Won by the ÖH: The ÖH supports the student in his or her proof of serious and purposeful study. Thus, the already pronounced recovery of more than € 2,600 is no longer applicable.
Student K has been studying at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences since the winter semester of 2015. From the first year of study, he or she earns the required credit of 16 ECTS credits from this program.
After the first year of study he continues his studies, but in the meantime he has discovered his interest in medicine. Therefore, in the 2016/17 academic year, he is also preparing for the 2017 medical entrance exam in parallel with his studies. In addition, he continues to attend lectures and classes regularly his soil culture studies. Takes notes in these courses and continues to visit the library regularly. He also buys the learning aids needed for the lectures at the university. K continues to receive the family allowance for his studies at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences.
After he is accepted for the study of medicine, the tax office reclaims by means of a notice the family allowance received between October 2016 and September 2017 for his studies of soil culture in the amount of more than € 2,600. The tax office justifies the reclaim by stating that the studies in the second year of study were not pursued seriously and purposefully.
With the help of the Department for Social Policy of the Austrian Student Union (ÖH), K appeals against this decision. Entitlement to family allowance for the first year of study is granted by admission as a regular student. From the second year of study onwards, students are entitled to family allowance if they have passed 16 ECTS credits or 8 semester hours of examinations from a previous year of study. There is no longer a minimum ECTS achievement once 16 ECTS or 8 semester hours of examinations have been positively completed from an academic year. For a further claim it is only more necessary that the student studies seriously and purposefully.
In the specific case, K did not sit for any examination from his studies at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in his second year. However, he has continued to attend lectures and engage in independent study. He therefore continued to study seriously and purposefully. After the appeal is still filed in November 2017, almost a year passes. Finally, in November 2018, the preliminary appeal decision of the tax office is issued. K does not have to repay the family allowance received for the second academic year after all.
Won by the ÖH: The ÖH supports the student in his or her proof of serious and purposeful study. Thus, the already pronounced recovery of more than € 2,600 is no longer applicable.
Further successes from consulting at www.oeh.ac.at/geschafft
