Which documents are required for a tax refund from Austria?

If you are employed in Austria chances are that you are entitled to a tax refund. What documents do you need to get your money back?

1. Lohnzettel – L16 form or payslips from your employer

Lohnzettel is the Austrian version of your country’s taxable income statement. It is a document that summarises all your sources of income, tax levies and tax advances. You refer to this document when filing your tax return.

The Lohnzettel is issued by the employer after the end of the tax year which is always the end of the calendar year. Even employees from foreign companies that are sent to work in Austria get this document. It is the core for the calculation of your tax liability and for crucial determining for the amount of your tax refund. You can learn these things from the Lohnzettel:

• The length of your work relationship.
• Your social insurance number in Austria.
• Your gross income (line 210).
• The amount paid to the austrian social insurance system (line 230).
• The amount of taxes paid (line 260).
• The amount of nontaxable income – e.g. diets, dual household contributions, travel cost contributions etc.

The employer HAS TO issue the form L16 to the following people:

• Labourers.
• Employees.
• Apprentices.
• Employees with a fixed term of employment.
• Employees with limited tax liability.
• Employees sent to work abroad.
• Employees who cancelled their work contract.

The employer DOESN’T HAVE TO issue the form L16 to the following people:

• Workers who receive sickness benefits.
• Women 6 weeks after childbirth.
• Employees during military and civic duties or employees taking part in military exercises.

2. EU / EW confirmation (Bescheinigung EU / EWR) – E9 form

The confirmation of European Tax Status form for the given tax year is issued by the tax office in your country, the place being dependent on your permanent residence. You must request the form E9 with the condition being a filed tax return for the given year. You can download the E9 form on our website.

In this document your country’s tax office will confirm your income in your home country from your tax return. Besides the income the tax base is also included in this form. The austrian income is not included in this form.

Thanks to this confirmation you will have a so called “formal unlimited tax liability” in the entirety of Austria. That means that you will be considered a tax resident in Austria and you will be able to reap the benefits of their tax system. The key benefit is the tax allowance of up to 11 000 €.

We can help you gain your EWR form from your employer.

3. Austrian tax return

Your Austrian tax return can be filed both electronically and in paper form. Via this tax return you can apply for the tax allowance minimum of up to 11 000 €. You can also claim tax residency based on which you can claim various tax benefits such as child benefits.

You can fill the online form in a similar way as our czech form:

• Personal details.
• Amount of austrian employers.
• Work expenses in Austria.
• How the tax refund will be issued.
  I want to file a tax return