LBG Austria - Summary: Small and very small companies that have been founded in the past 5 years, by March 15, 2020 at the latest, and have particularly innovative business ideas with high growth potential, can benefit from the "COVID Start-up Aid Fund" that has just been set up.

How does is work?  If a start-up company has received fresh equity or equity-like deposits from private investors since March 15, 2020 of at least EUR 10,000 to EUR 800,000 in order to overcome the COVID crisis, these funds are doubled through a public grant. This money can be used to finance running costs e.g. personnel and material costs, R&D expenditure and investments. A maximum of 25 % of the grant can also be based on equity contributed between September 15, 2019 and March 14, 2020.

Who can benefit from the COVID Start-up Aid Fund? In general, all industries can benefit from this funding, but some companies have been expressly excluded. If the start-up is successful, the grant has to be repaid. The actual content-related review of all funding requirements by aws (Austria Wirtschaftsservice) takes place after the period of use of 12 months has elapsed, based on annual financial statements, supporting documents, a report, etc. A funding violation can lead to an immediate repayment obligation of the grant.

Application: The funding application can be submitted online (Austria Wirtschaftsservice) by December 15, 2020 and must include the signed application together with a qualified confirmation from a tax advisor or auditor that the specified, essential funding provisions have been met. In any case, carefully familiarize yourself with the extensive detailed requirements of the issued guideline before applying and taking capital measures. LBG advises you on financing and funding applications and supports you in all company phases.

May 12th, 2020 | Author: Heinz Harb | LBG

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Anyone who is directly or indirectly affected by the Corona virus as an entrepreneur - on the one hand due to illness and quarantine or on the other hand due to massive business losses - and must fear payment difficulties and liquidity problems as a result, has the option of reducing prepayments of income and corporate tax as well as social security contributions or to apply for deferral or payment in installments for all taxes and social security contributions.

If you make an application for a reduction in the (corporate) income tax advance payments or the social security contributions, this application must contain a reason in which the reduced profit expectations due to the economic situation are set out. The figures reported have to be proven to the tax office e.g. by presenting an interim balance or in the current situation by showing the order situation or by proof of cancellations. In any case, corporations have to pay the minimum corporation tax to tax authorities. In the case of VAT prepayments, the monthly / quarterly reporting obligation must be observed; a reduction of the sales tax liability is not possible.

For levies and social security contributions that are not reduced, an application for payment relief (deferral, payment in installments) can also be filed in the event of liquidity problems. Such an application must be submitted by the due date at the latest in order to avoid consequences of default.

March 13th, 2020 | Author: Antje Ploberger | LBG

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Since the most recent reform of working hours (“upper limit - 12-hour day”), employees may be employed for up to 12 hours per day and up to 60 hours per week - subject to differing regulations in collective agreements, company agreements or individual contractual regulations. However, this does not apply without restriction; the increased amount of working hours should not be the rule, but the exception. The control instrument for this is the so-called calculation period, which must be recorded by the employer and within which the labor inspectorate checks compliance with the average weekly working time. The Working Time Act (AZG) stipulates that the average weekly working time may not exceed 48 hours over a period of 17 weeks. Collective contractual provisions can extend the calculation period to 26 weeks, and for technical or organizational reasons up to 52 weeks.

The question of whether the calculation period should be set in fixed (predetermined) or rolling weekly sections was controversial and therefore subject to legal uncertainty. The Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (BMASGK) has now issued a decree instructing all labor inspectorates to calculate the average weekly working hours in accordance with Article 9 (4) of the Working Time Act with immediate effect binding on a rolling basis.

LBG recommendation: Employer obligations relating to the recording of working hours are extremely complex and sensitive and required in a wide range of official inspections. Working time records serve on the one hand to check compliance with the strict requirements of working time law, on the other hand they are an essential basic accounting record that must be observed in the monthly payroll accounting - and therefore must be available anytime. With regard to the calculation period, we recommend employers to quickly review their own calculation practice and - if not yet done - to switch to the rolling variant as soon as possible when calculating the average weekly working time.

