A company car sounds like a simple perk — your employer provides a vehicle, you drive it. But in Austria, using a company car for private purposes triggers a Sachbezug (benefit in kind) that gets added to your taxable income every month. Depending on the vehicle, this can cost you several hundred euros per year in additional tax and social security. Before you accept the keys, it's worth understanding exactly what the numbers look like.
What Is the Sachbezug?
The Sachbezug is the monetary value that Austrian tax law assigns to the private use of a company car. It doesn't matter whether you actually use the car privately very much — if private use is permitted (which it almost always is when an employer provides a car), the Sachbezug applies automatically.
This notional benefit is added to your gross income each month, which means it:
- Increases your income tax
- Increases your social security contributions
- Potentially pushes you into a higher tax bracket
The Standard Rates
The Sachbezug is calculated as a percentage of the vehicle's original acquisition cost (Anschaffungskosten), including VAT and all factory options.
| Vehicle type | Monthly Sachbezug | Cap (monthly) | Cap (vehicle cost) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (any combustion engine) | 2% of acquisition cost | €960/month | €48,000 |
| Low-emission (CO2 ≤ 141 g/km) | 1.5% of acquisition cost | €720/month | €48,000 |
| Fully electric (CO2 = 0) | 0% | — | — |
The cap exists to prevent the Sachbezug from growing without limit for very expensive vehicles. Once a car costs more than €48,000, the Sachbezug is fixed at the maximum regardless of the actual price.
Real Examples: What It Costs You
Example 1: Standard company car, €35,000
Monthly Sachbezug: 2% × €35,000 = €700
This €700 is added to your gross income each month. If your regular gross is €4,500/month and your marginal tax rate is 35%, the extra tax is approximately €245/month. Add employee social security at ~18%: another €127. The company car effectively costs you roughly €370/month net in additional deductions — about €4,440 per year.
Example 2: Premium car, €65,000
Monthly Sachbezug: capped at €960 (since 2% of €65,000 = €1,300, but the cap applies)
At a 42% marginal rate, additional income tax: ~€403/month. Social security: ~€174/month. Net cost: approximately €577/month or €6,924/year.
Example 3: Fully electric car, any price
Monthly Sachbezug: €0
No additional tax, no additional social security. The employer provides the car, you drive it privately, and it doesn't appear on your payslip at all. This is one of the most significant tax advantages of electric vehicles in Austria and a major reason why EV adoption in company fleets has accelerated rapidly.
Example 4: Low-emission hybrid, €40,000
Monthly Sachbezug: 1.5% × €40,000 = €600
At 35% marginal rate: ~€210 in extra tax, ~€109 in social security. Net cost: approximately €319/month.
The Pendlerpauschale Conflict
Here is a critical rule that many employees miss: if your employer pays the Sachbezug for your company car, you cannot simultaneously claim the Pendlerpauschale (commuter allowance) for driving that car to work.
The logic is straightforward — the state won't subsidise both sides of the same commute. If you receive a company car and the Sachbezug applies, the tax system considers your commuting costs already covered (or more than covered) by the benefit.
If you have a long commute and would otherwise qualify for a large Pendlerpauschale, this trade-off is worth calculating carefully. The Pendlerpauschale for a 60km+ one-way commute can be worth €2,016/year (kleine) or €3,672/year (große) as a deduction — losing this while also paying Sachbezug tax could make a company car financially unfavourable compared to a car allowance.
Can You Reduce the Sachbezug?
There is no official mechanism to reduce the Sachbezug based on actual private kilometres driven — the rule is binary: private use is either permitted or it isn't. However, there are some practical considerations:
Logbook (Fahrtenbuch): If you can demonstrate with a complete logbook that private use was genuinely below a threshold, some employers restructure the arrangement as a predominantly business-use vehicle with restricted private access. This requires genuine contractual restrictions and rigorous record-keeping — it's not simply a matter of claiming low private use.
No private use at all: If your employer explicitly forbids private use and this is enforced (e.g., the car is kept at the company premises overnight, access is restricted), no Sachbezug applies. This is uncommon for senior employees but does exist for pool vehicles used only for specific business trips.
Choose an electric car: This is the cleanest solution. Zero Sachbezug, zero additional tax, full private use permitted.
What About Fuel and Charging Costs?
If your employer also pays for fuel for private journeys, this is handled separately — it's treated as an additional Sachbezug based on actual private fuel costs, or as a lump sum in some arrangements. For electric vehicles, employer-paid home charging falls under specific rules: up to a certain reimbursement level for home charging installation and electricity, this can be tax-free.
Comparing the Options: A Quick Framework
Before accepting a company car offer, work out the net cost using this approach:
- Take the car's acquisition cost
- Apply the relevant percentage (2%, 1.5%, or 0% for electric)
- Cap at €960 or €720 if the result exceeds those figures
- Multiply by your marginal tax rate to estimate extra income tax
- Add 18.12% for social security impact
- Compare against the Pendlerpauschale you'd lose
If the numbers look unfavourable, ask your employer whether a car allowance (Kilometergeld) arrangement or a lease-to-own structure might be available instead. For many employees, an EV company car is simply the best outcome across all dimensions — lower Sachbezug (zero), lower fuel costs, and increasingly competitive vehicle availability.
Use our income tax calculator to model how a Sachbezug at different levels affects your monthly net pay and annual tax liability.