All questions

Direct taxation of businesses

i Tax on profitsDetermination of taxable profit

Austrian tax-resident corporations are taxed on their worldwide income. The tax base for income from an active trade or business is generally the profit as shown in the financial statements. Adjustments have to be made where mandatory tax provisions deviate from financial accounting rules. Profits are generally taxed on an accruals basis.

As a general rule, expenses incurred in acquiring, securing and maintaining taxable income are tax deductible. The following types of expenses are, however, partly or fully non-deductible: restaurant expenses, penalties and fines, income taxes, remunerations paid to supervisory board members, remunerations paid to employees and managers exceeding €500,000 per person per year, and expenses in connection with earning tax-exempt income. As explained below in further detail, certain interest and royalty expenses may also be non-deductible.

Assets subject to wear and tear are in general depreciated on a straight-line basis over their ordinary useful life. If in the tax year of purchase or construction an asset is used for more than six months, the yearly depreciation amount applies; otherwise, only half of the yearly depreciation amount may be deducted from the tax base. Depreciation for extraordinary technical or economic loss in value is possible. For certain assets the statute mentions the depreciation rates to be used, namely buildings (generally 2.5 per cent), goodwill (6.67 per cent) and cars (12.5 per cent). Assets having an acquisition cost of not more than €400 can be fully depreciated in the year of purchase.

Only the following provisions are deductible for tax purposes: provisions for severance payments, provisions for pension payments, provisions for other contingent liabilities and provisions for anticipated losses from pending transactions.

Capital and income

Regarding Austrian tax-resident corporations, there is no distinction between the taxation of capital gains and the taxation of ordinary income in Austria. As regards personal income taxation, flat tax rates are applicable to specific types of income, including capital gains from the sale of financial assets and real estate (see below).

Losses

Under Austrian law, tax losses carried forward from past years reduce the corporate income tax base. The utilisation of such losses carried forward is limited to 75 per cent of the income of the respective year in the case of corporations (no time limit applies). A carry-back of losses is not permitted.

A corporation's tax loss carry-forwards are forfeited upon an ownership change if there is a material change in its organisational (e.g., replacement of all directors of the corporation), economic (e.g., a new area of business is pursued by the corporation) and shareholder structure (e.g., the majority of shareholders of the corporation are replaced).

Rates

Corporate income tax is levied at a rate of 25 per cent. In the event that a corporation has not made a profit, a minimum corporate income tax in an amount of 5 per cent of the statutory minimum stated capital of a corporation is due. For example, in the case of a limited liability company this minimum corporate income tax generally amounts to €1,750 per year, and in the case of a stock corporation it amounts to €3,500 per year, with lower rates applying to limited liability companies for the first 10 years. Minimum corporate income tax is creditable against the final amount of corporate income tax assessed for that and the following tax years. Apart from corporate income tax, no other taxes or surcharges are levied on a corporation's income.

Administration

The tax year is generally the calendar year. Corporations may, however, apply to the tax authorities for permission to use a different tax year, if reasons other than tax considerations exist for such application.

Corporate income tax returns must be filed electronically by 30 June of the year following the tax year (in the case of paper-based filings, the deadline is 30 April). Taxpayers making use of tax advisers benefit from longer deadlines. An extension of the filing date is possible in justified cases. Failure to file generally triggers a penalty.

Quarterly prepayments of corporate income tax are due on 15 February, 15 May, 15 August and 15 November. Such prepayments are creditable against the final amount of tax assessed. Any balance is payable within one month after receipt of the tax assessment notice.

Assessment notices of the competent tax office can be challenged before the Austrian Federal Tax Court.

Tax grouping

Austria has a group taxation regime for affiliated companies. Affiliated companies are those that are connected through a direct or indirect participation of more than 50 per cent of the nominal capital and voting power. Such participation must exist throughout the entire fiscal year of the member of the tax group (and in total for at least three years).

The formation of a tax group results in 100 per cent of the taxable income of each resident member of the group being attributed to the top-tier company in the tax group. In the case of non-resident companies that are members of a tax group, only negative income of such companies is attributed to the top-tier company, and only on a pro rata basis (this makes the utilisation of foreign losses possible; note that this is only of a temporary nature, with a claw-back provision applying). In the case of losses of non-resident companies there is a limitation insofar as only losses amounting to 75 per cent of the sum of the income of the top-tier company in a tax group and the Austrian-resident members of the tax group may be offset immediately.

ii Other relevant taxesValue added tax

Austria levies value added tax in line with the pertinent EU directives at a standard rate of 20 per cent. Reduced rates of 10 and 13 per cent apply to certain supplies. There are a number of exemptions applicable (e.g., for financial services and health services).

Real estate transfer tax

The transfer of Austrian real estate triggers real estate transfer tax. In the case of a sale of Austrian real estate the tax base is generally the purchase price, and the tax rate amounts to 3.5 per cent. In addition, a 1.1 per cent court registration fee based on the fair market value of the property transferred falls due.

Further, real estate transfer tax at a rate of 0.5 per cent of the fair market value of the real estate is triggered if Austrian real estate is part of the assets of a corporation or a partnership, and at least 95 per cent of the shares in such corporation or interests in such partnership are pooled in the hand of a single buyer or in the hand of a tax group. The same applies in the case of a partnership holding Austrian real estate if at least 95 per cent of the interests in such partnership are transferred to new partners within a period of five years.

Stamp duty

Austria levies stamp duties on a wide range of legal transactions, including, inter alia, assignment agreements, lease agreements and surety agreements, if a written deed evidencing such stamp-dutiable transaction is signed and a certain Austrian nexus exists. However, these stamp duties can in many cases be avoided by way of careful structuring.

Bank tax

Austria levies a bank tax on the adjusted balance sheet total of credit institutions licensed pursuant to the Austrian Banking Act and foreign credit institutions authorised under the Austrian Banking Act to carry out banking business in Austria by way of a branch (in the case of the latter, only the balance sheet total attributable to the Austrian operations is taken into account).

Wage tax

While income tax is levied by way of assessment, income tax on employment income is in general levied by way of withholding by the employer (provided that the employer has a permanent establishment in Austria). Such wage tax is a prepayment of the employee's final income tax and is credited against the employee's assessed income tax liability if the taxpayer files (voluntarily or in certain cases on an obligatory basis) an annual tax return.