D. Tax credits, additional tax payments, and advance payments

In what cases can you usually expect a credit?

If you received different amounts as remuneration in the course of a year, and the employer did not make a recalculation.
If you changed your employer in the course of the year, or were not employed throughout the entire year.
If you are entitled to refunding of the single-earner or single-parent tax credit or to a social security refund due to the low amount of your income.
If you are entitled to a single-earner or single-parent tax credit and/or a lump sum for commuters, which were not settled during standard payroll accounting.
If you claim the tax allowances for income-related expenses, special expenses or extraordinary burdens which have not yet been granted in a tax office decision on tax allowances.

What should you do if you are asked to make an additional tax payment?

If an additional tax payment should become due in exceptional cases, you may withdraw your application by way of objection, unless in case of mandatory tax assessment.

When must a tax return be filed without a request by the tax office (mandatory tax assessment)?

If your income exceeds € 13,981, you are obliged to file an income tax return or a statement in connection with the employee tax assessment, if:

you have received other income in addition to your income liable to wage tax (e.g. from contracts for work and labour, or contracts for independent services) to a total amount of more than € 730. Capitals yields after withholding tax need not be included in the calculation. In this case, please file an income tax return (form E 1, including Attachment E 1a for income from trade or business).
if—in the course of the calendar year—you received at least two or several incomes liable to wage tax, at least partly simultaneously, for which wage tax was not settled jointly (e.g. when drawing a company pension in addition to a pension under the Austrian General Social Security Act). In this case, please file a declaration in connection with your employee tax assessment (Form L 1).
You are not entitled to a single-earner or single-parent tax credit, to the increased pensioner deduction or to the increased transportation deduction for the calendar year, but this was settled in the course of the standard payroll accounting. In this case, please file a declaration in connection with your employee tax assessment (Form L 1).
a lump sum for commuters was considered without justification, or the lump sum for commuters was too high.
you have received a grant from your employer to cover childcare costs without justification.
you realised incomes from capital assets or corresponding income from trade or business, and these are not subject to withholding tax.
you have obtained income from private sale of land for which no real estate gains tax has been paid or no compensation is given.
you have received income from employment and wage tax has not been deducted yet (cross-border employees, pensions from abroad).
a Family Bonus Plus was considered but the conditions were not met, or if an undue amount was considered.
too high amount of home office flat rate was not taxed.
an employee profit-sharing scheme of more than € 3,000 was considered tax-exempt.
a public transport ticket (Öffi-Ticket) was provided by the employer or the costs for it were covered, but the requirements were not met or too high an amount remained untaxed.
the conditions for the payment of flat-rate travel allowances to athletes are not met, or an excessive amount remains untaxed.
a monetary benefit from a start-up employee profit-sharing scheme was received, and no or insufficient tax was withheld from the salary.
A lump-sum allowance for volunteers was paid, and the requirements for tax exemption were not met.

Note

Please provide full and complete information on the application form about your personal data and the number of entities paying the remunerations in order to expedite the processing of your application for employee tax assessment. Missing data delay the processing of your application.

When is a mandatory tax assessment performed?

If you do not submit a statement for employee tax assessment on your own accord, in the following cases the tax office will prompt you to file a declaration and carry out a mandatory tax assessment. If:

you were employed simultaneously by two or more employers.
During the calendar year you have received rehabilitation or sickness benefits from the statutory social security or awarded under the Army Fees Act (e.g. for weapons training), income from service vouchers, insolvency deficit money been paid in the event of insolvency proceedings, or compulsory social security contributions have been refunded.
for the respective calendar year, a tax office decision on tax allowances has been issued and considered by the employer during wage tax determination.
the single-earner or single-parent tax credit, the increased pensioner deduction or the increased transportation deduction was recognised during the standard wage tax calculation, but the requirements are not fulfilled (e.g. the partner's income exceed the limit on his/her income).
a Family Bonus Plus was considered but the conditions were not met, or if an undue amount was considered.

Note

Please do not enclose any pay slips with the statements in your application for an employee tax assessment. The employer (or the agency paying your pension) forwards these documents to the tax office.

Can an employee tax assessment result in advance payments?

Wage taxpayers may have to make advance payments, if the additional tax payment amounts to more than € 300. In this case, for once an additional tax payment for the past year may coincide with the prepayment for the current year (e.g. if two remunerations are due in parallel for the first time). On the other hand, any possible additional payments will not be due for the current year.

Why can there be additional payments in the case of two or several remunerations?

As a rule, every entity paying remunerations or pensions calculates the wage tax only for the remunerations or pensions that it pays out. The result is that the wage tax actually paid is too low. In the course of an employee tax assessment, these remunerations are taxed as if the total amount were one single payment.

You are therefore treated like a taxpayer who has only one employment relation but has earned just as much, in the form of one salary or pension, as you have received from several remunerations.

When does the tax office calculate interest on additional tax payments or credit balances?

The tax office calculates interest on additional payments and credit balances for income tax assessments that are served after September 30th of the following year. The interest rate is 2% above the basic interest rate and currently amounts to 5.03% (rate at copy date). No interest is calculated for additional payments or credit balances that amount to less than € 50.

Interest accrues irrespective of the date at which the tax return is filed. It is recommended, though, to file the return as early as possible. If you do not receive the notice of assessment by 30 September of the following year, you can avoid paying interest on additional tax claims by paying an advance in the amount of the future (expected) additional tax payment before that deadline.