At the same time, we recommend a critical review of whether the current working time records are kept in compliance with the law, for example with regard to offsetting overtime, working hours, vacation consumption, etc. Our Austria-wide experts in the field of "personnel accounting, wage tax, social security, labor law" are available for you to advise, evaluate and set up legally compliant documentation in your company.

February 28th, 2020 | Author: Julia Niederleithner | LBG

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

In the field of “​​personnel accounting, wage tax, social insurance and labor law” LBG is one of the most important consulting companies for employers in Austria with more than 100 qualified personnel calculators and certified labor and social security law experts. We are pleased to support you in questions regarding income tax, social security and labor law issues in connection with the employment of employees, temporary workers, seasonal workers, expatriates and contractors in day-to-day business, carry out ongoing personnel accounting for you, and prepare employee-related business evaluations for employers and take on diverse tasks in the area of ​​human resources.

We advise a wide variety of industries, company sizes and legal forms; in the advisory field "wage tax, social security, labor law, personnel accounting" including a large number of companies between 1 - 50 employees and a number of well-known Austrian and Austrian-based international companies as well as public clients each with several 100 employees, whereby employers with up to 2.000 employees are also among our clients. In total, LBG carries out monthly personnel accounting for around 30.000 employees.

LBG Austria has analyzed the Austrian federal government's plans for taxes, social security, balance sheet and choice of legal form, summarized in the LBG entrepreneurs’ guide „Was bringt das Regierungsprogramm 2020 – 2024 | Analyse & Empfehlungen“ and supplemented by recommendations for entrepreneurs, self-employed, liberal professions, farmers, managing directors, board members and employees. In the LBG guide you will find all the details on the tax reform and our first professional assessment.

Up till now it was unclear when which measures would come into effect. With the decision of the Ministerial Council on January 30^th 2020, the schedule for the tax projects is set. Here are the key points (as of Ministerial Council decision January 30^th 2020):

Measures entering into force 2021

• Reduction of the first tariff level of income tax (currently for income components over € 11.000 to € 18.000, also applies to income tax) from 25% to 20%. The top income tax tariff of 55% introduced for the calendar years 2016 - 2020 (for current income components over € 1 million, also applies to income tax) will be extended (for an indefinite period).
• Relief for agriculture: Increasing the accounting limit to € 700.000, lowering the fictitious level to 10%, increasing the PV contribution base for full-time employees up to 27 years, aligning the minimum KV contribution base to the ASVG level, 3-year distribution for profits in agriculture.
  
  
• Ecological measures (first step): The ticket charge is set at a uniform € 12. The car registration tax (Normverbrauchsabgabe "NoVA”) will be increased, the CO2 formula will be revised with a lifting of the cap and an increase in the spread between zero-emission and high-emission new cars. Greening of the existing truck toll (e.g. through a greater spread according to Euro classes). Greening the company car privilege for new company cars with the aim of creating stronger incentives for CO2-free company cars. Increased accuracy of the commuter allowance. The Federal Government intends to take all measures permitted by EU law as well as national measures to prevent tank tourism and reduce heavy goods vehicle traffic.

Measures entering into force 2022

• Reduction of the second tariff level of income tax (currently for income parts over € 18.000 to € 31.000, also applies to wage tax) from 35% to 30% and the third tariff level for income tax (currently for income parts over € 31.000 to € 60.000, also applies to income tax) from 42% to 40%.
  
  
• The Family Bonus Plus is to be increased to € 1.750 and the additional child amount to € 350. With the additional child allowance, the group of beneficiaries is extended to all employed persons.
  
  
• Introduction of a tax-privileged employee profit sharing scheme, analogous to the subsidy for employee shares in the capital of a company.
  
  
• Increase of the not to investments related tax-free profit allowance from € 30.000 to € 100.000 (affects sole proprietorships, natural persons as partners of partnerships / co-partnerships).
  
  
• Increasing the limit for the immediate depreciation of low-value assets from current € 800 to € 1.000.
  
  
• Introduction of a carry-back of profit for persons with cash accounting analogous to the solution for artists.
  
