In an interview published in “Freilich” magazine on Saturday, journalist Julian Marius Plutz also asked me about the future of Philosophia-Perennis, which turns seven in June.
So for the first time I had the opportunity to talk in a larger context about something I had only hinted at here so far.
Today us, tomorrow you!
What I absolutely have to bear in mind: This is not just about the fate of my blog or my private affairs. Rather, a precedent is at stake here: What is judged lawful for a blog critical of the government will soon be applied to all others as well, in order to tear down the foundations of the outside parliamentary opposition and bring the last remaining remnants of the “fourth estate” under control.
This is what a tax inspector writes?
I am quoting here from the last third of the interview:
Finally, a serious question. How do you see yourself and your blog in a few years?
I would like to add something to this that is a crucial point for me.
Go ahead.
Like any blog, I collect donations to keep the site going. In the middle of the Corona period I got a tax audit. Then came the notice saying that three years’ worth of donations could not be recognised as gifts because the blog was right-wing populist and critical of the state.
Wait a minute. The tax inspector wrote that?
Yes! I got a letter from the tax office. The official spends two whole pages on my blog. He said that it was “inflammatory”, that it was fake news and so on. I then hired a lawyer. But the tax office is sticking to its position. In the next few weeks or months I will receive an invoice for three years, even for VAT.
And what does your lawyer say?
This is a precedent. This procedure has never happened before. If the tax office had brought arguments that the amounts were not recognisable as a gift, then I, as a layman, would have said: “Okay, tough luck, I’ll just have to pay”. But the arguments are: The blog is ” critical of the government”, I am “agitating”, the blog is “critical of the government”. On top of that, the tax office wants to forbid me to publish this affair, which they are not allowed to do at all.
Unbelievable.
It shows how difficult it is for bloggers to be critics. If something like this is possible, what comes next? To me, these are all attempts to suggest that they have the upper hand. And they can make sure that for me everything will be off. In the meantime, when judges’ houses are searched because they made a wrong judgement, I don’t know when the police will be at my door for the first time. At the moment I live from day to day because I don’t know what will happen next.
https://philosophia-perennis.com/2023/05/01/gesinnungssteuerpruefung-pp/