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Austrian Tax FAQs
Tax is probably the last thing on your mind when you're skiing in the Alps or enjoying an opera in Vienna so at taxback.com we make it as stress-free as possible to get your Austrian tax back fast.
If you've worked in Austria, you'll have had 10-15% income tax deducted from your earnings. Taxback.com can claim back part, or all of what you paid for you. Our average Austrian tax refund is €650.
Not only do we guarantee to get you the maximum legal refund possible, but we also make sure your tax return meets all the legal requirements of the Austrian tax authorities.
Get a FREE refund estimation now to see how much cash you could get back.
When can I get my tax back?
The tax year in Austria is from January 1st to December 31st and you have up to five years to claim any overpaid Austrian tax.
2003-2007 Austrian tax refunds: If you worked in Austria anytime between 2003 and 2007, we can apply to get your tax back right away so download the Austrian TaxPack to apply for yours now!
2008 Austrian tax refunds: If you're working in Austria in 2008, we can apply for your Austrian tax refund at the end of the year so make sure you hold on to all your documents. If you leave Austria, get a FREE refund estimation from us to see what you'll be able to claim back.
How much money will I get back?
Taxback.com will get you back as much overpaid Austrian tax as is legally possible. That amount depends on factors like:
- Your earnings
- How long you worked for
- How much time you spent skiing instead of working
The average refund we get for our Austrian tax clients is €630.
Get a FREE refund estimation now to see how much cash you could get back!
How long will it take to receive my Austrian tax refund? Where's my refund?
As soon as we have it, you'll have it, because we contact you immediately when we receive your refund to organise the easiest way to get it to you.
You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online account. It'll go something like this:
When we get all your documents, it takes us just one day to prepare your Austrian tax return. This involves:
- Receiving and checking the documents
- Estimating your refund
- Completing your forms
- Sending them to the tax office
Once at the tax office, your application should take about four months to process but it can take longer if they're really busy. Don't worry - our tax team will keep chasing the tax office to see how your application is progressing.
As soon as the tax office sends us your refund, we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your cash straight to you.
The total estimated time for your Austrian tax rebate is four months.
How does taxback.com work?
Here's how our easy three-step service works:
- Register online or use get a FREE refund estimation and then download the TaxPack for Austrian tax returns.
- Send us your documents and signed forms. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tracking account. If you're missing any documents we can get replacements for you.
- Chill out while we file your tax return and get you the maximum possible legal refund.
How do I know what's happening with my tax return?
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You can follow the progress of your Austrian tax return on your online tracking account. It allows you to see every step of your application. As soon as we have your refund we'll contact you to sort out the best way to get your money straight to you.
Rather talk to a human being? We have staff available to talk to you in 21 taxback.com offices in 18 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.
What are the advantages of using taxback.com?
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Thousands of people choose our service because:
- We get you the maximum legal refund
- FREE refund estimations
- Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your tax return every step of the way
- All our Austrian tax returns are legal and compliant with Austria's tax laws.
- Document retrieval service
- 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
- Free phone, free fax, free post, free online tax help with our live chat!
- No language barriers - our services are available in: Bulgarian, Chinese, Chinese-Taiwanese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
- Money sent worldwide and in your local currency. You can get your refund in: Australian Dollars, Brazilian Reals, Bulgarian Lev, Canadian Dollars, Czech Koruna, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Japanese Yen, Latvian Lat, Lithuanian Litas, Moldovan Lei, New Zealand Dollars, Norwegian Krona, Pakistan Rupee, Peruvian Nuevo Soles, Philippine Peso, Polish Zloty, Romanian Lei, Russian Rubles, Singaporean Dollar, Slovak Koruna, South African Rands, South Korean Won, Swedish Krona, Thai Baht, Turkish Lira, UK Pounds, Ukrainian Hryvna, US Dollars.
How much will it cost?
First of all, our FREE refund estimation costs you nothing - just a few minutes to fill it out. We'll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service.
When you send us your documents and signed forms, we'll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need such as document retrieval. Then we'll let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.
For tax refunds from Austria, we charge 16.5% of the refund received, subject to a minimum fee of €50.
Why the minimum fee?
Our fee covers all the things that make filing your Austrian tax return with us so easy such as:
- Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
- Online tracking service in seven languages
- Free phone and free fax
- Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process in 18 offices worldwide
- Tax technicians
- Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds
Oops - I lost my documents/Help - I never got my documents – what do I do?
We know it's easy to lose documents in the move back home or to not even receive them in the first place. That's why we have a document retrieval service to organise replacements for you. If you're missing documents, just contact us at austria@taxback.com and we'll sort it out for you.
What is a Lohnzettel?
The Lohnzettel is the official government form that you get from your employer at the end of the tax year. It outlines your earnings and the amount of tax you paid. We don't need the Lohnzettel to file your tax return but it helps us make a more accurate estimate of your expected refund for you.
Can I do it myself?
Every tax office in the world is set up to accept applications directly from taxpayers so yes, you can file your return yourself. The reality is though once you submit it, there's no updating process and no feedback until you get a yes or a no, which is frustrating and very worrying.
Preparing your Austrian tax return will involve getting all the tax forms and trying to put all the information together properly – and it's not as easy as it looks.
The tax system in Austria is very complex and filing their own tax return is a challenge that many Austrian citizens don't even attempt themselves.
At the end of the day ask yourself -
Would I wire my own house?
The reality is no, I wouldn't. I'd use an electrician.
It's a technical professional piece of work, so I'd get a technical professional to do the job properly. I don't want to risk my house blowing up!Our taxback.com customers rely on us as technical professionals to file their Austrian returns and get their tax back. Our customers tell us they knew trying to file it themselves would lead to stress and a possible loss of money in refunds. They'd rather focus on their university courses, their day-job or, more importantly, on their skiing.
Filing your return yourself won't make your house explode, but it can result in lots of stress and leave you out of pocket if you miss out on refunds you're owed.
It's easier for you to let us put our 11 years of experience filing tax returns to good use by doing all the work for you. It makes sense to use an expert.
Get a FREE refund estimation now to see how much cash you could get back!
I worked abroad in other countries - can you help me claim refunds from these countries?
- Absolutely! We've been organising tax refunds for people working all over the world since 1996. If you've worked in any of the following countries click on them to apply for your refund!
Our research team is constantly developing tax return services for new markets so if you've worked in a country not mentioned above, email our team on newtaxes@taxback.com to see what we can do for you. What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?
- We file your Austrian tax return in order to organise your tax refund.
A tax return is the annual submission of tax forms documenting your earnings, taxes paid, deductable expenses and allowances that you send to the tax office for review. They review it according to the information submitted by your employer and the current laws that apply to your case.
If you get a tax refund, this means the tax office review found you had overpaid tax in Austria and were due some back.
Our estimate of your refund is based on our prediction of what the tax office will decide when they review your tax return - providing they have the same information as us.
Get a FREE refund estimation now to see how much cash you could get back! Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?
- No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.
Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of tax returns every week since 1996. Naturally, the Austrian tax authority has the final decision in your tax refund based on their systems and tax codes.
When our tax technicians prepare and file your return, they check for any allowances or benefits you could get and ensure we apply for the maximum rebate possible.
