Decree issued by the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) – Decrease of interest rates
Due to the decrease of the main refinancing operations rate by the European Central Bank, the amount of the deferral interest, interest for suspension, claim interest (interest for subsequent payments and credits), appeal interest as well as VAT interest is adjusted in the Austrian Federal Tax Code (FTC). Moreover, the amount of the refund interest is adjusted in the Austrian COFAG Reorganisation and Resolution Act (COFAG-Neuordnungs- und Abwicklungsgesetz, COFAG-NoAG). The refund interest were newly included in the BMF decree on interest adjustments dated 9 August 2024 and represent interest in connection with refund claims of the Austrian tax authorities for wrongly granted financial benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Central Bank has decided to decrease the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on 6 June 2024 and to decrease the key interest rate by 0.60 percentage points on 12 September 2024. As adjustments of in total less than 0.50 percentage points since the last adjustment of the base interest rate are not considered, the base interest rate was now adjusted in total by 0.85 percentage points, from 3.88% to 3.03%.
Since 1 July 2024, deferral interest amount again to 4.5% above the applicable base interest rate (see newsletter Austrian Federal Tax Code (FTC) – Increase of deferral interest as of 1 July 2024). Refund interest under state aid law within the meaning of section 16 para. 1 second sentence in connection with section 14 para. 2 subsec. 2 COFAG-NoAG amount to 1% above the base interest rate. The other interest rates reported in this newsletter are uniform 2% above the base interest rate.
Therefore, from 18 September 2024 the effective interest rates in the FTC and COFAG-NoAG are as follows:
| Deferral interest | sec 212 para 2 FTC | 7.53 % |
| Interest for suspension | sec 212a para 9 FTC | 5.03 % |
| Claim interest | sec 205 para 2 FTC | 5.03 % |
| Appeal interest | sec 205a para 4 FTC | 5.03 % |
| VAT interest | sec 205c para 5 FTC | 5.03 % |
| Refund interest | section 16 para. 1 first sentence COFAG-NoAG | 5.03 % |
| Refund interest (under state aid law) | section 16 para. 1 second sentence COFAG-NoAG | 4.03 % |
The corresponding BMF decree on interest rate adjustments dated 13 September 2024 was published on 17 September 2024 in Findok. This replaces the BMF decree of 9 August 2024.
If the above-mentioned interest amounts are below EUR 50.00, they should not be assessed.
