Austria · VAT
VAT in Austria
Rates, Registration and Filing
What rate applies to a supply, who has to charge Austrian VAT, when the advance and annual returns fall due, and what a late one costs.
Updated 17 September 2026. Every rate, threshold and deadline below is quoted from the paragraph of the Austrian statute named beside it, with the date that version took effect.
Austrian VAT (Umsatzsteuer, USt) has a standard rate of 20 percent and three reduced rates, 13 percent, 10 percent and 4.9 percent. Supplies made in the Jungholz and Mittelberg enclaves carry 19 percent. All five are set by UStG § 10, and they are applied in a fixed order rather than picked from a list.
- What Austrian VAT is
- The rates
- The 4.9 percent rate
- Who has to charge VAT
- The small-business exemption
- Five euro figures
- From incorporation to the first return
- Returns: how often, by when
- Selling into other EU countries
- One year of filing dates
- Filing late and paying late
- What changes in 2027
- How this page is kept accurate
- Sources
- FAQ
What Austrian VAT is, and what this page covers
Umsatzsteuer is a transaction tax on supplies and on imports, charged on the taxable amount. It is not a tax on profit, so a company that has made none still charges it, files for it and pays it. Finanzamt Österreich assesses and collects it (UStG § 21 Abs. 1), and returns are transmitted through FinanzOnline.
This page covers the rates, who has to charge them, when the returns fall due and what a late one costs. It is the tax companion to how to register a company in Austria as a non-resident. A traveller after a refund on shopping carried out of the EU is in the wrong place: that is an export procedure run by the retailer and the customs authorities, and no figure for it appears here.
What is the VAT rate in Austria?
Five rates are in force, and they are not a menu. UStG § 10 applies them in a fixed order, and the 4.9 percent rate introduced on 1 July 2026 is the one tested first.
| Order | Rate | Paragraph | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| tested first | 4.9 percent | § 10 Abs. 1a | the twelve goods listed in Anlage 3, on supply and on import, and only where the transaction concerns exclusively goods under the Combined Nomenclature position named there. In force 1 July 2026, BGBl. I Nr. 37/2026 |
| then | 10 percent | § 10 Abs. 2 | the goods listed in Anlage 1; the restaurant supply of Anlage 1 food and drink; the letting of land for residential purposes; hotel accommodation in furnished rooms with its usual ancillary services; the letting of land for camping |
| then | 13 percent | § 10 Abs. 3 | the Anlage 2 Z 1 to Z 9 categories, the import of Z 10 to Z 13, supplies of Z 10 goods by their creator or successor, and the rearing and keeping of Anlage 2 Z 1 animals and the cultivation of plants |
| otherwise | 20 percent | § 10 Abs. 1 | every taxable supply not caught above, on the taxable amount computed under §§ 4 and 5 |
| territorial | 19 percent | § 10 Abs. 4 | supplies made in the Jungholz and Mittelberg enclaves by a business with a residence, seat, habitual abode or permanent establishment there. Not where Abs. 1a, 2 or 3 applies, and not on vehicles supplied or hired to recipients elsewhere in Austria |
One caveat on the 10 percent row: residential letting is taxed at 10 percent only where the property is not a besonders repräsentatives Grundstück, which UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 16 returns to the exemption. No figure for that cost test appears here.
A flat list of five numbers describes the pre-2026 law. The 1 July 2026 act also rewrote the opening words of Abs. 2, Abs. 3 and Abs. 4, so each one now tests the rates above it first.
The five Austrian VAT rates, in the order § 10 applies them. Source: RIS, UStG 1994 § 10, in force from 1 July 2026. The plain-English category list is on USP, VAT rates and tax exemptions, last updated 1 July 2026.
UStG § 10 · the order the rates are applied in
- tested first
§ 10 Abs. 1a
4.9percent
The twelve goods listed in Anlage 3, on supply and on import, and only where the transaction concerns exclusively goods under the Combined Nomenclature position named there. In force 1 July 2026, BGBl. I Nr. 37/2026.
