Reverse charge in Austria: § 19 UStG and the ZM

In short

Under reverse charge, the business customer rather than the supplier owes the VAT. In Austria this is governed by § 19 of the VAT Act 1994 (UStG). Under § 11(1a) UStG the invoice then shows no VAT but a note that the tax liability passes to the recipient.

As of 3 October 2026 · General information, not tax advice.

A typical case is a service from abroad: a business without a seat or permanent establishment in Austria supplies a service or a work delivery to an Austrian business (§ 19(1) second sentence UStG). The customer reports the VAT in the VAT return (Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung, UVA) under field 057 and, if entitled to deduct input VAT, deducts it again under field 066.

It also works the other way round: when an Austrian business supplies a service to a business in another EU country, the general rule in § 3a(6) UStG places the supply where the customer is, and the customer owes the VAT there. The invoice carries no Austrian VAT but both VAT ID numbers and the reverse-charge note, and must be issued by the 15th of the following month. Some services, such as those connected with land, follow their own place-of-supply rules.

Domestically, reverse charge applies for example to construction services (§ 19(1a) UStG) when the customer has itself been commissioned to carry out the construction work, for instance as main contractor, or usually provides construction services itself. Construction services are those for building, repairing, maintaining, cleaning, altering or demolishing buildings, including the provision of workers for them. The subcontractor enters the turnover in the UVA under field 000 and again under field 021; the customer reports the VAT under 048 and the input VAT under 082.

Further domestic cases include scrap and waste, greenhouse gas emission allowances and mobile phones, integrated circuits, laptops, tablets and game consoles when the invoiced consideration is at least EUR 5,000 (§ 19(1d) and (1e) UStG and the VAT Fraud Prevention Regulation, UStBBKV).

Intra-EU supplies of goods, and services for which the customer in another EU country owes the VAT under Article 196 of the VAT Directive, go into the EC Sales List (Zusammenfassende Meldung, ZM). It is filed electronically via FinanzOnline by the end of the month after the reporting period. The reporting period is the calendar month, or the calendar quarter for quarterly UVA filers — so the ZM is due earlier than the UVA.

In Saldek

In Saldek you pick the matching reverse-charge tax code when booking; the amounts flow into the prepared UVA fields. You file the ZM yourself or through your tax adviser in FinanzOnline.

Questions about this term

What must a reverse-charge invoice show?

Besides the usual invoice details: the net amount without VAT, a note that the tax liability passes to the recipient, and the VAT ID numbers of both parties (§ 11(1) and (1a) UStG). The customer can deduct the VAT owed as input VAT if entitled to do so.

What must a reverse-charge invoice show in Germany?

If the customer owes the tax under § 13b UStG, the invoice must state „Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers“ (reverse charge) and must not show VAT separately (§ 14a(5) UStG). The other mandatory details under § 14(4) UStG still apply.

When is the EC Sales List (ZM) due?

By the end of the month after the reporting period: for March by 30 April, for the third quarter by 31 October. Services are reported for the period in which they were performed, even if the invoice comes later.

What happens if the ZM is late?

The tax office can charge a late-filing surcharge of up to 1 % of the amounts to be reported, capped at EUR 2,200, and enforce filing with a penalty of up to EUR 5,000. Intra-EU supplies of goods are also only VAT-exempt if they are reported in time in the ZM — unless the business can duly justify the omission to the tax office.

Does a service to a business in another EU country go into the UVA?

No, if under the general rule the place of supply is where the customer is: the turnover is not taxable in Austria and goes neither into field 000 nor into field 021. It appears only in the ZM.

Reverse charge (Übergang der Steuerschuld)