47. Do political parties have to report regularly on their finances?

Articles 25, 27 and 27a, Law on financing political parties 2018

Article 25

The political party shall submit the report referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article to the State Audit Office by 31 March for the previous year at the latest together with the annual financial statement referred to in Article 27 of this Law.

The political party shall submit the report referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article to the Public Revenue Office by 31 March for the previous year at the latest.

The State Audit Office and the Public Revenue Office shall be obliged to publish the received reports on their websites.

Article 26

The supervision over the financial and material operation of the political parties shall be conducted by the State Audit Office in accordance with the law and shall be conducted every calendar year for the previous year.

The political parties can have only one giro account.

If the political party finances itself by providing funds from a loan from commercial banks as well, in addition to the main giro account of the party, the political party may have another, special giro account for the funds provided from the loan.

The political party shall have the right to make transfers of funds among its accounts.

The party research and analytical center shall have a separate account.

In the cases of paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, the political parties shall be obliged to submit a financial statement for the material and financial operation of the party. The political parties, in accordance with the legal regulations, shall submit the annual balance sheet for the financial operation to: the Public Revenue Office, the Central Register, and the State Audit Office, and shall be obliged to announce them on their websites.

Article 27

The political parties, by 31 March at the latest, shall prepare the annual financial statement for the previous year in accordance with the law. The statement shall contain the financial operation of the account, that is, the accounts of the political party.

The annual financial statement shall also contain data on:

- the total income including the data on the total amount of donations, gifts, contributions, grants, sponsorships, loan, money, material assets, equipment, services, own incomes, membership fee, legates and other and

- the total expenditures.

The annual financial statement shall be submitted to the State Audit Office within the period determined in paragraph 1 of this Article.

If the State Audit Office establishes irregularities in the annual financial statement of the political party which are contrary to the provisions of this Law, it shall file a motion for initiation of a misdemeanor procedure or shall file a report to the competent public prosecutor in a period of 30 days as of the establishment of the irregularities.

The form, design, contents and manner of keeping the financial statement shall be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

An integral part of the form referred to in paragraph 5 of this Article shall be the Instructions for the Manner of Filing in the Annual Financial Statement.

The Ministry of Finance shall at least once a year deliver trainings to the political parties concerning the material and financial operation and the manner of filing in the financial statement.