- then
§ 10 Abs. 2
10percent
Anlage 1 goods; the restaurant supply of Anlage 1 food and drink; letting of land for residential purposes; hotel accommodation in furnished rooms with its usual ancillary services; letting of land for camping.
- then
§ 10 Abs. 3
13percent
The Anlage 2 Z 1 to Z 9 categories, the import of Z 10 to Z 13, supplies of Z 10 goods by their creator or successor, and the rearing and keeping of Anlage 2 Z 1 animals and the cultivation of plants.
- otherwise
§ 10 Abs. 1
20percent
Every taxable supply not caught above, on the taxable amount computed under §§ 4 and 5.
§ 10 Abs. 4
19percent
Territorial: supplies made in the Jungholz and Mittelberg enclaves by a business with a residence, seat, habitual abode or permanent establishment there. Not where Abs. 1a, Abs. 2 or Abs. 3 applies, and not on vehicles supplied or hired to recipients elsewhere in Austria.
Every rate here is in the table above. The 1 July 2026 act rewrote the opening words of Abs. 2, Abs. 3 and Abs. 4, so each one now tests the rates above it first.
The 4.9 percent rate, and the condition that comes with it
The 4.9 percent rate is not a general food rate. It reaches the twelve goods listed in Anlage 3, each tied to a position or subposition of the EU Combined Nomenclature, and nothing else.
The second sentence of § 10 Abs. 1a is a restriction, not a flourish, and it is the part that gets dropped in summary. The rate applies only where the supply and the import concern exclusively goods listed under the particular Combined Nomenclature position or subposition named in Anlage 3. A mixed consignment does not qualify.
| # | Good | Combined Nomenclature reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milk, including lactose-free milk | subpositions 0401 10 and 0401 20 |
| 2 | Yoghurt | subposition 0403 20 |
| 3 | Butter | subposition 0405 10 |
| 4 | Hens' eggs, fresh | subposition 0407 21 00 |
| 5 | Vegetables, fresh or chilled | subpositions 0701 9050, 0701 9090 and 0702 00, and positions 0703 to 0709, excluding subpositions 0703 1011, 0709 5400, 0709 5500 and 0709 5600 |
| 6 | Vegetables, frozen | position 0710 |
| 7 | Edible fruit | positions 0808 and 0809 |
| 8 | Rice | position 1006 |
| 9 | Wheat flour and wheat semolina | from position 1101 00 and subposition 1103 11 |
| 10 | Pasta, neither cooked nor stuffed nor otherwise prepared | subpositions 1902 11 00 and 1902 19 |
| 11 | Bread | subposition 1905 90 30 |
| 12 | Table salt | subposition 2501 00 91 |
Anlage 3 in full, headed "list of goods subject to the 4.9% rate" and in force from 1 July 2026. Source: RIS, UStG 1994 Anlage 3, in force from 1 July 2026. Whether an article qualifies is a question about its Combined Nomenclature heading, not about whether it is food.
Who has to charge Austrian VAT
VAT liability and the small-business exemption are two different things, and the difference is where most published summaries go wrong. A business making taxable supplies in Austria is inside the system from its first supply, whatever it sells: a regulated activity, for instance one needing the authorisation behind crypto license austria cost, is in the same position as a shop.
1. Liability starts with the first taxable supply. There is no turnover figure at which an Austrian company begins to be liable. The first taxable supply puts it inside the system, and an exemption has to be claimed out of that starting point.
2. A business established outside the EU has no threshold at all. The EUR 55,000 Kleinunternehmergrenze reaches a business operating its enterprise in Austria, or in another member state on the Art. 6a route. A business established outside the EU cannot use it (UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27).
3. The tax office has to be told within one month. The start of activity and the business location are notified to Finanzamt Österreich within one month. The tax number, and the UID where EU trade is planned, can be requested in the same notification.
4. A ready-made company arrives without a VAT number. A ready made company austria comes with a register entry, not with a UID and not with a trade licence. Both are applied for after the transfer, and the UID can be refused.
The small-business exemption, and what it costs
EUR 55,000, and it is a ceiling, not a switch.
