Wealth tax and other taxes
Austria levies no general wealth tax, and no inheritance or gift tax either. What remains is a short list of smaller taxes — worth knowing, rarely decisive.
In short
- Austria levies no general wealth tax on personal assets — the only wealth-type levies are a modest municipal land tax on Austrian real estate, at most 1% of a low assessed value, and a land value tax of 1% a year on undeveloped building land.
- There is no inheritance tax and no gift tax; both were abolished in August 2008.
- Stamp duties of 0.8% to 2% attach to certain signed documents — leases, sureties, assignments — but residential leases are exempt, and careful structuring often avoids the rest.
- Cars bear a one-off, CO2-based registration tax (NoVA); fully electric vehicles are exempt.
- VAT runs at 20%, with reduced rates of 13%, 10% and — since 1 July 2026 — 4.9% on a defined list of basic foodstuffs, plus a EUR 55,000 small-business exemption.
- A church contribution is owed only by registered members of recognised churches.
No wealth tax — what that means in practice
Austria does not tax the ownership of wealth. There is no annual levy on worldwide assets, no net-wealth declaration to file, and no valuation exercise over portfolios, art or private companies at year-end. For families arriving from jurisdictions that tax net wealth — Switzerland, Spain, Norway — this is one of the quiet structural advantages of the Austrian tax system, alongside the flat 27.5% on most capital income (25% on bank deposit interest).
A reintroduction of wealth and inheritance taxes surfaces in Austrian political debate at intervals, and has done for years; none of these discussions has produced legislation. The position stated on this page is the law as it stands, not a guarantee about the future.
The wealth-type taxes that do exist are narrow. The first is the municipal land tax (Grundsteuer) on Austrian real estate. Its base is the property's assessed tax value (Einheitswert), which rests on historic valuations and sits far below today's market prices, and its rate — set by the municipality — is at most 1% of that base. The result is an annual amount that owners of even substantial homes tend to regard as a rounding item; for an ordinary Vienna apartment it is typically in the low hundreds of euros a year (indicative). The second is the land value tax (Bodenwertabgabe), which reaches only undeveloped land suitable for building: 1% a year on the part of the assessed value above EUR 14,600, collected by the tax office rather than the municipality, and repayable for the last five years where the owner goes on to build a single-family house on the plot.
| Tax | Position in Austria | What applies instead |
|---|---|---|
| General wealth tax | Not levied | Only the municipal land tax on Austrian real estate, at most 1% of the low assessed value, and the land value tax on undeveloped building land |
| Inheritance tax | Not levied — abolished August 2008 | Real estate transfer tax on property passing at death; see inheritance and gift tax |
| Gift tax | Not levied — abolished August 2008 | A gift notification duty above thresholds, and real estate transfer tax on gifted property |
| Estate duty on foundations | No inheritance tax | Foundation transfer tax on endowments: 3.5% to Austrian private foundations, 25% to non-transparent trusts |
| Annual property tax at market value | Not levied | — |
Stamp duties on legal documents
Austria's stamp duties (Rechtsgeschäftsgebühren) are a survival from an older fiscal world: they tax not a transaction as such but the signed document evidencing it. Duty is triggered when a document recording a listed transaction is signed and a sufficient Austrian nexus exists — typically signature in Austria, or signature abroad combined with certain further connections. Rates range from 0.8% to 2% of the underlying value, depending on the transaction.
| Document | Rate (as of 2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Residential leases | Exempt | Renting a home triggers no stamp duty |
| Other leases (offices, commercial) | 1% | Base: three times the annual rent for indefinite terms; annual rent times the number of years, capped at eighteen, for fixed terms |
| Surety agreements | 1% | Of the secured amount; exempt where the surety secures a loan or credit agreement, or a stamp-duty-free residential lease |
| Assignment agreements | 0.8% | Of the consideration |
| Mortgage deeds | 1% | Exempt where the mortgage secures a loan; a separate 1.2% land-register fee applies on registration |
| Out-of-court settlements | 2% | 1% where the settlement disposes of a dispute already pending before a court; settlements concluded in court proceedings fall outside this duty and attract court fees instead |
Because the duty attaches to the document rather than the deal, it can in many cases be lawfully avoided by structuring how and where an agreement is documented — a point to raise with advisers before anything is signed, since the duty, once triggered, is not undone by tearing the paper up. Marriage contracts can attract the duty, though only in the narrow sense the statute uses: 1% falls on an Ehepakt to the extent it places property into a community of property during the spouses' lifetimes, while agreements on separation of property, or on how assets are to be divided if the marriage ends, carry none. The substance of such agreements is covered on the family law page, and the leases most newcomers actually sign on the renting and tenancy page.