  
• Ecological measures (second step):
  Development of the most efficient economic instrument for gradual true-cost pricing for CO2 emissions in sectors that are not subject to the EU ETS, e.g. through CO2 pricing through existing taxes or a national emissions trading system; determination of the economic costs of CO2 emissions as a reference value for true costs; development of an implementation path including concrete measures for true-cost pricing for CO2 emissions, which have clear steering effects, ensure predictability, and enable the Paris climate goals to be achieved; development of sector-specific relief measures for companies and private individuals to ensure that there are no additional burdens for the economy and for private individuals, taking into account existing switchover options, sectoral impacts, regional differences in living conditions and social cushioning while at the same time maintaining the CO2 control effect; creation of options and incentives for switching for companies and private individuals.

Further measures

Further measures that will be implemented during the 2020-2024 legislative period, however no specific timing for entry into force has yet been specified:

• reduction of the corporate tax rate from 25% to 21% (particularly affects limited liability company, public limited company, cooperative).

In February 2020, the Federal Government will introduce the "Task Force on Eco-Social Tax Reform" agreed in the government program to elaborate and prepare the two steps of the eco-social tax reform in a legislative manner.

The federal government intends to work out all the details of the tax reform by summer 2020. We therefore expect a comprehensive draft assessment by then and, subsequently, a decision by the National Council in the course of 2020.

In order to promote the clarity of the schedule, we have listed the individual measures briefly. A detailed description with practical contexts and initial recommendations can be found in the LBG entrepreneurs' guide LBG-Unternehmerleitfaden „Was bringt das Regierungsprogramm 2020 – 2024 | Analyse & Empfehlungen“, which we published for you already on January 7^th 2020.

January 30th, 2020 | Author: Heinz Harb | LBG

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: If a natural person resident in France for tax purposes offers courses in the field of adult education on a self-employed basis and if he or she also carries out this lecturing activity in Austria for a short period, this one-time temporary rental of premises in Austria for a period of 50 days does not constitute a fixed establishment regarding article 14 of the double taxation agreement between Austria and France. Accordingly, Austria is not entitled to taxation of the income generated in the course of the lecturing activities. However, there is a limited tax liability for the lecturer in Austria, resulting in the obligation of the client (course participant) to pay withholding tax. The tax is thus withheld or deducted from the income due to the recipient.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: If the actual income tax/corporate income tax on the estimated taxable income 2019 is expected to be lower than the current income tax/corporate income tax prepayments 2019, it is possible to file an application for reduction on the income tax/corporate income tax prepayments with the tax office by September 30^th 2019 at the latest. However, the application has to be justified and therefore supplemented by a detailed forecast of the taxable income 2019.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: With effect from 2020, the existing double taxation agreement (DTA) Austria - Russian Federation will be adapted to the OECD Model Convention and amended as follows: In order to apply a reduced withholding tax rate on dividends, in addition to the minimum holding requirement, the holding must currently exceed $ 100.000 (or its equivalent in other currencies). This requirement will no longer apply. With regard to capital gains, a real estate clause will in future be included in such a way that the State in which the property is situated has the right of taxation. Furthermore, the regulations on the exchange of information will be adapted to the new international standard for transparency and administrative assistance in tax matters and a mutual administrative assistance provision will be introduced. Taxpayers of both countries are advised to consider these changes in their tax planning in a timely manner.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Domestic entrepreneurs who acquire foreign goods and services may claim the incurred VAT if certain requirements are met. Within the EU the application for VAT refund must be filed no later than September 30 of the following year (for third countries, the 30th of June of the following year). The application for VAT refund from EU Member States for the year 2018 must therefore be submitted no later than September 30, 2019 in the country of residence of the entrepreneur. This deadline is a so-called expiry period which means that any request that has not been received in full by the deadline will be rejected thereafter. The refund period can’t be greater than one calendar year (i.e. January 1^st to December 31^st) and it can’t be less than three calendar months except in circumstances where the application is in relation to the last quarter of the year. The amount to be refunded must at least be € 400. This does not apply if the refund period is the calendar year or the last period of a calendar year. For these refund periods the amount to be refunded must be at least € 50.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The European Commission is planning far-reaching VAT reforms to reduce tax losses and fraud, administrative burden and complexity in taxation. In preparation for this, so-called "quick fixes" were decided as the first stage of the reform, with important changes coming into effect on January 1^st 2020.