Turnover must not have exceeded EUR 55,000 in the previous calendar year and must not yet have exceeded it in the current one (UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27, in force 1 January 2025 by BGBl. I Nr. 144/2024).
A 10 percent tolerance, once.
Exceed the limit by not more than 10 percent and the exemption runs to the end of that calendar year. Exceed it by more and it stops at that moment. Both limits are computed on actual turnover, not on a notional taxable base.
EUR 100,000 for a business established elsewhere in the EU.
Union-wide turnover must have stayed below EUR 100,000 in the previous and the current year, the business must have applied through the Art. 6a procedure, and it holds a Kleinunternehmer-Identifikationsnummer, which is not the UID.
No input VAT while the exemption applies.
§ 12 Abs. 3 Z 1 and Z 2 exclude input VAT on what is used to make exempt supplies, and the closing carve-out reaches only § 6 Abs. 1 Z 1 to 6 or § 23 Abs. 5. Kleinunternehmer sits in Z 27, outside it.
A waiver binds for five calendar years.
The waiver takes effect from the start of a calendar year and binds for at least five (§ 6 Abs. 3). It can be revoked only from the start of a year, and the revocation is declared by the end of that January.
Those two consequences point in opposite directions: while the exemption applies, the VAT on notary fees, the registered address, rent and professional fees is a cost rather than a credit, and a business customer recovers the VAT that would otherwise have been charged. Which way that comes out for a particular company is a question for a licensed Austrian Steuerberater, not for a web page. The registration and waiver mechanics are in the VAT registration guide. Sources: UStG § 6, in force from 1 January 2026 and UStG § 12, in force from 1 January 2025.
Five euro figures, and what each one actually switches
Three of these are the same number doing three different jobs, which is how a page can be right about EUR 55,000 and still leave a reader with the wrong obligation.
| Amount | What it actually switches | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| EUR 55,000 | the ceiling of the small-business exemption | UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27 |
| EUR 55,000 | relief from filing the advance return, where the computed advance is paid in full by the due date or none arises | § 1 UVA-Verordnung |
| EUR 55,000 | relief from filing the annual return, for a Kleinunternehmer owing no tax for the period | UStG § 21 Abs. 6 |
| EUR 100,000 | monthly instead of quarterly advance-return periods | UStG § 21 Abs. 2 |
| EUR 100,000 | the Union-wide ceiling for the cross-border small-business scheme | UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27 |
| EUR 10,000 | intra-Community distance selling: taxation at origin below it, at destination above it | USP, intra-Community distance selling |
The UVA-Verordnung relief first applies to advance-return periods beginning after 31 December 2024, and it lifts the filing duty, not the record: a business relieved of filing still prepares a statement of the tax bases on the official form, unless neither a payment nor a credit arises.
The same figure can be an exemption ceiling, a filing relief and a reporting frequency at once. Sources: UStG § 6 and § 21, § 1 of the UVA-Verordnung, BGBl. II Nr. 206/1998 as amended by BGBl. II Nr. 401/2024, and for the EUR 10,000 figure the USP page on intra-Community distance selling, last updated 1 January 2026.
From incorporation to your first VAT return
The company exists.
It comes into existence on its entry in the Firmenbuch, a different register from anything in the tax system: austria corporate registry.
Notify Finanzamt Österreich within one month.
The start of the activity and the business location are notified within one month. The tax number and, where trade with other member states is planned, the UID can be requested in the same notification.
The Steuernummer arrives.
It identifies the company to its tax office for every tax it pays, corporate income tax included: austrian tax identification number.
The UID is applied for, and can be refused.
It is not issued by operation of law. Case law confirms a refusal where entrepreneur status is not shown, and practitioners treat a postal address alone as insufficient without an account of who manages operations: how to get a UID number in Austria.
The first advance return falls due.
The first period ends, and fifteen days into the second month after it the return and any payment fall due together. No processing time is published for any step above, so none is stated here.
Not sure which Austrian VAT regime your company falls into?
Send the legal form, what the company sells and where its customers are. Where an answer is reserved to a licensed Austrian Steuerberater, we say so instead of answering it.
