Austrian Supreme Administrative Court (VwGH) confirms: setting up a company group with an EU/EEA group parent (without an Austrian branch) is possible

The VwGH (27/03/2024, Ro 2023/13/0018) has largely confirmed ruling of the tax court at first instance and confirmed that the current law conflicts with CJEU case law and EU primary law (see our newsletter), but has solved the technical aspects of the income attribution in such a “sister” tax group differently. Facts and circumstances A […]

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High court desicion: No final loss utilization for shares in case of a liquidation of non-EU/EEA tax group member

According to the Austrian Administrative Supreme Cout (“VwGH”) the Austrian tax group regime is full set of rules, which prevails as lex specialis over the general rule for the loss utilization. Therefore the concurrent application of the general final loss utilization rules for shares were rejected by the recent case law in case of non-EU/EEA […]

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Austrian Federal Tax Code (FTC) – Increase of deferral interest as of 1 July 2024

If deferred payments (deferrals and instalments) for tax liabilities were requested and approved, deferral interest will be levied (section 212 para. 2 FTC). Deferral interest (for federal taxes) below EUR 50.00 are not be assessed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a “reduced deferral interest rate” of 2 percentage points above the base interest rate is effective […]

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VAT in the Digital Age (“VIDA”) – The digital future of VAT

No consensus reached by ECOFIN on 14 May 2024 on the compromise proposal On 8 May 2022, the European Commission submitted a draft for a Council Directive on the initiative “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA) including the long-awaited proposals for modernising VAT rules in the EU. In general, the proposal for the Council Directive […]

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Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) publishes draft of the Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2024

On 3 May 2024, the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) published a draft of the AbgÄG 2024 (Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2024; AbgÄG 2024). This draft includes, in particular, the following significant amendments: Income tax With the AbgÄG 2023, contributions of a partner into its partnership are treated two- sided for income tax purposes: Whilst […]

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Draft legislation on “Public CbCR” published

On 4 April 2024, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice published the consultation draft on the “Austrian Federal Act on the Publication of Country-by-Country Reports (CbCR) on Income Tax Information”. This legislation transposes Directive (EU) 2021/2101 amending the EU Accounting Directive regarding the publication of income tax information by specific companies and branches into Austrian […]

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Reduction of assessment rates for the contribution to the Austrian Economic Chambers (KU) as of 1 January 2024

The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) has reduced the assessment rates for the contribution to the Austrian Economic Chambers as of 1 January 2024. New assessment rates KU2 The assessment rates of KU2 were reduced for Lower Austria (previously 0.24%), Salzburg (previously 0.25%), Vorarlberg (previously 0.23%) as well as for the WKÖ (previously 0.14%):

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BFG confirms: Relief from KESt at source only with timely certificates of residence on the ZS-QU2 form

In its decision dated 24 January 2024 (RV/1100179/2019), the Austrian Federal Financial Court (BFG) confirms the strict view of the Austrian tax authorities that, in order to be granted relief from capital gains tax (KESt) at source based on the applicable double taxation agreement, it is compulsory for the certificate of residence to be submitted […]

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The new employee bonus – what needs to be considered?

As of 1 January 2024 the new and tax-free “employee bonus” was implemented by the legislator. In contrast to the cost-of-living bonus, the new employee bonus must be fully paid on the basis of a wage-setting regulation. The regulations for the previous cost-of-living bonus have expired with 31 December 2023. The newly established employee bonus […]

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“Pillar One – Amount B” – an Update

Within the framework of the BEPS 2.0 project a preliminary report on Pillar One – Amount B (launch version) was published on 19 February 2024 as a response to the public consultation documents (December 2021 & July 2023). The final report, including the outstanding work currently being completed, was expected by the end of March […]

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