The Republic has seized the privately used villa in Innsbruck-Igls owned by Signa founder Benko. Reason: The company that owns the property is said to have not paid any sales tax for years. There is a private foundation behind this company that rejects the allegations, the ORF reported.
The former Schlosshotel Igls was bought in 2016 by the Schlosshotel Igls company, which is largely owned by Benko’s Laura Private Foundation. The hotel was demolished and a luxury property was built on the several thousand square meter area. Benko and his family are supposed to live there.
Schlosshotel Igls GmbH is said to have owed more than twelve million euros in sales tax since 2016, ZiB1 quoted from the lien application.
The finance department confirmed the registration of the lien, but without mentioning the amounts or background information. There was no comment from Signa. The Laura Private Foundation rejected the reports regarding the private villa as “false and misleading”. Schlosshotel Igls GmbH is an independent real estate entrepreneur. As part of the construction of the new building, the company “properly paid VAT on construction costs and was properly and correctly reimbursed as part of the input tax from the Innsbruck tax office,” according to a statement from the private foundation.
The tax authorities are of the “unilateral view that the input taxes that have already been refunded must be repaid – which has no legal basis and is rejected by the property owner.” As part of this discussion, the administration arranged for disputed input taxes to be secured by means of a mortgage. “These are not personal taxes of Mr. Rene Benko,” said the foundation.
Last week, the Signa companies Prime and Development filed for bankruptcy at the Vienna Commercial Court. Signa Development holds 39 projects and is directly and indirectly involved in 290 companies. The liabilities are estimated at 1.2 to 1.3 billion euros.
Signa Prime is the largest operating subsidiary of the company network. The company’s real estate portfolio includes the Golden Quarter in Vienna, the Lamarr department store, which is under construction on Vienna’s Mariahilfer Strasse, the Berlin KaDeWe and the Elbtower project in Hamburg, which has not been worked on for weeks. Signa Prime’s liabilities are estimated at 4.3 to 4.5 billion euros.