Tightening of tax exemption of intra-Community supplies

As of January 1^st 2020, the existence of a valid UID number of the purchaser and the correct inclusion of the intra-Community delivery in the summary notification (ZM) by the supplier are substantive requirements for the tax exemption of intra-Community deliveries. The supplier can only treat the delivery to another EU country as tax-exempt if the acquirer of an asset communicates to the supplier his valid UID number, which comes from an EU member state other than that in which the transport / dispatch of the goods is carried out. In addition, the submission of a correct summary notification (ZM) by the supplier is a precondition for the tax exemption. In order to benefit from the tax exemption for intra-Community supplies, the supplier must also prove that the goods actually reached the rest of the Community (so-called documentary evidence).

Simplification of series transactions

The criteria for determining the taxable place of deliveries within a so-called series transaction should be standardized throughout the EU. In the case of a series transaction, several deliveries are consecutively made in succession by three or more parties, with the goods physically coming directly from the first operator in the row to the last customer. In such a series, the movement of goods can only be assigned to one delivery ("moving delivery") and only this delivery can be tax-exempt as intra-Community delivery. All other deliveries in the series are normally taxable as "dormant delivery" either in the country of departure or destination. The quick fixes now contain a rule determining a uniform assignment of the “moving delivery”.  

Timely planning and preparation necessary

In order to be able to handle your business smoothly in the future as well, we recommend that you check the company-internal processes, especially the UIDs of your suppliers, with regard to the changes that apply from January 1^st 2020 and adapt them if necessary. Furthermore, cross-border deliveries should be examined whether there are series transactions or whether the new developments mentioned necessitate any adjustments in accounting / accounting.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: A recent finding of the Federal fiscal court shows clearly: anyone who supports a perpetrator in tax evasion or determines or contributes to committing a tax evasion, becomes a perpetrator himself and can also be punished according to his own fault. This does not only concern entrepreneurs, managing directors, shareholders, family members or consultants, but e.g. also employees who let themselves be "harnessed" - as the Federal Finance Court (Bundesfinanzgericht) has determined in an actual case.

Be careful! Every perpetrator, no matter whether immediate perpetrator or contributor, meets the same punitive threat, which means, everyone is responsible for their own wrong respectively their own fault and will be punished accordingly! Under certain circumstances, however, there is the possibility of averting a penalty. It therefore makes sense to think in a timely manner about a correctly reimbursed voluntary declaration if a "rehabilitation of the past" is required. A voluntary declaration must meet special formal requirements and for a correct submission much experience is needed. We therefore recommend seeking comprehensive advice.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The Austrian federal government plans to cut the corporate tax rate in two stages from 25% to 21%. In fact, corporation tax is to be reduced to 23% from 2022 and 21% from 2023 onwards. The minimum corporation tax remains unchanged. Withholding tax on the distribution of dividends remains unchanged at 27.5%. The corporation tax affects in particular legal forms such as the limited liability company, public limited company, cooperatives, municipalities, monasteries, associations and private foundations. Since tax changes are also planned for sole proprietorships and partnerships, it makes sense to proactively put the current legal form once again to the test, also out of tax considerations.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Limited taxable persons who have two employment relationships in Austria are not subject to compulsory assessment, unlike unlimited taxable persons. As a result, such persons fall into a lower progression level, because the sum of both salaries is not added to calculate the tax. In order to eliminate this unevenness of taxation, for persons with limited tax liability from 2022 a compulsory assessment is to be introduced in the case of two employment relationships.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The Austrian Federal Government plans to fundamentally reform and redraft the income tax law currently in force since 1988. Important topics in this are a possible new regulation of the taxable profit determination for partnerships (e.g. OG, KG, GmbH & Co KG) and their partners including the topic "special tax assets" as well as once again a start to the so-called "Einheitsbilanz – standard balance sheet", namely a regulatory merger of corporate law and tax regulations. The entry into force is scheduled for 2021. We recommend dealing early with this topic for the purpose of optimal choice of legal form and forward-looking tax planning.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: In the context of the taxation of the sale of a business respectively the termination of a business the property gains tax of 30% on buildings and/or land and ground that are sold respectively transferred to private assets may be reduced to half of the average income tax rate (up to 27,5% when in the highest income tax rate of 55%) – however, certain requirements need to be met.