Ask about your Austrian VAT position · Start your onboarding
Austrian VAT returns: how often, and by when
The advance return (Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung)
The advance return is self-computed, and the payment it produces falls due on the same day as the return. Whether the period is a month or a quarter turns on last year's turnover.
The annual return (form U1)
The annual return covers every assessment period ending in the calendar year. It is the filing channel, not the taxpayer, that decides which of the two deadlines applies.
| Filing | Due | Who | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance return and advance payment | the 15th of the second calendar month following the period. A monthly filer's January return and payment fall on 15 March | every filer | UStG § 21 Abs. 1 |
| Quarterly periods | 15 May, 15 August, 15 November and 15 February | prior-year turnover not above EUR 100,000 | UStG § 21 Abs. 2 |
| Monthly periods | the 15th of the second following month, every month | prior-year turnover above EUR 100,000, or a quarterly filer electing monthly for the whole assessment period | UStG § 21 Abs. 2 |
| No advance return at all | the filing duty falls away, provided the computed advance is paid in full by the due date or none arises | prior-year turnover not above EUR 55,000 | § 1 UVA-Verordnung |
| Annual return, paper | end of April of the following year | permitted only where electronic transmission is unreasonable for want of technical means | BAO § 134 Abs. 1 with UStG § 21 Abs. 4 |
| Annual return, FinanzOnline | end of June of the following year | the rule for everyone else | BAO § 134 Abs. 1 with UStG § 21 Abs. 4 |
| No annual return | released, and no assessment is carried out | a Kleinunternehmer under § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27 with turnover not above EUR 55,000 in the period and no tax to pay | UStG § 21 Abs. 6 |
Electronic transmission is the rule for both filings. A deadline can be extended in an individual case on a reasoned request, and where such a request is refused a grace period of at least one week has to be set (BAO § 134 Abs. 2).
Austrian VAT filing, each row with the provision that sets it. The § 21 link goes to UStG § 21 in the version in force from 1 January 2027, whose Abs. 1, 2, 4 and 6 are word for word identical to the version in force now, which expires on 31 December 2026. The annual dates are BAO § 134, and the plain-English summary is USP, Preliminary VAT return and VAT return.
Selling into other EU countries
The Zusammenfassende Meldung is a condition, not a form.
It is due before the end of the calendar month following the reporting period, and that period tracks the advance return, monthly above EUR 100,000. Since 1 January 2020 an intra-Community supply is exempt only where the obligation is met.
Reverse charge moves the liability and dates the invoice.
Where the liability passes to the recipient, the invoice must be issued by the 15th of the following calendar month. It shows the net amount only, names both VAT identification numbers, and states that the liability has passed.
EUR 10,000 decides where a distance sale is taxed.
Intra-Community distance sales and B2C telecoms, broadcasting and electronic services are taxed where the transport ends. A micro-business below EUR 10,000 a year may keep taxing at origin. The old per-country thresholds went on 1 July 2021.
The One Stop Shop is quarterly, and it is all or nothing.
The reporting period is the calendar quarter, with one month after it ends to declare and to pay. Once registered, a business cannot pick and choose between the scheme and conventional declaration for the sales it covers.
Source: USP, Recapitulative Statement (ZM), with the USP reverse charge, distance selling and One Stop Shop pages listed at the foot.
One year of Austrian filing dates
Four dates in the Austrian year carry two taxes at once, which is the part a VAT-only calendar leaves out.
