Austria VAT Guide

Understand VAT registration, rates, filing, e-invoicing and representation requirements in Austria. Desucla represents, files and pays VAT for cross-border businesses.

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Last reviewed 01 June 2026

Reviewed by Desucla Tax Team

Last authority check 30 May 2026

Tax authority Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance (Bundesministerium für Finanzen – BMF)

Source status Based on tax authority guidance, local legislation and Desucla operational experience.

Important: Important: This guide is general information, not tax advice. Requirements depend on your business model, customer type, transaction flows and local authority interpretation.

At a glance

Local tax name / acronym	Umsatzsteuer (USt) or Mehrwertsteuer
Standard rate	20% (19% in Jungholz & Mittelberg regions)
Reduced rates	13%; 10%
Registration threshold	€55,000 per annum; nil for non-residents; €10,000 for pan-EU digital services and goods OSS return. Intra-community acquisitions €11,000
Filing frequency	Monthly. Quarterly is annual turnover does not exceed €100,000
E-invoicing / digital reporting	e-invoicing is mandatory for Business-to-Government (B2G) transactions, but voluntary for Business-to-Business (B2B) transactions
Typical registration lead time	2-6 weeks

Recent changes

NEW

2025 VAT registration update

Austria increased its VAT registration threshold from €35,000 to €55,000 effective 1 January 2025, aligning with the new EU small business VAT scheme and helping reduce the VAT burden on micro-businesses.

UPDATED

EU Special Scheme VAT registration threshold

From 1 January 2025, the EU introduced an optional SME VAT scheme allowing EU-based businesses with up to €100,000 in cross-border sales to avoid VAT registration in other member states through a new ‘EX’ registration and simplified quarterly reporting.

NEW

4.9% VAT rate approved

Austria will cut the VAT rate on essential grocery items from 10% to 4.9% from 1 July 2026, aiming to reduce food costs for consumers, while restaurant sales will remain excluded from the reduced rate.