In 2013, Heinrich Staudinger, the innovative and socially committed CEO of GEA shoes, had to experience how differently the boarders of grey areas in financial statements can be perceived: While the Austrian government is perfectly fine with Red Bull’s claiming their engagement and related expenditures in Formula 1 and other sports as “marketing expenses” and therefore evading the tax for several million Euros, GEA shoes was sewed, when they tried to imitate Red Bull’s trick.
Surprisingly, all that Heinrich Staudinger did was trying to support the single moms employed in his business through a program he called “Formula Z” that is organized like one of Red Bull’s Formula 1 teams. The only differences are that “Formula Z” does not subsidize famous racing drivers, but the children of the single moms with 1000€ per year, and the vehicles used are tricycles instead of racing cars.
For me it is shocking that the present legal situation on Austria does not reward social engagement shown by entrepreneurs like Heinrich Staudinger and even penalizes them for their reasonable actions. If GEA added the 1000€ to the single moms’ annual salaries “legally”, the moms would receive only half of the amount due to taxation and the firm would have to pay one third more for social security, while the government would pocket more than the single moms.
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