| Date | What is due | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|
| 15 February | VAT advance return and payment for Q4, or for December for a monthly filer, and the corporate income tax advance payment instalment | UStG § 21 Abs. 1; EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2 |
| 15 May | VAT advance return and payment for Q1, or for March, and the corporate income tax instalment | same |
| 15 August | VAT advance return and payment for Q2, or for June, and the corporate income tax instalment | same |
| 15 November | VAT advance return and payment for Q3, or for September, and the corporate income tax instalment | same |
| the 15th of every second following month | VAT advance return and payment, monthly filers | UStG § 21 Abs. 1 |
| end of the month after the reporting period | Zusammenfassende Meldung | USP, Recapitulative Statement |
| one month after the calendar quarter ends | EU One Stop Shop declaration and payment | USP, EU One Stop Shop |
| 30 April of the following year | annual VAT return on the official paper form | BAO § 134 Abs. 1 |
| 30 June of the following year | annual VAT return through FinanzOnline | BAO § 134 Abs. 1 |
One Austrian filing year for a company trading inside the EU. The four quarter dates carry both the VAT advance return (UStG § 21 Abs. 1) and the corporate income tax instalment (EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2, quoted from the text archived on 7 September 2026). No accounts-disclosure, payroll or chamber-levy date has been added: none was verified for this page.
one Austrian filing year
A monthly filer files and pays on the 15th of every second following month instead of at the quarter points (UStG § 21 Abs. 1).
The Zusammenfassende Meldung falls due at the end of the month after the reporting period (USP, Recapitulative Statement).
- Januaryone month after the quarter ends
EU One Stop Shop declaration and payment
for Q4
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - February15 February
VAT advance return and payment for Q4, or for December for a monthly filer
UStG § 21 Abs. 1
and the corporate income tax advance instalment
EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2
two obligations, one date
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - Marchthe 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM
- Aprilone month after the quarter ends
EU One Stop Shop declaration and payment
for Q1
30 AprilAnnual VAT return on the official paper form
BAO § 134 Abs. 1
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - May15 May
VAT advance return and payment for Q1, or for March
UStG § 21 Abs. 1
and the corporate income tax advance instalment
EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2
two obligations, one date
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - June30 June
Annual VAT return through FinanzOnline
BAO § 134 Abs. 1
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - Julyone month after the quarter ends
EU One Stop Shop declaration and payment
for Q2
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - August15 August
VAT advance return and payment for Q2, or for June
UStG § 21 Abs. 1
and the corporate income tax advance instalment
EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2
two obligations, one date
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - Septemberthe 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM
- Octoberone month after the quarter ends
EU One Stop Shop declaration and payment
for Q3
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - November15 November
VAT advance return and payment for Q3, or for September
UStG § 21 Abs. 1
and the corporate income tax advance instalment
EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2
two obligations, one date
the 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM - Decemberthe 15th · monthly filer, § 21 Abs. 1month end · ZM
Four dates carry two taxes at once, which is what a VAT-only calendar leaves out. Every figure here is in the table above.
What filing late and paying late cost
Austria charges two separate surcharges, and they run independently: one for the return, one for the money.
| Surcharge | Amount | When | Paragraph |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Verspätungszuschlag* (late filing) | up to 10 percent of the assessed tax, or of the self-computed amount where the tax is self-assessed. A surcharge that does not reach EUR 50 is not imposed | the deadline for a return is missed and the delay is not excusable | BAO § 135 |
| *Säumniszuschlag*, first (late payment) | 2 percent of the amount not paid on time | the tax is not paid by the due date | BAO § 217 Abs. 1 and 2 |
| *Säumniszuschlag*, second | a further 1 percent | the tax is still unpaid three months after it became enforceable | BAO § 217 Abs. 3 |
| *Säumniszuschlag*, third | a further 1 percent | three months after the second surcharge became payable | BAO § 217 Abs. 3 |
The two Austrian surcharges, from BAO § 135 and BAO § 217. § 135 punishes filing late and § 217 punishes paying late, so a company that files on time and pays late incurs only the second. No fiscal-offence penalty appears here: none was verified for this page.
What changes on 1 January 2027, and what does not
The UStG has exactly two versions with an in-force date after today, § 21 and § 26, and both were read against the current text. § 21 changes nothing this page states. Its only substantive change deletes a sentence in Abs. 11 about electronic service in cross-border input-VAT refund cases. Abs. 1, 2, 4 and 6, which carry every deadline and threshold above, are word for word identical.
