Austria

An individual is generally treated as tax resident after establishing an abode in Austria or, in any case, after a six-month stay. Nationality itself is not a residence test, though it can serve as an indicator in doubtful cases.

The Austrian tax year is the calendar year. Income tax returns are due by 30 April of the following year on paper or by the end of June electronically, and individuals whose only income is wage-tax-withheld salary are not obliged to file at all, though they may file within five years to claim a refund.

Non-residents are taxed only on Austrian-source income, at the same schedule rates that apply to residents, with a fictitious income amount added to their taxable base when they file a return.

Employees get a standard work-related expense allowance, with actual receipted costs (commuting, work equipment, training, technical literature) deductible above it. Mandatory social security contributions, church tax up to a set cap, and charitable contributions up to 10% of taxable income are also deductible, alongside relief for extraordinary expenses such as medical or funeral costs.

Austria's Kleinunternehmerregelung exempts a business from charging or remitting VAT, and from filing a VAT return, provided turnover has not exceeded EUR 55,000 in either the current or the preceding calendar year — but as a non-genuine exemption it also carries no input VAT deduction. This threshold, effective since 1 January 2025, replaced the EUR 35,000 figure that applied through 31 December 2024.

Certain transactions are exempted from Austrian VAT, including export transactions and cross-border passenger transport by air or sea.

Capital gains from selling shares, securities, or other financial assets acquired on or before 31 December 2010 (30 March 2012 for interest-bearing securities and securitised derivatives) are 'grandfathered' and generally tax-free, since the 27.5% capital gains regime in force since 1 April 2012 applies only to assets acquired after those dates. This grandfathering does not apply to a holding where the taxpayer owned at least 1% of a company's issued capital at any point in the five years before 1 April 2012.

Cryptocurrency acquired before 1 March 2021 ('Altvermögen') is excluded from the flat 27.5% regime the 2022 tax reform introduced and remains subject instead to the rules that applied before that reform. Cryptocurrency acquired after 28 February 2021 ('Neuvermögen') is taxed under the current regime regardless of how long it is held.