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# Austria payroll: wage tax and employee and employer social insurance (2026)

This skill covers what an employer in Austria withholds and pays on wages each month, and what it costs on top of gross pay. It links to the other Austria skills and does not repeat them: `at-income-tax` (the tariff, the credits, Werbungskosten, the Pendlerpauschale amounts and the employee's own return), `at-svs-contributions` (social insurance of the self-employed), `at-cross-border` (residence, non-residents, the A1 certificate) and `at-corporate-income-tax`.

All figures are for the 2026 calendar year. Statute text was read on RIS (the federal legal information system) on 23 October 2026. Social insurance figures come from the ÖGK information sheet for employers (as at 1 January 2026), the Dachverband table of 2026 contribution values (version of 19 May 2026) and the ÖGK Arbeitsbehelf 2026.

## Who this applies to

- **Employers with an Austrian permanent establishment.** Where the employer has a Betriebsstätte in Austria, income tax on wages is collected by withholding: wage tax, Lohnsteuer (EStG § 47(1)). The employer is liable for withholding and paying it over (EStG § 82).
- **Foreign employers with no Austrian establishment.** They may run Austrian payroll voluntarily, and then carry all the employer's duties (EStG § 47(1) lit. b). If they do not, they must send the Finanzamt a wage certificate (Lohnbescheinigung, EStG § 84a) for employees with unlimited tax liability whose centre of activity is in Austria for more than six months of the year (EStG § 47(1) lit. c). The employee then declares the wages in their own return.
- **Employees (Dienstnehmer) under the ASVG.** Anyone in an employment relationship, plus free service contractors (freie Dienstnehmer), is insured with the ÖGK (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse). Pay above EUR 551.10 a month means full insurance. At or below it, the person is marginally employed (geringfügig) and only accident insurance is paid by the employer.
- **Registration.** The employer registers each employee with the ÖGK before work starts, and deregisters them within seven days after insurance ends (ASVG § 33(1)).
- **Not covered here.** Civil servants (B-KUVG), miners (knappschaftliche Pensionsversicherung), apprentices' reduced rates, construction workers' BUAK contributions and their special rules under EStG § 67(5), widow's pension settlements under § 67(4), pension buy-outs under § 67(8)(e), back pay for earlier calendar years under § 67(8)(c), and back pay in insolvency under § 67(8)(g). Refer them. Supplements under EStG § 68 and termination payments under § 67(3), (6) and (8)(a), (b), (d) and (f) are covered below.

