For companies based outside Austria
Your company is based abroad and employs someone who works from Austria, permanently or regularly. That can create obligations for your company in Austria: wage tax, social security and, in some cases, corporate tax. We first establish which of them apply to you, then handle the registrations and the ongoing payroll.
One employee working from home in Austria does not automatically create the same set of obligations for every foreign company.
Which obligations arise in Austria depends on what your employee actually does here. These are the two constellations we see most often.
Example: a sales manager works from Austria, looks after customers here and generates revenue for your foreign company.
Example: a researcher works from their Austrian home office on a project run by a Swedish company, with no customer or market contact in Austria.
Payroll is the visible part. The question that determines how large your obligations in Austria really are sits in front of it: does your employee’s work create a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte) of your company here?
If it does, running payroll correctly is not enough. Registration and filing duties then attach to the company itself, not just to the employee.
We settle this question in the first conversation, before anything is applied for or processed. If the case is complex or delicate in corporate tax terms, we say so and bring in the right advisers instead of simplifying it away.
From the first assessment to the monthly payroll run – you do not need your own structure in Austria for any of it.
We establish what matters for payroll: what the person actually does in Austria and what follows from it.
We help you work out which Austrian registrations your company actually requires, starting with whether a permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte) arises.
We apply for the employer contribution account number with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, ÖGK).
Where required, we apply for an Austrian tax number for your company.
If the place of work is in Vienna, we set up the registration for the Vienna employer levy (Dienstgeberabgabe).
We set up the Austrian payroll and run it month after month – on time and fully digital.
We file what has to be filed with the relevant Austrian authorities and keep track of the deadlines.
Where applicable, we remit the Austrian wage tax (Lohnsteuer) on your behalf.
We advise you on the Wage and Social Dumping Act (Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz, LSD-BG) and on Austrian pay requirements.
The timings below are what we see in practice. How fast a registration goes through is up to the authorities – we would rather say that up front than after.
We go through your case: what the person does, where they work, the contract, the country your company is based in. You leave knowing which obligations apply to you and which do not.
You receive a written assessment of your case and a quote for setup and ongoing payroll. If the case needs corporate tax input, we tell you at this point.
We apply for the ÖGK employer contribution account, an Austrian tax number where required, and the Vienna employer levy registration if the place of work is in Vienna.
We set up your company and the employee in payroll, record the pay data and agree the monthly schedule with you.
From the first payroll run everything is monthly: payroll, filings and wage tax remittance where applicable. You get your documents digitally and keep the same contact person.
Even where no Austrian collective bargaining agreement (Kollektivvertrag) applies to your employee directly, it still has to be examined whether Austrian pay requirements are met.
The person must not be paid less than the applicable Austrian requirements allow. The Wage and Social Dumping Act (LSD-BG) attaches consequences to that, and those consequences fall on the employer.
Foreign employers regularly underestimate this point because their home jurisdiction has no equivalent. We advise you on it before the pay is agreed – not once an inspection is under way.
Yes. A company without a registered office in Austria can employ someone here. It does need Austrian registrations to do so: normally an employer contribution account with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), an Austrian tax number depending on the case, and – if the place of work is Vienna – a registration for the Vienna employer levy. We handle those for you.
No, not automatically. It depends on what the person actually does here. Sales work that generates business or revenue in Austria carries a considerably higher permanent establishment risk than contributing to a project run abroad. This is why we examine the question in the first conversation, before any application is filed.
Then it does not stop at payroll. Your company can face additional Austrian registration and filing duties in its own right. We tell you in the first conversation whether your case is heading that way, and bring in the appropriate advisers for corporate tax questions.
Not necessarily. Where the person merely works from their Austrian home office on a project run abroad – a researcher working for a Swedish company, for instance – the Austrian obligations can be considerably narrower. The social security side still has to be settled.
That depends on the case. The usual ones are the employer contribution account with the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), an Austrian tax number where required, and the Vienna employer levy registration if the place of work is in Vienna. Which of them apply to you follows from examining your case.
That is part of what we examine. It depends among other things on the double taxation treaty with your home country and on the work actually performed. Where the assessment shows a withholding and remittance obligation, we remit the Austrian wage tax as part of the ongoing payroll.
Not necessarily in a direct sense. It still has to be examined whether Austrian pay requirements are met: the person must not be paid less than those requirements allow. The Wage and Social Dumping Act (LSD-BG) attaches consequences for the employer. We advise you on this.
Setup and coordination we do quickly. The pacing factor is how long the authorities take over the registrations, and that is not in our hands. We tell you in the first conversation what is realistic in your case rather than promising a date we cannot hold.
No. We are your payroll provider in Austria, not your employee’s employer. The employment relationship stays with your company; we handle the Austrian registrations, payroll and filings. If you are looking for someone to employ the person on your behalf, that is a different kind of service and we will say so.
Yes. Where your company is based does not change the analysis – what matters is that the person works in Austria. We work digitally: first conversation online, documents digital, one named contact. Our office is in Vienna and we serve companies across Austria.
The first conversation and your ongoing contact can be in English or German. Correspondence from the Austrian authorities arrives in German – we deal with it and explain what it means for you. Note that our online booking form is currently in German only, so if you would rather write to us in English, email is the shortest route.
Next step
In a free first conversation we go through what your employee actually does in Austria and which obligations that creates for your company. Registrations and payroll come after that.
You can also book a slot directly. The booking form and the confirmation email are currently in German; the conversation itself is held in English or German, as you prefer.
or call +43 664 926 86 24
Nächster Schritt
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