Austria's close economic ties with Germany meant that the credit crunch had serious effects on the country and the economy grew by 3% in 2011. A subsidized reduced working hour scheme, enabling companies to retain employees during the economic downturn, resulted in a slower rise in unemployment compared to most other European countries and is at just over 4%.
The Federal States have declared themselves to be against a local income tax to generate more funds, but are strongly in favor of a worldwide tax on financial transactions.
The most commonly used business form is the Limited Liability Company, although a number of other structures exist, including the Sole Proprietorship, the Association, the Commercial Cooperative, and the European Joint Stock Company. Corporate income tax is imposed at a rate of 25% (and capital gains tax at the same rate). The standard rate of VAT is 20%. Austria has 83 tax treaties in place at the time of writing.
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COUNTRY:
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AUSTRIA
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Region:
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Europe
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Currency:
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Euro (EUR) (€)
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Languages:
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German
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Time Zone:
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UTC +1
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Phone Code:
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+43
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Communications:
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Good
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Formation Cost:
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5000 - 11000 USD$
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Formation Time:
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11 - 18 days
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Maintenance cost:
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1000 - 4000 USD$
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Suitable for:
- Wealth Management
- Treasury Management
- Banking, Fund Management,
- Shipping,
- Yachting,
- E-commerce,
- Property Ownership
Vehicle Types:
- Limited companies,
- sole proprietorships,
- branches,
- general partnerships
- limited partnerships and civil law partnerships
Capital primary business districts:
Vienna
Good Relationships:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Bad Relationships:
Burma, Egypt, Iran, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria
Tax Burden - Business:
Moderate
Tax Burden - Individual:
Heavy
Headline tax rates:
CIT 25%, PIT 20.44%-50%, VAT 20%
Treaty Jurisdictions:
Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam
TIEA Jurisdictions:
Andorra, Gibraltar, Jersey, Monaco, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