## Rates, bands and thresholds

| Item | Rate or amount | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wage tax: tariff applied to annualised pay, bands 0% to EUR 13,539, 20% to 21,992, 30% to 36,458, 40% to 70,365, 48% to 104,859, 50% to 1,000,000, 55% above | as listed | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=33 |
| Verkehrsabsetzbetrag (every employee), applied in payroll | EUR 496 a year | 2026 | same |
| Verkehrsabsetzbetrag with a Pendlerpauschale, income up to EUR 15,069 | EUR 853 a year | 2026 | same |
| Pendlereuro (with a Pendlerpauschale) | EUR 6 a year per km one way | 2026 | same |
| Werbungskostenpauschale deducted in payroll | EUR 132 a year | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=16 |
| 13th and 14th salary (sonstige Bezüge within the Jahressechstel): first EUR 620 | 0% | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=67 |
| Next EUR 24,380 / next EUR 25,000 / next EUR 33,333 | 6% / 27% / 35.75% | 2026 | same |
| Freigrenze: fixed rates not used if the Jahressechstel is at most | EUR 2,615 (EUR 2,675 for 2027) | 2026 | same |
| Social insurance, employee share, salaried and wage-earning staff outside Vienna | 18.07% (health 3.87, pension 10.25, unemployment 2.95, AK levy 0.50, WBF 0.50) | 2026 | https://www.sozialversicherung.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.806858 |
| Social insurance, employer share, outside Vienna | 20.98% (health 3.78, accident 1.10, pension 12.55, unemployment 2.95, IESG 0.10, WBF 0.50) | 2026 | same |
| Wohnbauförderungsbeitrag (WBF) in Vienna | 1.5% (0.75% each side), so 18.32% employee and 21.23% employer | from 1 January 2026 | same |
| Employee share on special payments (no AK levy, no WBF) | 17.07% | 2026 | https://www.gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.802672&version=1775628844 |
| Employer share on special payments (no WBF) | 20.48% | 2026 | same |
| Employee unemployment share for low pay: base up to EUR 2,225 / to 2,427 / to 2,630 / above | 0% / 1% / 2% / 2.95% | 2026 | https://www.sozialversicherung.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.806858 |
| Höchstbeitragsgrundlage (maximum contribution base), current pay | EUR 6,930 a month (EUR 231 a day) | 2026 | https://www.gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.784766&version=1752580359 |
| Höchstbeitragsgrundlage, special payments | EUR 13,860 a year | 2026 | same |
| Geringfügigkeitsgrenze (marginal-employment limit) | EUR 551.10 a month (not indexed for 2026) | 2026 | same |
| Employer accident insurance for marginal employees | 1.1% | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008147&Paragraf=53a |
| Dienstgeberabgabe (federal) on marginal employees, if their pay in the month totals more than EUR 826.65 | 19.4% | 2026 | https://www.sozialversicherung.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.806858 (rate) and https://www.gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.784766&version=1752580359 (EUR 826.65) |
| Mitarbeitervorsorge (MV, also BV), employer, no cap and no floor | 1.53% of pay including special payments | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=20002088&Paragraf=6 |
| Dienstgeberbeitrag (DB) to the family fund | 3.7% (2.7% from 2028) | 2025 to 2027 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008220&Paragraf=41 |
| Zuschlag zum DB (DZ), WKO members only: Burgenland 0.40, Kärnten 0.37, Niederösterreich 0.33, Oberösterreich 0.31, Salzburg 0.35, Steiermark 0.34, Tirol 0.39, Vorarlberg 0.33, Wien 0.36 | % of the DB base | 2026 | https://www.wko.at/lohnverrechnung/zuschlag-dienstgeberbeitrag |
| Kommunalsteuer to the municipality | 3% | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004841 |
| DB, DZ and Kommunalsteuer small-payroll relief: if the month's total pay is at most EUR 1,460, deduct | EUR 1,095 from the base | 2026 | same, and FLAG § 41(4) |
| Late-payment interest on social insurance (Verzugszinsen) | 5.53% | from 1 January 2026 | https://www.gesundheitskasse.at/cdscontent/load?contentid=10008.802672&version=1775628844 |
| Vienna Dienstgeberabgabe (U-Bahn levy), per employee working in Vienna, for each started week; employees over 55 exempt | EUR 2 | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=LrW&Gesetzesnummer=20000133 |
| Tax-free total of dirt, hardship and danger allowances (SEG-Zulagen), Sunday, holiday and night supplements, overtime supplements linked to that work, and holiday-work pay under ARG § 9(5) | EUR 400 a month (EUR 600 if normal hours fall mostly between 19:00 and 07:00) | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=68 |
| Tax-free overtime supplements on top of that (EStG § 68(2) as modified for 2026) | first 15 overtime hours a month, at most 50% of the basic hourly pay, at most EUR 170 a month | pay periods in 2026 (the permanent rule is 10 hours and EUR 120) | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=124b (Z 440 lit. c) |
| Same overtime relief, for comparison | first 18 hours, EUR 200 a month | pay periods 2024 and 2025 only | same (Z 440 lit. b) |
| Statutory or collective-agreement severance (Abfertigung alt) | 6%, or the tariff tax on one month's current pay times the number of months if that is lower | 2026 | https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/NormDokument.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10004570&Paragraf=67 |
| Capital paid out by a BV-Kasse (Abfertigung neu) | 6%; nil if moved to a pension insurer, a pension fund or a Pensionskasse | 2026 | same |
| Voluntary severance and other payments on leaving (§ 67(6)): slice at 6% | one quarter of the last 12 months' current pay, at most 9 times EUR 6,930 (EUR 62,370) | 2026 | same |
| Kündigungsentschädigung, and court or out-of-court settlements (§ 67(8)(a) and (b)): tax-free part | one fifth after social insurance, at most one fifth of EUR 62,370 (EUR 12,474) | 2026 | same |
| Settlement on leaving for periods covered by a BV-Kasse | up to EUR 7,500 at 6% | 2026 | same |
| Social-plan payments on leaving (§ 67(8)(f)) | up to EUR 22,000 at half the rate that results when the payment is spread evenly over the months of the year | 2026 | same |

The BMF deadlines page gives the same DB rate (3.7%) and DZ range (0.31% to 0.4%) ([BMF, Fristen und Fälligkeiten](https://www.bmf.gv.at/themen/steuern/fristen-verfahren/fristen-faelligkeiten.html)).

