Form L16 a.k.a. Lohnzettel

Throughout the work in Austria the employer is obligated to issue the employee with a L16 form, called the Lohnzettel. What is it for and what does it contain?

L16 form (Lohnzettel)

The Lohnzettel is the Austrian equivalent of the Czech certificate of taxable income from dependent activities. It is a document used to fill in the tax return. It contains the amount of income, contributions and tax deposits for the previous tax period.

Apart from the employee's personal data (name, birth number and address) the form consists of three parts:

• general,
• tax,
• social.

The general part contains:

• the number of the Austrian tax office,
• the social status of the employee,
• the employment relationship (temporary or permanent),
• entitlement to child benefits,
• increased benefits for pension recipients,
• what municipality you belong to,
• nationality,
• employer details.

The tax part contains:

• all of your income (including overtime, bonuses, surcharges, vacation pay),
• overtime payments,
• compensation for work during national holidays and weekends that are not taxable,
• other income before deduction of ⅙ of your year's pay,
• social security contributions,
• the non-taxable amount for employees working in agriculture and forestry,
• other levies (work abroad, aid to developing countries, commuting expenses, unpaid voluntary contributions, non-taxable levies, taxable levies)
• income tax,
• employer contributions to pension insurance abroad,
• non-taxable amount taken into account,
• church tax,
• travel expenses to your home country,
• number of worked months.

Read also:

Returning taxes from Austria. L1I Form.

If you are working or worked in Austria and are filing a tax return you may also have to attach some additional documents. One of them is the form L1i – Erklärung zur ArbeitnehmerInnenveranlagung.

The social part contains:

• social security code,
• assigned account number of your employer,
• insurance period,
• claims for payment of exceptional amounts
• employee’s social status
• the amount of paid social security contributions,
• assessment base,
• period of social security contribution payments,
• employer address,
• municipality,
• country.

How to get the form

Lohnzettel will be issued by your employer electronically after the end of the tax year, but no later than the end of February of the following year. You are entitled to the document even if the employment relationship lasted less than 1 year.

Your employer is obliged to report your income to the Finanzamt. They must do so within the deadline:

• by the end of February of the following year - for electronic reporting,
• by the end of January of the following year - for paper reporting (only if electronic reporting is not possible).

The employer is obliged to issue Lohnzettel during the year if the employment relationship was terminated before the end of the calendar year. In that case, the form must be issued within one month of the termination of the employment contract. The only exception is termination of employment for health reasons.

Do you need help with obtaining the L16 form or any other document needed for your tax return?