E. Remunerations in kind Rz 138–222d

What exactly are remunerations in kind?

Usually, employees receive money as compensation. The payment may (partly) also be made in kind (remunerations in kind). Remunerations in kind must be valued at the mean price they command in the place where they are consumed and taxed accordingly. For most remuneration in kind, such as personal use of a company car Rz 168–187, uniform values have been established, which are applied throughout Austria.

However, certain remunerations in kind are expressly tax-exempt under the Income Tax Act (e.g. Christmas gifts as well as remunerations in kind received on the occasion of a service or company anniversary up to € 186, company events up to € 365, or catering at the workplace). Rz 78 ff, 93 ff

Examples for taxable remunerations in kind:

• Company car Rz 168–187
  If an employee uses a company-owned motor vehicle for private journeys, then this is to be recognised as remuneration in kind on a monthly basis at 2% of the acquisition costs (including VAT), up to a maximum of € 960 per month.
  A remuneration in kind amounting to 1.5% of the acquisition costs of the motor vehicle (maximum € 720 per month) is to be recognised if the CO₂ emission value is below a certain limit. This limit depends on the date of first registration of the motor vehicle.

  • If the first registration took place in the calendar year 2024, the limit value for the more favourable tax rate amounts to 129 grams per kilometre.
  • For motor vehicles with a CO₂ emission rate of 0 grams per kilometre, no value of a remuneration in kind will be recognised.
  • If the company-owned motor vehicle can be shown to have been used for private journeys of no more than 500 km per month, averaged over the year, half the value is to be taxed as remuneration in kind.

  Private journeys also include travel between a place of residence and a place of work. If a motor vehicle owned by the employer is available to an employee/worker for travelling between home and place of work, the employee/worker is entitled neither to a lump sum for commuters nor to a commuters’ euro.

• Car port or garage space Rz 188–203
  If an employer provides an employee with a car port or garage space free of charge during working hours, then a remuneration in kind of € 14.53 per month must be added to the wage tax assessment base. This amount only needs to be added when the carport or garage space is located in a restricted parking area (“blue zone”). No further remuneration in kind needs to be added beyond the employee’s contribution of € 14.53 per month paid to the employer.

• Loans and salary advances by the employer Rz 207k–207w
  Up to an amount of € 7,300, no remuneration in kind needs to be entered for salary advances and interest-free or low-interest loans by the employer. From 1 January 2024, the calculation of the monthly remuneration in kind must differentiate between whether the salary advance or loan by the employer is subject to a fixed or floating interest rate.
  For salary advances and loans by the employer with a floating interest rate, an interest saving of 4.5% is to be applied in 2024 and 2025.
  If no interest or a fixed interest rate has been agreed, the monthly monetary benefit is to be determined by reducing the lending rate published by the Austrian National Bank in the month the contract was concluded (lending rate for new loans to private households for housing with an initial interest rate fixation of over ten years) by 10%, and then calculating the difference between this interest rate and the agreed fixed interest rate. The monetary benefit thus determined is to be applied for the entire repayment period.

• Company housing Rz 149–162e
  If an employer provides an employee with an apartment, free of charge or at reduced costs, this also constitutes a taxable remuneration in kind.
  If the accommodation close to the workplace is not the focal point of vital interests, no remuneration in kind is to be applied up to a size of 30 m² (from 2025, up to a size of 35 m²). At a size of more than 30 m² but not more than 40 m², the amount taxed at a preferential rate is to be reduced by 35% if the accommodation close to the workplace is continuously provided by the same employer for no more than twelve months (from 2025, the limits increase to 35 m² to 45 m²).

• Incentive travels Rz 220
  Incentive travels offered to motivate staff members are taxable remuneration in kind.

Examples for tax-exempt remunerations in kind:

• Laptop, desktop computers Rz 214a
  If an employee is provided with a laptop or desktop computer which is used regularly for professional purposes but is also put to personal use, this does not constitute a taxable remuneration in kind.

• (Mobile) telephone Rz 214
  The occasional private use of a (mobile) telephone belonging to the employer is not a taxable remuneration in kind either.