## The taxable base

**Monthly wage tax on current pay (EStG §§ 62 and 66).**

1. Start from gross current pay for the month.
2. Deduct the employee's social insurance on that pay, including the AK levy and WBF (§ 62 Z 3 to 5), and any Pendlerpauschale or allowance the employee has claimed with the employer (§ 62).
3. Multiply by the annualisation factor. For a monthly payroll it is 12 (§ 66(3)).
4. Deduct the yearly amounts, mainly the Werbungskostenpauschale of EUR 132 (§ 66(2), § 62 Z 1, § 16(3)). Do not deduct a Sonderausgaben lump sum: the EUR 60 in § 18(2) still stands in § 62 Z 2, but it applied for the last time to pay periods ending before 1 January 2021 (§ 124b Z 285 and 286; LStR 2002 Rz 596 and 813a).
5. Apply the § 33 tariff to that annual figure.
6. Deduct the credits payroll may give: the Verkehrsabsetzbetrag and Pendlereuro, the Familienbonus Plus and the sole-earner or single-parent credit if the employee has claimed them with the employer (§ 66(1)). The Zuschlag zum Verkehrsabsetzbetrag is given only on assessment. Amounts and conditions: `at-income-tax`.
7. Divide by 12 and round to the cent. That is the month's wage tax.

**13th and 14th salaries (sonstige Bezüge, EStG § 67).** The holiday bonus (Urlaubszuschuss) and Christmas bonus (Weihnachtsremuneration) come from the collective agreement or the contract, which sets their amount and timing.

- They are taxed apart from current pay, at fixed rates, as long as they stay within the Jahressechstel: one sixth of the current pay already received in the year, converted to a full year, counting the current pay paid with the bonus (§ 67(2)). With 14 equal payments, both bonuses together fill the sixth exactly.
- First deduct the employee's social insurance on the bonus (§ 67(12)). Then the first EUR 620 of the year's bonuses is tax-free, the next EUR 24,380 is taxed at 6%, and the higher slices at 27% and 35.75% (§ 67(1)). The EUR 620 is used once a year, normally on the first bonus.
- Bonuses above the sixth, or above EUR 83,333 after social insurance, are taxed with the current pay of the month at the tariff (§ 67(2) and (10)).
- If the Jahressechstel is EUR 2,615 or less, the fixed rates do not apply (§ 67(1)). On the employee's assessment, the tax on bonuses within the sixth is recalculated under § 67(1) and (2) if those bonuses exceed EUR 2,615 (§ 41(4)).

**Social insurance base (ASVG §§ 44, 45, 49, 54).** Contributions are due on all pay (Entgelt) up to the maximum base: EUR 6,930 a month for current pay and EUR 13,860 a year for special payments. Special payments carry no AK levy and no WBF. The low-pay reduction of the employee's unemployment share is tested separately on the month's current pay and on the special payment, never on the two added together (Arbeitsbehelf 2026, 3.5.2). The MV contribution of 1.53% has no cap and no floor.

**Base for DB, DZ and Kommunalsteuer.** All wages paid in the month, current and special payments alike, with no maximum base (FLAG § 41(3); KommStG § 5). Pensions, the termination payments named in § 67(3) and (6), wages of disabled employees protected by law, and wages of employees from the month after they turn 60 are left out of the DB base (FLAG § 41(4)). Kommunalsteuer is owed to the municipality where the establishment is (KommStG § 5(1)). DZ is owed only by members of the Wirtschaftskammer (WKO).

