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Law of NPOs & NGOs

Foundation of association & statutes
Advising association bodies
Host State Law
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Foundation of associations & statutes

Under Austrian law, associations are a bit like IKEA furniture: the instructions are surprisingly brief – but if you don't know exactly what you're doing when you assemble it, the whole shelf will wobble in the end. The Associations Act leaves a lot of room for private autonomy, which is why association statutes are more important than is the case with other forms of association. Ill-conceived, superficial statutes save on consulting costs in the short term, but can cause many times more damage in the long term.

We support you in setting up a legally compliant association, draw up well-thought-out statutes, define the tasks and responsibilities of the association's bodies and, where appropriate, work with our cooperation partners to ensure a tax-optimised association structure. This is particularly important if your association pursues charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical purposes or seeks to qualify for tax relief on donations.

Sometimes clients come to us after they have taken a quick and economical approach to setting up their association – and the association authority or tax office has now discovered deficiencies that, in the worst case, could lead to the official dissolution of the association and overwhelming tax back payments. In such cases, we thoroughly analyse the existing statutes and the actual processes in your association and work with you to bring both up to a professional standard.

Whether you are a cultural association, educational association, NGOs or NPOs, well-planned statutes and a coherent concept can bring your association considerable tax advantages, subsidies and long-term stability. Investing in experienced consultants therefore pays off not only legally, but often also economically in the long term.

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Advising association boards

Anyone who sits on an associations's governing body takes on responsibility – and quite a lot of it: for members, employees, sponsors, beneficiaries and, ultimately, the association in all its economic and legal complexity. No wonder that questions of liability keep cropping up: Where are the limits of my responsibility as a board member? What exactly does an auditor have to check? And how should a supervisory board proceed in concrete terms? If you don't know exactly, it can lead to nervousness and disorientation – and nobody really needs that in association life.
We support boards, executive committees, managing directors and other governing bodies in keeping track of things: from the correct convening of a general meeting to the passing of resolutions in the individual bodies to compliance with documentation requirements. We are happy to provide you with sample documents that are tailored to your needs, accompany you to meetings in an advisory capacity, or cross-check your previous activities to identify and minimise liability risks.
And if something does go wrong? Then it often becomes apparent that the arbitration procedure provided for in the articles of association is anything but a crystal-clear, practical guideline. This is exactly where we come in: we bring structure to chaos, mediate disputes, fill in gaps in regulations – and, of course, represent you if, in the end, the state courts have to be called in to help.
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Host State Law ("Amtssitzgesetz")

Austria is considered one of the hubs of international diplomacy, preliminary diplomacy and conferences. Vienna is known as the seat of globally influential organisations such as the UN, IAEA and OSCE. One of the key legal foundations for the activities of such international institutions is the Official Seat Act (in full: Federal Act on Strengthening Austria as an International Official Seat and Conference Location), which aims to promote the establishment and activities of international institutions and international non-governmental organisations, as well as the holding of international conferences in Austria.
You have never heard of the Official Seat Act before? No wonder: most lawyers haven't either. It is a specialised field that is neither taught at university nor practised in most law firms. We advise more than a third of all Austrian quasi-international organisations and have extensive experience in establishing Austrian structures and attracting international researchers, scientists and diplomats.
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Reasons for Schmelz lawfirm

As specialised lawyers, we represent a wide range of associations and executive members: from allotment garden associations and educational institutions to internationally active NPOs with budgets in the millions. Benefit from our many years of experience in designing legally and fiscally optimised association structures. As a partner of npoAustria, an organisation affiliated with the Vienna University of Economics and Business that promotes networking and knowledge transfer between associations, we also have connections to both academia and practice.

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