Who must file a tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung) or a mandatory employee tax declaration (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung) and what are the deadlines?

Generally, you must file an employee tax declaration/tax return if the tax office requests you do so.

You must also file a tax return in the following situations:

  • If your total income exceeds EUR 12.000 and you received more than EUR 730 other income (e.g., contracts for independent services or rental income, etc.) in addition to your employment income
  • If your ‘non employment’ income exceeds EUR 11.000 (e.g., self-employment income, …)
  • If you received interest income or capital gains from abroad, which must be taxed in Austria, as you are an unlimited tax liable person, or an Austrian tax treaty resident based on the Double Tax Treaty

The 2020 Austrian personal income tax return / mandatory employee tax declaration has to be filed by the following deadline:

  • April 30th, 2021 – when filing on paper
  • June 30th, 2021 – when filing via Finanzonline
  • End of March/April 2022 – when a tax advisor is filing for you

If there is no obligation to file a tax return / employee tax declaration, you have 5 years for the application. The 2020 employee tax declaration can be filed until December 31st, 2025.

The taxes due should be paid by the deadline set by the tax office. However, it is advantageous to transfer at least a rough prepayment until the End of September, as the tax office is claiming late payment interest as of October 1st. This late payment interest is also charged in the event that the tax office issues a tax assessment notification after 30th September and sets you a later payment deadline.

The tax office is providing employee tax assessments without application (automatische Arbeitnehmerveranlagung) as of the tax year 2016 in case a tax refund is due based on their records. These assessments are issued in the second half of the year because the tax office is waiting to see whether you file a tax return. However, if the tax office has assessed tax using automatic tax assessment, you still have 5 years in which to file your employee tax declaration in the event that you wish to claim for further deductible costs.

Detailed information about this topic can be found under the following links:

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Gabriella (advice4you e.U.)

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