**Supplements for overtime, night, Sunday and holiday work, and SEG-Zulagen (EStG § 68).**

1. Split each overtime hour into its basic pay (Grundlohn) and the supplement (Zuschlag). The basic pay is always taxed at the tariff with current pay. Only the supplement can be tax-free (§ 68(1) to (3)).
2. Find the basic hourly pay. The BMF divides monthly pay by 173 for a 40-hour week, unless the collective agreement or works agreement sets another divisor (LStR 2002 Rz 1148).
3. An overtime hour is an hour beyond the normal working time set by law, collective agreement or works agreement, and only time beyond 40 hours a week, or beyond the daily hours that a 40-hour week spread over the working days gives, counts (§ 68(4)). The BMF also treats supplements for Mehrarbeit between a shorter collective-agreement week and 40 hours as overtime supplements. Part-time extra hours paid with the 25% Mehrarbeit supplement under AZG § 19d(3a) are not overtime and stay taxable (LStR 2002 Rz 1146).
4. Pot 1, EUR 400 a month (§ 68(1)): SEG-Zulagen, Sunday, holiday and night supplements, overtime supplements for overtime worked on Sundays, holidays or at night, and holiday-work pay under ARG § 9(5). Night work means at least 3 hours in a row between 19:00 and 07:00 that the business requires (§ 68(6)). If the employee's normal hours in the pay period fall mostly in that window, the pot is EUR 600. SEG-Zulagen qualify only if a law, collective agreement, works agreement or an in-house rule for all staff or a group of staff grants them (§ 68(5)).
5. Pot 2, the weekday overtime pot (§ 68(2) with § 124b Z 440 lit. c): for pay periods in 2026, supplements for the first 15 overtime hours in the month, at most 50% of the basic hourly pay per hour, at most EUR 170 in total. A supplement above 50% is tax-free only up to 50%. If the supplement is below 50%, only that lower amount is tax-free, and still for 15 hours at most (LStR 2002 Rz 1148, which gives the same rule for the old 10 hours). Overtime supplements that do not fit in pot 1 because pot 1 is full can use pot 2 if its hours are not used up (Rz 1147).
6. Everything above the two pots is taxed at the tariff with current pay (§ 68(3)).
7. Social insurance: overtime pay, the supplements, the hardship and danger allowances and the Sunday, holiday and night supplements are all Entgelt and bear full contributions. Only a dirt allowance (Schmutzzulage) is exempt, and only as far as it is tax-free under § 68 (ASVG § 49(3) Z 2). DB, DZ, Kommunalsteuer and MV are due on all of it: § 68 pay is not on the exempt lists (FLAG § 41(4); KommStG § 5(2); BMSVG § 6(5) with ASVG § 49). The employee's social insurance on tax-free supplements is deducted in full from current pay before the tariff (EStG § 62 Z 4, which excludes only contributions on pay taxed at a fixed rate under § 67; LStR 2002 Rz 1121).
8. Each employer gives both pots in full, even where the employee changes job in the month or has two jobs (Rz 1147).

§ 68(1) was amended twice in 2026, both times for pay periods ending after 31 December 2025. BGBl I 4/2026 (in force 19 February 2026) added holiday-work pay under ARG § 9(5) to the EUR 400 pot; BGBl I 43/2026 (in force 1 July 2026) added pay under comparable statutory rules. An employer that had not applied them had to correct (aufrollen) earlier 2026 payrolls where technically possible: by 31 May 2026 for the first (§ 124b Z 492) and by 30 September 2026 for the second (§ 124b Z 494). The same 31 May 2026 deadline applied to the 15-hour and EUR 170 rule (§ 124b Z 440 lit. c).

