Businesses and other taxpayers in Austria may be subject to an external tax audit (“Außenprüfung”) by the Austrian tax authorities. The purpose of the audit is to examine factual and legal circumstances relevant to taxation.
The principal procedural framework is contained in the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code. The tax authorities may conduct an external audit of persons required to keep books or records or to make payments to be offset against tax liabilities.
What is examined during an Austrian tax audit?
A tax audit may examine circumstances relevant to the assessment and collection of taxes. According to the Austrian government’s business portal, this may include audits of businesses keeping accounts, persons using income-and-expenditure accounting, income from letting and leasing and certain VAT-related audits.
There are also more specific forms of examination. These include the so called “Gemeinsame Prüfung Lohnabgaben und Beiträge” (GPLB), which concerns payroll tax, social security contributions and municipal tax.
For international businesses, an Austrian audit may require not only the review of accounting documentation but also a clear explanation of the commercial and legal background of cross-border transactions.
The Austrian authorities generally announce an external audit before it begins. According to the Austrian government’s business portal, the audit is generally announced at least one week in advance unless doing so would frustrate the purpose of the examination.
The auditor must prepare an audit order describing the subject of the audit. Unless it is a specific audit concerning the taxpayer’s ability to pay, the order identifies the taxes and periods covered by the examination. At the beginning of the audit, the auditor must identify themselves and present the audit order.
The taxpayer also has procedural rights and obligations. These include rights such as access to files and the right to be heard, while taxpayers are simultaneously subject to disclosure, record-keeping and cooperation obligations.
This makes it important to approach an audit in a structured manner from the outset and to ensure that explanations and documents submitted to the authorities accurately reflect the business and the transactions being examined.
We advise and represent businesses and individuals in connection with tax audits in Austria.
We can review the audit order and the issues raised by the tax authorities, assess the underlying legal questions and assist in preparing the documentation relevant to the examination.
During the audit, we can communicate with the Austrian tax authorities, prepare legal submissions and advise on disputed issues. We can also assist where audit findings lead to further tax proceedings or require a legal response.
For international clients, we can additionally coordinate the Austrian proceedings with relevant matters in other jurisdictions. This can be particularly helpful where an Austrian company forms part of an international corporate structure or where the transactions under examination involve several countries.
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