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Small business exemption check

Enter your turnover for the previous year and your turnover so far, or expected, for the current year.

In short

With a seat in Austria, your business is exempt from VAT as a small business if your turnover exceeds EUR 55,000 neither in the previous year nor in the current year. If you exceed the limit by no more than 10 % (up to EUR 60,500), the exemption lasts until year end; above that it ends with the supply that takes you over EUR 60,500.

· General information, not tax advice.

Small business exemption check

Where is the seat of your economic activity?

All supplies made in the previous year that count towards the limit. If you were not yet in business, enter 0.

Supplies made so far or expected by year end that count towards the limit.

What counts towards the limit

  • Supplies of goods and services taxable in Austria, to businesses and consumers
  • Intra-EU supplies
  • The full agreed consideration, without taking out a notional VAT
  • The day you make the supply, not the day you are paid

What does not count

  • Ancillary transactions such as selling fixed assets, and the sale of the business
  • Certain exempt supplies (§ 6(1)(8)(d) and (j), (9)(b) and (d), (10) to (15), (17) to (26) and (28) UStG), for example medical treatment by a doctor
  • Services you receive and owe the tax on (reverse charge), and intra-EU acquisitions

Limits

  • Small business limit: EUR 55,000
  • Tolerance limit: EUR 60,500
  • EU-wide annual turnover (seat in another EU state only): EUR 100,000

Good to know

  • If you have chosen a financial year that differs from the calendar year as your VAT assessment period (§ 20(1) UStG), the exemption does not apply.
  • If your annual turnover is above EUR 55,000 but within the tolerance, the exemption stays, but you are no longer exempt from filing the annual VAT return.
  • For services you receive where the tax liability passes to you (reverse charge), you owe the tax even as a small business.
  • If you have waived the exemption (form U12), you are bound for at least five calendar years.

The rule in detail

The small business scheme (§ 6(1)(27) UStG) applies to businesses whose seat of economic activity is in Austria or in another EU member state. Your turnover must not have exceeded EUR 55,000 in the previous calendar year and must not yet exceed it in the current one. With a seat in Austria the exemption applies automatically, without an application.

The limit includes all supplies of goods and services taxable in Austria, to businesses and to consumers, including intra-EU supplies. What counts is when you make the supply, not when you are paid. Since 2025 the full agreed consideration counts; no notional VAT is taken out any more.

Not counted: ancillary transactions such as selling fixed assets, the sale of the business, and certain exempt supplies, for example medical treatment by a doctor or fees for supervisory board members. Also not counted: services you receive, even if you owe the tax on them (reverse charge, intra-EU acquisitions).

If you exceed EUR 55,000 by no more than 10 %, i.e. up to EUR 60,500, all your supplies of that year stay exempt. From 1 January of the following year you can no longer use the exemption. Above EUR 60,500, the supply that takes you over the limit is already taxable, and so is every later one. Earlier supplies stay exempt.

While the exemption applies, you do not charge VAT and, as a rule, do not file a UVA. You do not have to file an annual VAT return if your turnover for the year does not exceed EUR 55,000 and you owe no tax. In return you cannot deduct input VAT. If you still show VAT on an invoice, you owe that amount until you correct the invoice.

You can waive the exemption: with a seat in Austria in writing to the tax office (form U12), with a seat in another EU member state through your home state's portal. The waiver takes effect from the start of a calendar year and binds you for at least five calendar years.

With a seat in another EU member state, you apply for the Austrian exemption through the procedure of your home state. It applies only once that state issues or confirms for Austria a small business identification number with the suffix "-EX". In addition, your EU-wide annual turnover must not exceed EUR 100,000 in the previous or the current year; there is no tolerance for this. Businesses established outside the EU cannot use the scheme.

In Saldek

In Saldek you issue small business invoices with the tax code KU, that is, without VAT.

Frequently asked questions

Does the gross or the net amount count?

The full agreed consideration counts. As a small business you do not charge VAT, so that is the full invoice amount. Since 2025 you no longer take out a notional VAT.

What happens if I exceed the limit during the year?

Up to EUR 60,500 the whole year stays exempt and you become taxable from the next year. Above EUR 60,500 the supply that takes you over this limit is already taxable; from then on you invoice with VAT.

Does the invoice date or the payment date count?

What counts is when you make the supply. When the money arrives does not matter for the limit.

Does the calculator also work for Germany?

No, it only covers the Austrian rules. Germany has its own limits under § 19 UStG: EUR 25,000 in the previous year and EUR 100,000 in the current year, and only EUR 25,000 in the year you start.

Legal basis: § 6(1)(27) and (3), § 20(1), § 21(6) UStG 1994; UStR 2000 paras 994–1000. The result is guidance based on your input and does not replace tax advice. As of September 2026.

Sources