Stadl Paura: Tax Evasion at the Equestrian Center?

The Stadl Paura Equestrian Center is a large operation. It has 100 school horses, hosts competitions and stallion performance tests, and features historic buildings. The facility exudes tradition. And that comes at a cost.

Johannes Mayrhofer has been the managing director of the limited liability company that operates the equestrian center since 2018. Until then, the equestrian center had been operating at a loss. Shortly after taking office, he also became chairman of the Pferdezentrum Stadl-Paura Riding Club, which is responsible, among other things, for organizing equestrian tournaments. This club is a nonprofit organization.

Club Donates Nearly 900,000 Euros to Stadl Paura GmbH

According to an investigation by the Kronen-Zeitung, this nonprofit association donated just under 900,000 euros to the limited liability company for “historic preservation” between 2018 and 2021. At first glance, this seems plausible. The buildings date back to the Habsburg era. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture a Landau carriage pulling up in front of one of the light-yellow-painted stable buildings with Empress Sisi on board. The problem: According to the Kronen Zeitung, the association’s bylaws do not list historic preservation as one of its objectives. The newspaper reports that this may have resulted in cross-subsidization not covered by association law. Furthermore, the paper states, taxes were not paid. This is a circumstance that had already been noted once before and, according to Managing Director Mayrhofer, was “properly resolved in accordance with tax law” in 2021.

According to the Kronen Zeitung, at least the sales tax was paid retroactively. It wasn’t until 2024 that the association’s bylaws were amended to actually include historic preservation activities as one of the association’s goals. The nearly 900,000 euros from previous years are therefore not covered by this change. This raises the question of whether these donations were handled correctly from a tax perspective.

Johannes Mayrhofer will no longer serve as managing director starting next year. When he took office in 2018, he had already stated that he did not intend to remain in this position for more than ten years. Mayrhofer is also vice president of the Austrian Equestrian Federation (OEPS).