Political Party Contributions

The Act on the Payment of Contributions to Political Parties regulates financial contributions to political parties for the purposes of political education, public relations work and participation in political decision-making. Political parties are eligible if they are represented in Parliament or were represented in both constituencies in the last parliamentary elections and, although they did not receive a mandate, achieved at least a total of three percent of the votes cast as a party throughout the country.

Following the state election, the government decides on the amount of contributions to be paid to the individual political parties.

Applications by political parties for the payment of contributions must be submitted to the Office of Finance by August 31 of the year of entitlement. For the first payment of a semi-annual installment after a state election, the statutes and an excerpt from the Commercial Register Division must be submitted to the Office of Finance by March 31.

Based on the government resolution on the determination of contributions to political parties, the Office of Finance decides on the payment of annual contributions. If the legal requirements for payment are met, the contributions are paid in semi-annual installments on 15 April and 15 October.

The fact sheet below is intended to provide parties with a summary of the obligations that must be fulfilled each year in order to be entitled to the payment of contributions.