The Arbeitnehmerveranlagung: getting wage tax back in Austria
For employees in Austria: how the annual tax assessment recalculates your wage tax, when the tax office pays out on its own and when filing is compulsory.
The Arbeitnehmerveranlagung, often called Steuerausgleich, is Austria's annual tax assessment for employees: the tax office recalculates a year's wage tax as if you had earned evenly, and adds what your employer did not know. You file it on form L1 or online in FinanzOnline, the tax portal, and you have 5 years to do so, so 2026 can be filed until the end of 2031. It pays off mainly if you started or changed jobs during the year, had work expenses above the €132 flat allowance, missed the child credit, sole earner credit or commuter allowance in payroll, or earned little: low earners get back 55 % of their social insurance, up to €496, or €750 with the commuter allowance, plus a bonus of up to €804. Someone who starts in July on €3,000 gross gets about €2,788 back. If you file nothing and only had employment income, the tax office pays refunds of €5 or more automatically. Filing is mandatory above €14,769 of income in specific cases, for example two jobs at the same time.
What extra work expenses bring back
Approximate refund
€140
| above the flat amount of | €132 |
| Marginal rate | 30 % |
Approximation: amount above the flat allowance × marginal rate.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
Why too much wage tax is withheld
Payroll works out each month as if you would earn the same all year (oesterreich.gv.at). If you arrive in Austria and start in July, you pay wage tax from July to December like someone on a full annual salary. The assessment uses your actual income for the year, deducts the full annual credits and refunds the difference. Your employer also knows nothing about many of your costs: professional books, courses, work equipment, childcare or medical expenses.
Three typical cases in figures
| Case | Wage tax withheld | Tax per assessment | SI refund | Refund total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start in July, €3,000 gross | €1,702.92 | €0.00 | €1,084.72 | €2,787.64 |
| Part-time €1,350 gross, full year | €0.00 | €0.00 | €1,284.09 | €1,284.09 |
| €3,200 gross, €900 work expenses | €3,995.76 | €3,765.34 | €0.00 | €230.42 |
In the first case, six months of income come to €14,615, below €19,761. That unlocks the full supplement to the transport credit, the tax turns negative, and on top of the wage tax you paid you receive a social insurance refund. In the second case no wage tax was ever withheld; the money comes from the refund alone, capped at the negative tax. In the third, the €768 above the flat allowance return your marginal rate.
Kindermehrbetrag for sole earners and single parents
Kindermehrbetrag per year
€582
| Scale tax before credits | €118 |
| Threshold | €700 |
| Paid out via | tax assessment |
What you can claim
According to the Finance Ministry, form L1 and its supplements cover, among other things:
- Work expenses (Werbungskosten) above €132: training, professional literature, work equipment, union dues not already deducted by your employer.
- Commuter allowance and commuter euro, if payroll did not already apply them (commuter calculator).
- Sole earner and single parent credit; the ministry says to claim it here even if your employer already applied it.
- Child credit and maintenance credit on supplement L1k, plus the Kindermehrbetrag and the large-family supplement.
- Special expenses not reported automatically; donations and church contributions are reported by the organisations.
- Extraordinary burdens on supplement L1ab, for instance due to a disability.
Do not attach receipts, but keep them for seven years. Your employer sends the annual L16 payslip directly.
Negative tax: the social insurance refund
If your credits exceed the tax on the scale, part of your social insurance comes back. Under section 33(8) of the Income Tax Act it is 55 % of contributions, up to €496; with a commuter allowance up to €750. If you qualify for the transport credit supplement (income up to €19,761, phased out by €30,259), the cap rises by up to €804, the so-called SV-Bonus. The refund never exceeds the negative tax and only comes through the assessment, never through payroll.
The automatic assessment
With the automatic assessment (antragslose Arbeitnehmerveranlagung), fewer refunds go unclaimed. The tax office acts without a return if none arrived by 30 June of the following year, you had employment income only, and a refund results. If it expects you to claim expenses, it waits; by the end of the second following year it assesses anyway when the refund is at least €5. First-timers get a letter in the second half of the year listing the bank details on file.
The automatic version only knows what has been reported. Work expenses, the sole earner credit or the child credit are missing. You can still file your own return within the five years, and the automatic notice is then cancelled.
When filing is mandatory
A return is compulsory if your income exceeds €14,769 and one of the listed reasons applies. The most common, according to the ministry:
- two or more simultaneous employments that were not taxed together, such as two part-time jobs;
- a sole earner or single parent credit, higher transport credit, child credit or commuter allowance was applied without the conditions being met;
- other income, such as rent or freelance work, above €730 a year, in which case you file the income tax return E1;
- an exemption notice was applied in payroll, or you received payments from the insolvency fund.
The deadline is 30 April, or 30 June when filed through FinanzOnline, of the following year. Two simultaneous jobs often lead to a back payment, since each employer only taxed its own salary; the tax office then usually sets advance payments.