D. Income from employment

What constitutes income from employment? Income from employment comprises the following remunerations:

• Remunerations and benefits from an existing or earlier contract of employment Rz 645–669b; 930 ff These include wages and salaries, as well as company pensions, but also remunerations in kind provided by the employer, as well as remuneration from marginal employment and income from a service voucher. Service vouchers can be obtained at post offices, tobacconist shops and online at dienstleistungsscheck-online.at. They can be used to pay for simple services typical in private households (e.g. cleaning jobs, babysitting, simple jobs in connection with running a household, or simple gardening jobs). Income from service vouchers is not subject to wage tax in the course of a year. In the context of the employee tax assessment, your income from service vouchers is also included in the taxation of your annual income.
• Pensions under the statutory social security system Rz 684 ff These include, inter alia, pensions from pension insurance institutions for employees, farmers or the commercial sector. Only a quarter of the increase in value resulting from voluntary additional insurance is subject to tax.
• Rehabilitation and reintegration benefit Rz 669c, sickness benefits Rz 671 ff
• Benefits paid by pension funds Rz 680 ff Benefits and pension benefits attributable to employer contributions are fully subject to wage tax. Remunerations and pension benefits attributable to employee contributions are taxable only at 25%. Pensions from a premium-aided pension scheme (see page 182), a premium-aided provident scheme (see page 180) or a company pension fund are tax-exempt.
• Remunerations under the Austrian Remunerations Act (Bezügegesetz), as well as emoluments paid to members of a provincial government or a provincial diet, to mayors, town councillors or municipal councillors.

Note

Work performed under a freelance service contract or a contract for work and services is generally classified as income from business activities. Therefore, no wage tax is deducted. Such income is income from self-employment or commercial operations. In many instances, a "Disclosure pursuant to section 109a Austrian Income Tax Act" must be filed with the tax office (see page 173).

When is income from employment taxable? Income tax is always calculated on the basis of the total income within a calendar year. As a rule, income (wages, salaries and pensions) is attributed to the calendar year in which the employees receive it.

In the case of employee tax assessment, the tax is re-calculated on the basis of the actual income earned during a calendar year.

If income subject to wage tax was not received for the entire calendar year, or was received in varying amounts, the annual calculation usually results in a credit.

In the event of a subsequent claim for tax payment, please refer to the information in chapter "The procedure at the tax office" (see page 159).