Investment income & capital gains
A flat 27.5% on dividends, securities gains, securitised derivatives and crypto, 25% on bank interest, 30% on real estate — and a step-up to market value the day you become resident. This is the regime most of a private fortune lives under.
In short
- Flat 27.5% on dividends, bond interest, capital gains on securities, securitised derivatives and crypto assets; 25% on bank-deposit interest; 30% on real-estate gains.
- With an Austrian bank, the tax is withheld at source and is final — for that income there is nothing to file.
- With a foreign bank, the same rates apply but you self-assess in your annual return.
- New residents receive a step-up: holdings are revalued to fair market value at entry, and only later growth is taxed in Austria.
- Foreign investment funds without Austrian tax reporting are taxed on a penal lump-sum basis — check the portfolio before moving.
One flat system for capital income
Austria does not levy a separate capital gains tax. Instead, investment income forms its own category within income tax and is taxed at flat rates, entirely outside the progressive bands that reach 55%. For a household whose wealth produces most of its income, this — together with the absence of any wealth tax — is the economic heart of the Austrian offer.
| Income | Rate | How it is collected |
|---|---|---|
| Interest on bank deposits and savings accounts | 25% | Withheld by the Austrian bank; self-assessed if the account is abroad |
| Interest on bonds | 27.5% | Withheld by the Austrian custodian bank; otherwise self-assessed |
| Dividends | 27.5% | Withheld by the Austrian company, and on foreign dividends by the Austrian custodian bank; via the return only where the account is abroad |
| Capital gains on shares, bonds, funds and other financial instruments | 27.5% | Withheld by the Austrian custodian bank; otherwise self-assessed |
| Income from securitised derivatives (certificates, warrants and the like) | 27.5% | Withheld where an Austrian bank settles; otherwise self-assessed |
| Income and gains from crypto assets | 27.5% | Withheld by Austrian service providers in certain cases; otherwise self-assessed — see crypto taxation |
| Capital gains on Austrian real estate | 30% | Usually withheld by the attorney or notary handling the sale |
One qualification to the table matters for active investors: only securitised derivatives — certificates, warrants and similar instruments — carry the flat rate automatically. Income from unsecuritised derivatives, meaning OTC options, futures, swaps, CFDs and the like, is excluded from it and taxed on the progressive scale, unless an Austrian bank or investment firm voluntarily withholds the 27.5% tax. A derivatives book left with a foreign broker is therefore the one part of a portfolio that can still meet rates of up to 55%.
Where the progressive scale would be cheaper — realistic only at modest overall income — a taxpayer can apply to have capital income assessed at scale rates instead. The option applies to the capital income as a whole rather than to hand-picked positions, so it is worth modelling before electing.
The entry step-up: pre-move gains stay abroad
Gains are normally computed as sales price minus acquisition cost. For new residents, Austria replaces the acquisition cost of financial instruments, derivatives and crypto assets with their fair market value on the day residence begins. Gains that accrued during your pre-Austrian life are thereby excluded from the Austrian base — the step-up exists precisely so that hidden reserves built up abroad are not taxed here.
Two exceptions matter in practice, because the step-up is granted only where Austria's right to tax the asset first arises on arrival. A shareholding of 1% or more in an Austrian company is one: Austria could already tax that gain in the hands of a non-resident, so it keeps its original acquisition cost. The other is the returning resident whose Austrian exit tax was deferred rather than paid on leaving — those assets, too, keep their original cost.
A worked illustration: a portfolio position acquired years ago for EUR 1,000,000 is worth EUR 4,000,000 on the day its owner becomes Austrian tax resident. Sold two years later for EUR 4,500,000, Austria taxes EUR 500,000 — the post-arrival growth — at 27.5%, or EUR 137,500. Without the step-up the taxable gain would have been seven times larger.
The step-up works automatically in law but not in practice: it is only as strong as its evidence. Obtain custody statements and valuations for the moving date itself, keep them permanently, and fix the date of becoming tax resident deliberately so the valuation and the residence start coincide. Whether to realise particular gains before the move at all — because the departure country taxes them favourably, or levies its own exit tax — is a central question of pre-immigration planning.
Austrian bank or foreign bank?
Where the portfolio is held changes nothing about the rates — but almost everything about the administration. An Austrian bank withholds the flat tax on interest, dividends and realised gains as they arise, and that withholding is generally final: the income need not appear in a tax return at all, and the bank handles a degree of loss offsetting within the relationship automatically. For many new residents this is a genuine simplification — the running taxation of a large securities portfolio reduced to a line on the bank statement.
