Austria

On 3 May 2024, the Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) published a draft of the Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2024 (´Abgabenänderungsgesetz 2024´). This draft includes multiple amendments, e.g.:

• Changes in the tax group regime, e.g. stricter loss utilisation rules for a new group parent, electronic filing of the application for group taxation, introduction of an option with regard to offsetting a foreign group member´s losses.
• Extension of low-taxation tests for controlled foreign company (CFC) and local anti-hybrid purposes in accordance with Pillar II.
• Extension of the Country-by-Country Report (CbCR) safe harbour rule and changes to the simplified calculation for hybrid structures.
• Limitations regarding the extensions of deadlines for the submission of tax returns.

On 21 July 2023, the Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2023 (`Abgabenänderungsgesetz 2023´) was published in the Federal Law Gazette, which includes multiple reforms, e.g.:

• Implementation of the European Union (EU) Mobility Directive in the Austrian Reorganisation Tax Act.
• Attribution of dividends from quoted shares.
• Digital withholding tax (WHT) exemption declaration.
• Clarifications on the taxation of cryptocurrencies.
• Significant changes to value-added tax (VAT) with regard to the VAT liability invoiced incorrectly and European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law concerning confiscated goods.
• Significant changes to the Austrian Federal Tax Code (‘Bundesabgabenordnung’), especially automated quota system, electronic submission of advance rulings, and video-supported electronic procedure to establish identity.
• New rules in financial criminal law, especially extension of statutory limitation period for particularly serious financial offences, increase of amount for court jurisdiction.

The Minimum Tax Act (‘Mindestbesteuerungsgesetz’) was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 30 December 2023. The new regulations to ensure a global minimum tax (Pillar II) entered into force as of 1 January 2024. In scope are large company groups reaching a minimum of 750 million euros (EUR) in net sales in at least two of the last four financial years. The global minimum tax rate of 15% is ensured via the income inclusion rule (IIR) and, as of 2025, the undertaxed profits rule (UTPR). See Minimum tax (Pillar II) in the Taxes on corporate income section for more information.