§ 26 concerns the collection of import VAT, which this page does not cover. The UVA-Verordnung has no enacted future version, and BAO §§ 134, 135 and 217 are absent from the thirty-one Bundesabgabenordnung documents carrying a future date, so the annual deadlines and both surcharges hold past 2027. Nothing a reader has to do changes on 1 January 2027.
How this page is kept accurate
Last updated 17 September 2026. Every figure is cited to the paragraph that sets it, in the version named beside it, and the links go to the consolidated text published as open data by the Bundeskanzleramt. Where a source could not be re-fetched, the earlier access date is published rather than a fresh one. This page describes Austrian law. It is not tax advice, and the position of any particular company is a matter for a licensed Austrian Steuerberater.
Sources
Twelve documents carry the figures above and are linked beside them. All were read on 17 September 2026 unless another date is given.
- UStG 1994 § 10, in force from 1 July 2026, last amended by BGBl. I Nr. 37/2026: the five rates, the order of application, the exclusivity condition.
- UStG 1994 Anlage 3, in force from 1 July 2026: the twelve goods and their Combined Nomenclature references.
- UStG 1994 § 6, in force from 1 January 2026, BGBl. I Nr. 98/2025: the EUR 55,000 limit, the 10 percent tolerance, the EUR 100,000 Union-wide ceiling, the five-year binding period, and Z 16.
- UStG 1994 § 12, in force from 1 January 2025: the input VAT exclusion in Abs. 3 and its carve-out.
- UStG 1994 § 21, in force from 1 January 2027, BGBl. I Nr. 97/2025: the advance return, the EUR 100,000 split, the annual assessment, the EUR 55,000 release. Cited in this version because the one in force now expires on 31 December 2026 and these four provisions are identical in both.
- UVA-Verordnung § 1, BGBl. II Nr. 206/1998 as amended by BGBl. II Nr. 401/2024: the EUR 55,000 relief from the advance return.
- BAO § 134: the April and June annual dates, and the extension on request.
- BAO § 135: the Verspätungszuschlag and the EUR 50 floor.
- BAO § 217: the Säumniszuschlag at 2, then 1, then 1 percent.
- USP, VAT rates and tax exemptions, last updated 1 July 2026.
- USP, Preliminary VAT return and VAT return, last updated 1 January 2026.
- USP, Recapitulative Statement (ZM), last updated 1 January 2026.
Three further references are cited above without a link:
- USP, Intra-Community distance selling, USP, Declaration and payment in the EU OSS and USP, Reverse Charge, all last updated 1 January 2026.
- EStG 1988 § 45 Abs. 2, the corporate income tax advance payment dates, quoted from the text archived on 7 September 2026 and used only in the filing calendar.
- The one-month notification duty and the refusal of a UID: the USP founding roadmap for a GmbH or FlexKapG, and a decision of the Bundesfinanzgericht indexed "Versagung der UID-Nummer wegen fehlender Unternehmereigenschaft", both quoted from text captured on 6 September 2026. Neither host returns a readable page to an automated request, so they are named rather than linked and the earlier date stands.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VAT rate in Austria in 2026?
The standard rate is 20 percent (UStG § 10 Abs. 1). The reduced rates are 13 percent (Abs. 3), 10 percent (Abs. 2) and 4.9 percent (Abs. 1a, in force since 1 July 2026). Supplies made in the Jungholz and Mittelberg enclaves carry 19 percent (Abs. 4). The 4.9 percent rate is tested first.
At what turnover does an Austrian company have to charge VAT?
There is no turnover at which liability begins. A business making taxable supplies in Austria is in the VAT system from its first supply. EUR 55,000 is the ceiling of the small-business exemption in UStG § 6 Abs. 1 Z 27, not a registration switch, and it is not open to a business established outside the EU.
Does Austria have a VAT tax, and what is it called?
Yes. It is called Umsatzsteuer, abbreviated USt, and it is set by the Umsatzsteuergesetz 1994. It is a transaction tax on supplies and imports, charged on the taxable amount, and not a tax on profit. Finanzamt Österreich assesses and collects it, and returns are transmitted through FinanzOnline.
What is the 4.9 percent Austrian VAT rate and which goods does it cover?