Requirements:

• the business for sale has existed for at least seven years
• the selling entrepreneur has completed its 60th year
• the selling entrepreneur quits its business activity or became incapacitated for work 

The use of the tax advantage in connection with the use of half the average income tax rate (also for land) is usually the cheapest tax variant when selling or abandonment of a business. Therefore, in the run-up to a company sale or business termination, a restructuring of a limited liability company into a sole proprietorship or partnership should be considered in order to ensure optimal taxation. In any case, we recommend a timely and forward-looking planning when thinking about selling your company respectively quitting your business activity.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: From 1st of January 2021, the notice periods and termination dates of the workers will be aligned with those of the employees. This also means, that the termination provisions previously contained in the collective agreements of the workers no longer apply at the end of December 31, 2020. As a rule, the new legal provisions will lead to a massive extension of the previous, very short notice periods for workers. If, as of January 2021, the employer terminates the contract with an "old" time limit which is too short, affected workers are entitled to a termination benefit in accordance with the new statutory notice periods.

LBG recommendation: It is therefore worth considering – depending on the operational requirement – to already now make use of the legally granted option to agree on a termination possibility also to the 15th and the last of a month in new and existing contracts with workers – as it is already common on contracts with employees.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Companies often pay in advance for their customers, as services provided are billed only after they have been rendered and the customer is also granted a payment term. However, this means for the company that it usually has to finance the period between delivery or service provision and the receipt of payment on its own bank account. Here are some tips on how to keep this time span as short as possible and minimize your default risk: 

• Selection of Business Partners and Contract Design: At the beginning of the business relationship, and subsequently depending on the occasion from time to time, information about the creditworthiness and payment behaviour of the customer should be obtained. In the assignment is to pay attention to a precise agreement of the terms of payment (possibly with retention of title). By agreeing down payments, the payment flow can be designed according to the service provision and a default risk can be reduced. 
• Invoicing: Invoices should be sent (electronically) as soon as possible upon delivery or end of service provision. Queries due to unclear phrasing in invoices not only costs expensive working hours, but also delays the receipt of payment. 
• Payment Reminders: Reminders should be timely, clearly formulated and reach the customer with exact deadlines. Active calling in the form of professionally conducted remand talks is often more effective than multilevel written reminder letters.

We also recommend implementing clear standards ("billing and reminder policy") in the company:

• When is the company billed? Who is responsible for that?
• In the accounting software, credit limits, dunning levels, standardized dunning letters and a strict dunning cycle should always be recorded and their adherence strictly observed.

Thereby you reduce your default risk, create liquidity and a fair cooperation to secure the sustainable success of your company.

We check your current invoicing and dunning system and support you in the organizational optimization in the company. If you outsource your accounting to us and we agree on a timely (digital) document flow, we will also gladly integrate a professional periodic dunning process for you.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Crowdfunding has become increasingly important as an alternative to traditional forms of financing in recent years. Depending on the type of consideration, the following types of crowdfunding with different income tax effects can typically be distinguished:

Crowdinvesting and Crowdlending (subordinated loans): crowd investing is characterized by the fact that investors provide capital in the long term and in turn participate in the company's success. In crowd lending, subordinated loans are issued and interest is paid in return. From the capital acquirer's point of view, compensation to investors is usually tax-deductible only if the capital invested is debt capital. The investor may receive income from capital assets, operating income, interest income or income from participations, depending on the nature of the consideration, the type of company of the capital acquirer and whether the investment is made out of private assets or business assets.

Crowdsponsoring: in crowd sponsoring, investors/sponsors receive non-monetary consideration, such as advertising services. From the point of view of income tax, it must be distinguished between sponsoring or pre-financing of products. For the capital acquirer, sponsoring payments constitute income tax receivable. This is only deductible for the sponsor if the payment is made on an operational basis, has a broad public advertising impact and there is an appropriate relationship between performance and consideration.

