Municipal tax return

General information

The municipal tax return must be sent via FinanzOnline at the end of the calendar year, by 31 March of the following year at the latest. The entrepreneur must calculate the municipal tax for each calendar month themselves and pay the entitled municipality by the 15th day of the following month.

The tax is due at the end of the calendar month in which

• wage payments are made to employees (payments to freelancers and shareholder-directors),
• recruitment fees are paid to foreign staff leasing agencies or
• salaries paid to a public body have been reimbursed.

In addition, the entrepreneur must submit an annual tax return to the competent municipality relating to the basis of calculation at the end of each calendar year, by 31 March of the following year at the latest. Should business operations cease at a sole establishment in a municipality, the tax return must be submitted within one month of the closure of the operating facility.

Enterprises affected

The affected companies are those which pay a salary to employees at permanent business establishments located within Austria.

These employees include:

• persons who are in an employment relationship subject to wage tax
• freelancers
• shareholder-directors holding a major interest
• persons allocated for service by a public body

Entrepreneurs within the meaning of the Kommunalsteuergesetz are those who independently carry out commercial or professional activity. Public bodies are only commercially or professionally active in the context of their commercial operations and their agricultural and forestry operations. Anyone else qualifying as an entrepreneur is governed by Section 3 of the Kommunalsteuergesetz 1993.

Requirements

See General Information

Deadlines

• Payment of municipal tax: by the 15th day of the following month
  If salaries for the previous year are paid out after 15 January up to the 15 February, the municipal tax is to be paid by 15 February of the following year.
• Municipal tax declaration: by 31 March of the following year; upon closure of a business establishment, within one month of closure.

Competent authority

• The local authority^{German text} for the area in which the business establishment is located
• In chartered urban districts: the municipal executive^{German text} for the area in which the business establishment is located
• in Vienna:
  • Account-keeping unit: Accounting Department/Accounting and Taxes (Municipal Department 6)
  • Contact for legal questions: Accounting and Taxes (Municipal Department 6)

Procedure

No form needs to be submitted when paying the municipal tax by the 15th day of the following month.

Municipal tax return

The tax return must be submitted electronically via FinanzOnline. In this case, an entrepreneur with business establishments in more than one municipality needs to submit only one municipal tax return.

If it is infeasible for the entrepreneur to submit electronically due to technological issues, the tax return must be sent to the municipality using an official form. The municipalities must send data from the tax returns relating to the respective tax bases payable to them to the Federal Tax Authorities via FinanzOnline. This tax return must also include, on an annual basis, the total tax base payable by the company split between the municipalities concerned (division into months is not necessary). In this case, an entrepreneur with business establishments in more than one municipality must send the same official form to each municipality.

Should a sole business establishment in a municipality be closed, the tax return must be submitted within one month of the closure; this deadline is not relevant if the company still has one or more business establishments in this municipality.

Required documents

No specific documents are required.

Costs and fees

No fees or charges are payable.

Legal bases

Kommunalsteuergesetz 1993 (KommStG 1993)

Expert information

Information on the Kommunalsteuergesetz 1993 (→ BMF)^{German text}

Link to form

• Municipal tax declaration (KommSt 1)^{German text}
• Municipal tax – tax bases for all business establishment municipalities in Federal territory (KommSt 1a)^{German text}
• Municipal tax declaration in the event of the closure the sole business establishment (KommSt 2)^{German text}
• FinanzOnline (→ BMF)^{German text}
  Traders registered on the Unternehmensserviceportal (USP) are able to use this and many other online procedures with a single sign-on to the USP. More detailed information about registering with the USP can be obtained from the online advisor for USP registration^{German text}.