UStG § 10 Abs. 1a, in force since 1 July 2026 (BGBl. I Nr. 37/2026), taxes the twelve goods listed in Anlage 3 at 4.9 percent: milk, yoghurt, butter, fresh hens' eggs, fresh and frozen vegetables, edible fruit, rice, wheat flour and semolina, plain pasta, bread and table salt. It reaches only consignments consisting exclusively of those goods.
What goods and services get the reduced 10 percent and 13 percent rates?
Ten percent covers the goods in Anlage 1, the restaurant supply of those foods and drinks, the letting of land for residential purposes, hotel accommodation and camping (UStG § 10 Abs. 2). Thirteen percent covers the Anlage 2 Z 1 to Z 9 categories and certain supplies of art (Abs. 3), and only where neither 4.9 nor 10 percent applies.
Why is the VAT rate 19 percent in Jungholz and Mittelberg?
UStG § 10 Abs. 4 sets 19 percent for supplies made in those two Austrian enclaves by a business with a residence, seat, habitual abode or permanent establishment there. It does not reach supplies falling under Abs. 1a, 2 or 3, nor the supply or hire of vehicles to recipients elsewhere in Austria.
Does a newly registered Austrian GmbH get a VAT number automatically?
No. The UID is applied for, and the tax office can refuse it where entrepreneur status is not shown. Registration in the company register does not produce one, and neither does the tax number. The application, the forms and what to do about a refusal are on how to get a UID number in Austria.
What is the difference between the Steuernummer and the UID (ATU) number?
They are two numbers with two jobs. The Steuernummer follows the notification of the start of activity and identifies the company to Finanzamt Österreich: see austrian tax identification number. The UID identifies it for VAT, including trade with other member states, and is applied for separately: see how to get a UID number in Austria.
Should a new Austrian GmbH use the small-business exemption or waive it?
That decision belongs to a licensed Austrian Steuerberater, not to a web page. The law sets out both sides. While the exemption applies, input VAT on formation costs, rent and professional fees is excluded (UStG § 12 Abs. 3), and a waiver binds for at least five calendar years (§ 6 Abs. 3). A business customer recovers the VAT anyway.
Does an Austrian company file VAT returns monthly or quarterly?
The calendar quarter is the advance-return period where turnover did not exceed EUR 100,000 in the previous calendar year, and the calendar month above that (UStG § 21 Abs. 2). A quarterly filer can choose the calendar month for a whole assessment period by filing a timely return for its first calendar month.
When is the Austrian VAT advance return due, and when is the payment due?
On the same day. UStG § 21 Abs. 1 sets the 15th of the second calendar month following the advance-return period for both the return and any advance payment. A monthly filer's January return and payment fall on 15 March. A quarterly filer files and pays on 15 May, 15 August, 15 November and 15 February.
When is the annual Austrian VAT return due, and does FinanzOnline change the date?
It changes it. BAO § 134 Abs. 1 sets the end of April of the following year for the return on the official paper form, and the end of June where it is transmitted electronically. Electronic transmission is the rule under UStG § 21 Abs. 4, so the end of June is the operative date for almost every company.
What is the Zusammenfassende Meldung, and what happens if it is not filed?
It is the recapitulative statement of intra-Community supplies, due before the end of the calendar month following the reporting period. Since 1 January 2020 an intra-Community supply is exempt only where that obligation is met, so a missing, incomplete or incorrect statement can cost the exemption unless the failure is properly explained.
What are the penalties for filing or paying Austrian VAT late?
Two separate surcharges. BAO § 135 allows a Verspätungszuschlag of up to 10 percent of the tax where the delay in filing is not excusable, and it is not imposed below EUR 50. BAO § 217 charges a Säumniszuschlag of 2 percent for late payment, a further 1 percent after three months and 1 percent again three months later.
If you would rather hand the filing over
Registration, the waiver declaration and the monthly run. What that work involves is set out in the VAT registration guide.
Or ask the question first. Send the legal form, what the company sells and where its customers are: ask about your Austrian VAT position, or start your onboarding if you already know what you need.