How vat / sales tax works in Austria
Austrian VAT (Umsatzsteuer) defaults to 20%, with traders charging output tax, deducting input tax, and filing advance returns plus an annual return.
A 13% band covers hospitality, culture, and domestic passenger transport, while 10% covers food, books, medicines, local transport, and hotel stays.
Small businesses below the turnover ceiling can use the exempt track without charging VAT, and EU distance sellers route through OSS past the union-wide threshold.
Tax rates at a glance
- Standard VAT
- 20%
- Reduced VAT
- 13% / 10%
- Hotel stays
- 10%
- Intra-EU B2B
- 0%
- Exports
- 0%
- Small-business ceiling
- Turnover test
Who benefits most
These profiles tend to benefit most when the rules match their real residence, payroll and business setup.
E-commerce sellersFreelancersExpatsFoundersHospitality operators
Watch out for
- The 13% versus 10% boundary splits hospitality and food contexts finely, so restaurant, catering, and hotel extras need line-by-line mapping.
- Exempt-track traders lose input recovery, which penalises capital-intensive starters that choose exemption for simplicity.
- Cross-border B2B services reverse-charge while B2C digital supplies tax locally or through OSS, and the wrong assumption creates double or missing VAT.
- Advance-return frequency follows prior-year liability, so fast-growing businesses cross into monthly filing mid-year without notice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VAT rate in Austria?
Austria applies 20% standard VAT in 2026, with 13% for hospitality, culture, and transport and 10% for food, books, medicines, and hotel stays.
Do small Austrian businesses charge VAT?
Not on the exempt track below the turnover ceiling, though they forfeit input VAT recovery. Standard traders register and file advance returns from the first taxable supply.
How does Austria handle EU distance sales?
B2C distance sales past the EU-wide threshold tax in the destination country, normally reported through the OSS scheme rather than per-country registration.