Special expenses – What claims may be asserted in the employee tax assessment? | Austrian Tax Book 2025

A. Special expenses

What are special expenses?

The Austrian Income Tax Act 1988 (Einkommensteuergesetz) lists certain private expenses that are taxed at preferential rates. If the listed expenses are income-related expenses or operating expenses at the same time, they are deductible as such.

An unlimited or a limited amount may be claimed for the following special expenses:

Certain pensions and permanent burdens (e.g. benefit pension, life annuity, retirement pension, in-return pension, maintenance pension, mixed pension) to an unlimited amount. Pensions and permanent burdens are regularly recurring benefits which are paid on the basis of a uniform and legally enforceable obligation and whose duration depends on the occurrence of an uncertain event such as the death of a person. Where pensions are paid in return for the transfer of assets (e.g. a house), only those pensions that exceed the value of the asset and are reasonable in amount are deductible.
Contributions to voluntary continued insurance, including the subsequent acquisition of insurance periods, to unlimited amounts.
Church tax payments — up to a maximum amount of €600.
Tax-consultancy costs — to an unlimited amount.
Donations to certain teaching and research institutions and to umbrella organisations promoting sports for the disabled.
Donations to humanitarian institutions (charitable organisations, development aid or disaster relief organisations).
Donations for environmental, nature and species protection.
Donations to officially authorised animal shelters.
Donations to volunteer fire departments and regional fire-fighting associations.

Donations are deductible only to the extent that they do not exceed 10% of the total amount of income of the relevant year of assessment. Preferentially taxed remunerations (e.g. holiday pay, Christmas bonus) are not taken into account when calculating the maximum amount for special expenses.

Note

Special expenses for voluntary continued insurance (including the subsequent acquisition of insurance periods) under the statutory social security pension scheme, church tax payments and deductible donations will be sent electronically directly to the tax administration by the receiving organisation. Hence, these no longer need to be asserted in the tax returns. For transmission, you must provide the organisation with your first and last name and date of birth. This information is encrypted in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations and to be used only by the tax office for the purpose of consideration in the assessment. Therefore, receipts relating to these special expenses do not need to be retained.

When may special expenses be claimed?

Generally, the relevant point in time is when the payment is made. The unlimited contributions to a voluntarily continued insurance coverage (subsequent acquisition of insurance periods) can be split over ten years upon application.

Can payments made for other persons be claimed as special expenses (extended circle of persons)?

Contributions to continued payments to the statutory social security scheme, subsequent acquisition of insurance periods for time spent at school, self-insurance of relatives and church tax payments are also deductible if made for a spouse/registered partner not living separated on a permanent basis or for a child for which one is entitled to child deduction or support money deduction. The same applies to a partner in a domestic partnership with child.

What procedure must be followed to claim special expenses?

You can claim your special expenses in the course of your employee tax assessment. Keep your receipts for a period of seven years, since they may have to be shown to your tax office on request. Vouchers of electronically communicated special expenses do not need to be retained.

Note to Form Supplement L 1d:

In the following cases, please fill in Attachment L 1d to Form L 1 for special consideration of special expenses:

when considering a contribution to a domestic church or religious community, if the data communicated differ

for foreign donations/foreign church tax payments

in case of subsequent acquisition of insurance periods and voluntary continued insurance

for special expenses deduction of business donations and correction of a special expenses data transmission for business donations (only as an attachment to Form E1)