Crowddonating: is usually used for the promotion of Projects in the creative, cultural and art Scene. The investor/donor is waived entirely on a consideration. From the point of view of the recipient of the donation, as far as the operational area is concerned, there is an operating income. For the donor, the donation is tax deductible only if the recipient of the payment is a favoured beneficiary.

The income tax assessment of crowdfunding financing is always dependent on the individual case, both from the point of view of the investor and from the point of view of the receiver. In this regard, the classification as equity or debt capital (crowdinvesting, crowdlending) as well as the evaluation as pure pre-financing, sponsoring or donation (crowd sponsoring, crowd donating) are decisive. In addition, depending on the type of company and whether the investment is made from private assets or business assets, a different tax assessment may result.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is expected to leave the European Union on March 29^th 2019. In recent years, many limited companies have been incorporated under English law and registered in the English commercial register, which have been operating in Austria from the very beginning and are also headquartered here. This was often due to the admissibility of a foundation without minimum capital and the unbureaucratic construction. In the context of the announced Brexit, panic is inappropriate because the Austrian legislator is preparing a limited grace period until the end of 2020. Nevertheless, it makes sense to think about legal form alternatives, for example, an Austrian (start-up-privileged) limited liability company and thus avoid imponderables. But also for all companies in Great Britain, which aim a company seat in the European Union in the future, a limited liability company with seat in Austria is a good option.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The Federal Ministry has published an overview of the possible scenarios for the UK's exit from the EU following the rejection of the withdrawal agreement by the British Parliament on January 15th 2019. This may be a regular EU exit ("deal"), the extension of the negotiation phase and withdrawal of the withdrawal application or an unregulated EU exit ("no deal").

In the event of a "disorderly" Brexit at the end of March 2019 (ie, no exit agreement and no "transitional phase"), the United Kingdom should be treated as a third country with immediate effect, with corresponding tax consequences for income tax, value added tax and private individuals.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Each (!) tax audit report is subsequently also assessed by the Financial Criminal Authority with regard to criminal-law-relevant facts. The confidence to achieve a useful "negotiation result" in the course of the tax audit or the enjoyment of an already achieved "good" result can therefore be too early. Anyone who wants to be on the safe side as a manager, board member, entrepreneur or commercial manager should at least follow those key word-like practice recommendations: Was a duty to report, disclosure or truth violated or caused a tax reduction? Are there any possibilities for restructuring, such as a self-disclosure, the withdrawal from the trial or the use of a reduction surcharge (§ 30a FinStrG) depending on the amount of the tax reduction? In case of potential wage tax offenses also the effects on social security contributions, non-wage labour costs and risks from wage and social dumping have to be taken into account.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: Especially in family businesses there is the need for close cooperation accompanied by a variety of service relationships, just as within corporate groups. But what seems necessary and reasonable in the daily work to quickly meet customer wishes, can lead to fatal tax and social security arrears in the hardly permeable thicket of tax and social security law and in the family circle at most to jeopardize pension or social benefits for co-working family members. In the business association, risks arise from inappropriate transfer prices. Related tax audits are becoming stricter than ever. It therefore absolutely makes sense to take a critical and careful look at all economic and legal relationships in the family circle or companies connected to one another through timely participation, to create order and to set the right course in time.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: The professional cooperation with financiers on the basis of reliable, realistic numbers proves itself. The timely and careful preparation of documents is important for the purpose of determining one's own position and for the orderly communication of the company's economic and financial situation. It must always be considered: entrepreneurs, managing directors, board members, shareholders, commercial managers are personally responsible for the accuracy of their oral and written information about the current or future situation of the company – furthermore they are also liable for not holding back information that might be disadvantageous for credit lending decisions. In any case, the following documents should be available: annual financial statement of the last financial year including the comparison with the previous year. Current "balance sheet" or "short-term profit-and-loss accounts", which are separated in terms of time and content, whereby the assets, liabilities, income and expense accounts should be structured in the same way as the annual financial statements, including amounts and percentages and pressure from the previous year (depending on the industry including seasonal comparison); a monthly target / actual comparison of the current year completes a current economic overview. Additionally, an overview of the annual performance planning (budget), the annual financial plan and, if necessary, an investment calculation.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

LBG Austria - Summary: If an entrepreneur wants to switch from actual taxation to imputed taxation or wants to voluntarily file monthly preliminary VAT returns or wants to return to small business exemption regulation it is necessary to pay attention to the corresponding deadlines for application.

