebration and the solidarity event that will follow.
– I would also like to invite members of the press to attend the event, as their coverage will help our cause enormously.
Donations:
https://metegyhaz.hu/adomanyozas/
https://oltalom.hu/2023/08/17/krizisalap-bajban-levo-munkatarsaink-megsegitesere
Further information:
www.metegyhaz.hu
www.oltalom.hu
Our Bank Accounts:
Hungarian Evangelical Fellowship bank account number:
For domestic transfers:
10400140-00026233-00000008
For international transfers:
BIC (SWIFT) kód: OKHBHUHB
IBAN: HU32 1040 0140 0002 6233 0000 0008
PayPal e-mail addresses: gazdasagi@wjlf.hu; info@metegyhaz.hu
HEF 1% Technical number: 0444
OLTALOM CHARITY SOCIETY bank account number:
For domestic transfers:
10400140-00026699-00000006
For international transfers:
BIC (SWIFT) kód: OKHBHUHB
IBAN: HU26 1040 0140 0002 6699 0000 0006
PayPal email címek: gazdasagi@oltalom.hu; oltalom@oltalom.hu
OKE 1% adószám: 19010409-1-42
JOHN WESLEY THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE bank account number:
For domestic transfers:
11708001-20562292-00000000
For international transfers:
BIC (SWIFT) kód: OTPVHUHB
IBAN: HU69 1170 8001 2056 2292 0000 0000
WJLF 1% adószám: 18056109-1-42