A portfolio left with a foreign bank stays at the same 25% and 27.5% rates, but nothing is withheld for Austria. Every interest coupon, dividend and disposal must be self-assessed in the annual return, with gains computed under Austrian rules — including the stepped-up values — and the filing deadlines observed. Losses on capital assets can generally be offset against other capital income of the same year, within statutory limits; they cannot be carried forward.
Discretion is not a reason to stay abroad: foreign banks report account data to Austria automatically under the Common Reporting Standard, as explained on the page about banking in Austria for new residents. Many families therefore consolidate with an Austrian or Austrian-booking private bank soon after arrival — for the withholding convenience as much as anything.
Investment funds: reporting versus non-reporting
Fund holdings need a pre-move check of their own. Austria taxes fund investors transparently on the fund's distributions and deemed distributed income at 27.5% — but only where the fund is a reporting fund, one with an Austrian tax representative filing standardised annual tax figures which are officially published. Most large UCITS funds sold in Europe report; many US mutual funds, offshore vehicles and niche products do not.
A non-reporting fund falls into a penal lump-sum regime: the investor is taxed each year on a deemed income of 90% of the fund's increase in value over the year, but at least 10% of its value at year-end — taxed at 27.5% even in years the fund paid out nothing, and even, because of the 10% floor, in years it fell. Held long enough, a non-reporting fund can be taxed on more than it ever earns. The lump sum is an estimate rather than an inescapable penalty — an investor may instead prove the fund's actual deemed distributed income by filing the supporting documents — but doing so for several funds, every year, is laborious and expensive, which is why the practical answer is to switch before moving.
Screen every fund position against the reporting-fund list before you move. Switching out of non-reporting funds while still a non-resident costs no Austrian tax — the step-up wipes the pre-move gain anyway. Switching after arrival is a taxable disposal.
US citizens face the same problem twice over — non-US funds are punished by the US PFIC regime just as non-reporting funds are punished by Austria — a squeeze described on the page for US citizens moving to Austria.
Real estate: 30%, and its own rules
Capital gains on real estate stand outside the 27.5% world: private sales of Austrian property are taxed at a flat 30% (Immobilienertragsteuer), normally withheld by the attorney or notary handling the transaction. One surcharge sits on top: for sales after 30 June 2025, where the land was rezoned as building land after 31 December 2024, the gain attributable to the land is increased by a 30% Umwidmungszuschlag before the 30% rate is applied — an effective burden of up to 39% on that gain, capped so that gain and surcharge together cannot exceed the sale price. Buildings are unaffected. A main-residence exemption and an exemption for self-built homes can eliminate the tax in the right circumstances; the conditions, together with depreciation and the taxation of rental income, are covered on the page on owning and letting Austrian property. Note that the step-up for financial assets does not extend to real estate, and that Austrian property remains taxable in Austria even after you give up Austrian residence.
Putting the portfolio in order before the move
The regime rewards those who arrive prepared. Before residence begins: decide which gains, if any, to realise under the departure country's rules; replace non-reporting funds; review any foreign exit tax the departure country levies on emigration; and commission valuations of every financial position for the intended moving date. After arrival, choose the custody set-up — Austrian withholding or foreign self-assessment — and diarise the return deadlines if anything stays abroad. Structures add a layer of their own: how portfolios inside foundations and trusts are taxed is treated under foreign trusts and foundations, and the full sequence lives on the pre-immigration planning page. For the wider context — the progressive scale, the missing wealth and inheritance taxes, the treaty network — see the Austrian tax system in one page.
Questions on this page
Is there a separate capital gains tax in Austria?
No separate tax. Gains on financial assets are part of income tax, but they are taxed at a flat 27.5% — 30% for real estate — rather than on the progressive scale.
Do I pay Austrian tax on gains that built up before I moved?
Generally no. Financial instruments, derivatives and crypto assets are stepped up to fair market value when you become resident, so only growth after that date is taxed in Austria.
What if my portfolio stays with my foreign bank?
The same flat rates apply, but nothing is withheld at source. You must declare the income in your annual Austrian return, and the accounts are in any event visible to the tax office through automatic CRS exchange.
Can I choose the progressive rate instead of the flat 27.5%?
Yes, on application, where the progressive scale works out cheaper — mainly at low overall incomes. The option covers your capital income as a whole, not individual positions.
How do I know whether my fund is a reporting fund?
Reporting funds have an Austrian tax representative filing standardised figures, and they appear on the officially published fund list. Your Austrian bank or adviser can check each position before you move.
Considering a move to Austria?
Tell us where you stand — the country you are leaving, the shape of your family and your assets, and when you plan to move. We advise on the legal and tax consequences of relocating to Austria and coordinate with advisers in the country of departure.
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