Switch from actual taxation to imputed taxation
As a rule, tax liability takes effect in the month in which deliveries or services are provided (imputed taxation) or, in the case of taxation according to monies received (actual taxation), per the end of the calendar month in which they were earned. In Austria, entrepreneurs who work freelance (such as lawyers) or entrepreneurs not obligated to keep books of account, may apply for imputed taxation instead of actual taxation. The application therefore must be filed no later than the deadline for filing the first preliminary VAT return, as a rule therefore with the January preliminary VAT return by March 15 at the latest.

Voluntary monthly preliminary VAT return
Entrepreneurs with sales exceeding € 100.000 in the preceding calendar year are obligated to file their preliminary VAT returns monthly. If sales are between € 30.000 and € 100.000 preliminary VAT returns generally need to be filed quarterly. In that case, however, entrepreneurs may voluntarily opt for monthly preliminary VAT returns. In order to opt for this choice it is necessary to submit the preliminary VAT return for the first calendar month of a taxable period on time, as a rule therefore by March 15.

Return to small business exemption Regulation
Small business owners are entrepreneurs who operate their business in Austria (are resident or domiciled in Austria up until 31 December 2016) and who do not exceed a turnover limit of € 30.000 annually. They do not have to pay any sales tax on their income to the fiscal authorities; on the other hand they may not deduct input tax from expenses. If small business owners want to switch from being exempt from sales tax to sales tax liability they can waive it (option declaration). This waiver is binding for at least five years. In order to return to the small business exemption regulation the withdrawal must be declared no later than the end of the first calendar month. Otherwise sales remain subject to VAT. We recommend prior to making one of the choices described above to compare the options in terms of profitability and liquidity.

Contact & Advice: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: On January 1st 2017 the “Anti-Wage and Social Dumping Act” (LSD-BG) came into effect in Austria as a standalone act (previously it was included in the Labour Contract Adaptation Act, AVRAG). Wage dumping does not only refer to the act of offering (on purpose) excessively low wages, in fact there are several pitfalls lurking in daily payroll accounting practice that may lead to violations of law and significant penalties for entrepreneurs, managers, board members. A careful and competent check may prevent from unintended consequences. Special attention should be paid to those fields of daily payroll accounting: wrong classification of employment (contract for work, service contract, free service contract), wrong or no classification in collective agreement, wrong or no collective wage increase, unpaid or insufficient paid additional hours/overtime, accounting errors in all-inclusive overtime arrangements, no or insufficient working time records, late payments etc. We support you in planning and implementing the right measures and take a competent expert-look at your employments.

Contact & Advice: Our experts in the consulting field “payroll accounting, income tax, social security, labour law” will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: Natural entities that generate revenues from commercial activities (farming and forestry, commercial operation, self-employed work) can claim a tax-free profit allowance. For partnerships (e.g. OG, KG) the partners can claim tax-free profit allowance in the amount of their share of the profit. The tax-free profit allowance amounts to a maximum of 13% of the profit and is made up of a basic tax allowance for profits of up to EUR 30.000 and beyond that of an investment-related tax allowance (13% for an assessment base of up to EUR 175.000; 7% due on the next EUR 175.000; 4.5% on an additional EUR 230.000). From an assessment base of EUR 580.000, no tax-free allowance is available. In total, the granted tax concessions are limited to EUR 45.350 per taxpayer and year.

Which investments are eligible for claiming the investment-related tax-free profit allowance?
Eligible assets include tangible depreciable assets (the most important exceptions being cars, low-value assets, used assets) with a user life of at least 4 years and eligible securities.