**Termination payments (EStG § 67(3) to (8)).** Run them in the final payroll in this order.

1. **Statutory or collective-agreement severance, old system (Abfertigung alt, § 67(3)).** It applies to employment that began before 1 January 2003 (BMSVG § 46(1)), or to the frozen old entitlement of an employee who moved to the new system for later years (BMSVG § 47(2)). The labour-law amount is a number of monthly pays. Tax is the lower of 6% of the payment, or the tariff wage tax on one month's current pay multiplied by that number of months (the Vervielfachungsmethode). No social insurance (ASVG § 49(3) Z 7), no MV, and no DB, DZ or Kommunalsteuer (FLAG § 41(4) lit. b; KommStG § 5(2) lit. b). Extra severance paid for years covered by a BV-Kasse is taxed at the tariff under § 67(10).
2. **New-system severance (Abfertigung neu, BMSVG).** The employer does not pay it: the employee claims it from the BV-Kasse (BMSVG § 14(1)). The employee cannot take it out yet, and it stays in the BV-Kasse, if they resigned, were dismissed for cause, left early without good reason, or have fewer than 36 contribution months (§ 14(2)). A cash payout is taxed at 6%. If the employee moves the money to a pension insurer, a pension investment fund, a Pensionskasse or (from 17 October 2026) a supplementary pension scheme under ASVG § 479, no wage tax arises (EStG § 67(3); BMSVG § 17(1)).
3. **Voluntary severance and other payments on leaving (§ 67(6)).** 6% applies to one quarter of the current pay of the last 12 months, capped at 9 times the monthly maximum contribution base (EUR 62,370 for 2026). For service years with no BV-Kasse claim, a further slice of 2/12 to 12/12 of the last 12 months' current pay is also taxed at 6%, depending on proven years of service (3 to 25 years), capped at 3 times EUR 6,930 per month counted; any statutory severance already paid or due reduces that further slice (§ 67(6) Z 2, 3 and 7). Anything above is taxed at the tariff as current pay of the month (§ 67(6) Z 6). Payments for waiving work in future pay periods are excluded from § 67(6). § 67(6) applies only to periods with no BV-Kasse claim (Z 7). The BMF reads this as: no § 67(6) relief at all for an employment that has been in the new system since it began after 2002, so a voluntary severance there is taxed at the tariff; where the old claim was frozen at a transfer date, both slices apply, but only service up to that date counts (LStR 2002 Rz 1087a and 1087c). Payments named in § 67(6) are left out of the DB, DZ and Kommunalsteuer base (FLAG § 41(4) lit. b; KommStG § 5(2) lit. b).
4. **Kündigungsentschädigung (damages for the pay the employee would have earned up to the end of the proper notice period, § 67(8)(b)).** Deduct the employee's social insurance on it. One fifth of the rest is tax-free, at most EUR 12,474 (one fifth of EUR 62,370). The remainder is taxed with the current pay of the month of payment at the tariff (§ 67(10)). It is Entgelt for social insurance and MV, and insurance runs on for the notice period it covers (ASVG § 11(2); BMSVG § 14(2)).
5. **Settlements (Vergleichssummen, § 67(8)(a)).** Same one-fifth rule and cap, unless part of the sum is severance under § 67(3) or (6), which keeps its 6%. A settlement paid on or after leaving for periods covered by a BV-Kasse is taxed at 6% up to EUR 7,500. Insurance runs on for the period the settlement covers, after leaving out amounts that are not Entgelt (ASVG § 11(2)).
6. **Pay for untaken holiday (Urlaubsersatzleistung, § 67(8)(d)).** Split it. The part that replaces current pay is taxed as current pay of the month of payment. The part that replaces the 13th and 14th salary is a special payment and is taxed under § 67(1) and (2). Social insurance and MV are due, and insurance runs on for the holiday period it covers, after any Kündigungsentschädigung period (ASVG § 11(2)).
7. **Social-plan payments (§ 67(8)(f)).** Paid on leaving under a social plan for a restructuring under ArbVG § 109(1) Z 1 to 6, and not already taxed at 6% under § 67(6): up to EUR 22,000 at half the rate that results when the payment is spread evenly over the months of the year.
8. **Everything else** paid on leaving, such as a bonus or commission earned during employment, follows the normal rules for current pay or special payments.

## Deadlines and filing

| What | When | To whom | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register the employee | Before work starts | ÖGK, via ELDA | ASVG § 33(1) |
| Payroll account (Lohnkonto) | From the 15th of the month after employment starts | Kept by the employer | EStG § 76(1) |
| Wage tax for the month | By the 15th of the following month | Finanzamt | EStG § 79(1) |
| DB and DZ for the month | By the 15th of the following month | Finanzamt | FLAG § 43(1) |
| Kommunalsteuer for the month | By the 15th of the following month | Municipality | KommStG § 11(2) |
| Monthly contribution report (mBGM), self-accounting employers | By the 15th of the following month (if employment starts after the 15th, by the 15th of the month after next) | ÖGK, via ELDA | Arbeitsbehelf 2026, 5.2.3 |
| Social insurance contributions | Due on the last day of the month; on time if credited within 15 days, so by the 15th of the following month, with three days' grace | ÖGK | Arbeitsbehelf 2026, 3.14 and 3.15 |
| Annual wage slip (Lohnzettel, form L 16) for each employee | By end of February of the following year, electronically via ELDA (on paper by end of January only if electronic filing is not possible) | Finanzamt or ÖGK | EStG § 84(1) |
| Annual Kommunalsteuer return | By end of March of the following year, via FinanzOnline | Municipality | KommStG § 11(4) |
| Vienna Dienstgeberabgabe | By the 15th of the following month; annual return by 31 March | City of Vienna (Magistrat) | Wiener Dienstgeberabgabegesetz § 6 |
| Employee's own assessment (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung, form L 1) | Within five years after the year ends, so for 2026 by 31 December 2031 | Finanzamt | EStG § 41(2) |

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