Cars and insurance premiums
Bringing or buying a car meets two taxes. The first is the one-off registration tax (Normverbrauchsabgabe, NoVA), due when a car or motorcycle not previously registered in Austria is purchased here or imported. Its base is the purchase price or fair market value, and its rate scales with the vehicle's CO2 emissions — negligible for efficient cars, substantial for heavy high-emission ones, and zero for fully electric vehicles, which are exempt. The second is the recurring motor-related insurance tax, collected together with the compulsory liability premium and computed from engine power and emissions; since April 2025 it also reaches electric cars. The practicalities of importing a vehicle, registration and licence conversion are on the moving, customs and vehicles page.
Insurance premiums more broadly carry an insurance tax of 11% for most non-life cover, with reduced rates of 4% for many life policies and 1% for private health insurance (as of 2026). The tax is collected by insurers with the premium, so most policyholders never see it separately.
VAT: the everyday tax
Value added tax (Umsatzsteuer) is the tax a resident meets daily without filing anything. The standard rate is 20%; three reduced rates apply to defined categories, and a set of exemptions covers, among other things, financial services, health services and — subject to an option — the sale of real estate, a point that matters in new-build purchases and is explained with the property purchase process and costs.
| Rate | Applies to (examples) |
|---|---|
| 20% | The standard rate for most goods and services |
| 13% | Plants, works of art, cultural services |
| 10% | Other foodstuffs, books, passenger transport, residential rent |
| 4.9% | Twelve groups of basic foodstuffs identified by customs code, since 1 July 2026 — milk, yoghurt, butter, hen's eggs, fresh and frozen vegetables, fruit, rice, wheat flour and semolina, plain pasta, bread and table salt |
| Exempt | Financial and health services; entrepreneurs with annual turnover up to EUR 55,000 (small-business exemption) |
VAT is largely harmonised across the EU, so newcomers from other member states will find the system familiar. Anyone starting a business or consultancy after the move — even a modest one — should note the EUR 55,000 exemption threshold and the registration duties that begin above it, covered with setting up a company in Austria.
The church contribution
Austria has no church tax collected by the state. Recognised churches and religious societies instead levy a contribution on their registered members directly: for the Roman Catholic Church around 1.1% of an income-based assessment (as of 2026), with other denominations applying their own rates. The contribution is deductible for income tax as a special expense up to EUR 600 a year. It is owed only by those recorded as members — newcomers who do not register with a church pay nothing, and members can end the obligation for the future by formally leaving.
The transfers that are taxed
The absence of wealth, inheritance and gift taxes does not mean transfers of wealth escape the system entirely. Three levies stand where those taxes once stood. Gratuitous transfers of Austrian real estate bear real estate transfer tax on a banded scale of 0.5% to 3.5%. Endowments to wealth structures bear foundation transfer tax — 3.5% for Austrian private foundations, but 25% for non-transparent foreign trusts, a gap explained on the page on how Austria taxes foreign trusts and foundations. And larger gifts, though untaxed, must be notified to the tax office within three months above thresholds of EUR 50,000 a year between close relatives and EUR 15,000 over five years otherwise.
The small taxes reward the same habit as the large ones: checking before signing. Stamp duty, transfer taxes on gifts of property and the 25% trust endowment rate are all triggered by documents and transfers that could often have been structured differently — one more item for the pre-move review.
Questions on this page
How much is Austrian land tax (Grundsteuer) in practice?
Little. The tax is at most 1% of the property's assessed tax value, and those assessed values rest on historic valuations far below market prices. For an ordinary Vienna apartment the annual amount is typically in the low hundreds of euros (indicative).
Do I pay stamp duty when renting a flat in Austria?
No. Residential leases are exempt from the 1% lease stamp duty. The duty still applies to other leases, such as offices or commercial premises.
Is there a church tax in Austria?
Not a state tax. Registered members of recognised churches pay a contribution collected by the church itself — for Roman Catholics around 1.1% of an income-based assessment (as of 2026), deductible for income tax up to EUR 600 a year. Those not registered pay nothing.
Does Austria tax electric cars on registration?
No. The registration tax (NoVA) is calculated from CO2 emissions, so fully electric vehicles are exempt. Since April 2025, however, electric cars do pay the recurring motor-related insurance tax.
Is there a VAT exemption for a small side business?
Yes. Entrepreneurs whose annual Austrian turnover does not exceed EUR 55,000 are exempt from charging VAT, though they then cannot recover input VAT.
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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