As of 2017, again greater variety of eligible securities
On account of the 2014 Law on Tax Modifications (Abgabenänderungsgesetz), only mortgage bonds were granted tax concessions as securities for claiming the investment-related tax-free profit allowance. This restriction of securities to property investments was limited until 2016. Therefore all securities granted tax concessions are eligible for fiscal years from 1/1/2017 (securities that can also be used to cover personnel-related provisions pursuant to Section 14 Par. 7 Line 4 of the income tax code). Those are for example federal bonds, bank bonds, corporate bonds, option bonds, exchangeable bonds, certain investment and real estate funds as well as guarantee certificates.

Claiming the tax-benefit
The basic tax-free allowance must be entered in the tax return but will essentially be granted automatically. The investment-based tax-free allowance must be disclosed in the tax return of the respective year. The sum of the tax-free allowance, broken down by physical assets and securities granted tax concessions, is to be entered.

Contact & Advice: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: Where a home office is used on a continuous basis for carrying on business activities for an enterprise and it is clear from the facts and circumstances that the enterprise has required the individual to use that location to carry on the enterprise's business (e.g. by not providing an office to an employee in circumstances where the nature of the employment clearly requires an office), the home office may be considered to be at the disposal of the enterprise". (EAS-Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Austria, 11/6/2017, BMF-010221/0333-IV/8/2017, valid from 11/6/2017)

Contact & Advise: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: The limitation of the Austrian energy tax rebate to production enterprises has been subject to disputes before various courts for years already and the contentious legal question whether service providers are still entitled to the energy tax rebate after January 2011 is still unsolved. A recent judgement by the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court (VwGH) on this controversial question has been issued. Contrary to what was expected, the Supreme Administrative Court has not ruled on this issue substantively yet but referred the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding questions on the appropriate interpretation of European Union law. Service providers who want to maintain their potential claims need to submit applications; the deadline for the year 2012 is December 31 2017.

Contact & Advice: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: The legislative amendment on the elimination of fees on tenancy agreements was announced in the Federal Law Gazette on November 10, 2017 and is therefore – in absence of any separate regulation – in effect since November 11, 2017. This means, that all written tenancy contracts signed as of November 11, 2017 are not subject to fees in connection with the contract. Lease contracts for commercial properties remain unaffected.

Contact & Advice: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: Interests of taxable persons may vary considerably. While one especially desires the establishment of residence for tax purposes in Austria in order to be unlimited taxable in Austria, the other one tries hard to avoid exactly that, namely being taxed on his/her worldwide income in Austria. Regarding the tax allocation of income, double taxation agreements have to be taken into account. However, only the criteria in the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (BAO) determine whether unlimited tax liability due to a “permanent home” in Austria is given. Recently the Federal Finance Court Innsbruck stated - with reference to judicial decisions of the Austrian Administrative Court - that using the “permanent home” for 2-3 month/year already qualifies for having one’s residence for tax purposes in Austria but that spending annually 14-21 days in an apartment which is furthermore usually classified not habitable is not sufficient to create unlimited tax exposure under Austrian tax law.

LBG Austria - Recommendation: The assessment oft the question whether unlimited or limited tax liability is given has great relevance regarding tax consequences on each domestic and foreign source of income, total tax burden as well as possible exit taxes or moving-in taxes. We recommend therefore a careful assessment of all assignment criteria on a case-by-case-basis in compliance with one’s overall tax interests – and a renewed assessment if circumstances change.

Contact & Advise: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.

LBG Austria - Summary: By establishing a tax group in accordance with the Austrian Corporation Tax Act, profits and losses of financially related corporations, such as private limited companies, can be offset. Thus the total tax burden of the tax group can be significantly reduced. To benefit from group taxation for the tax year 2017 (for groups with balance sheet date 31/12/2017) the group application forms have to be signed by all group members by December 31st 2017 at the latest and filed with the Austrian tax authorities within one month after signing.

Contact & Advice: Our experts at LBG will be pleased to advise you in your individual situation. Please contact our consultants either directly at LBG at our 30 locations in Austria (www.lbg.at) or email us – we will connect you with the right expert at LBG who is very familiar with your concerns.