18 January 2023
Employment Tax
Impact: High
Summary
As of 1 January 2023, there are changes in how the Austrian commuter allowance interacts with the full or partial reimbursement of the costs of a public transport ticket by an employer.
The Detail
The Tax Amendment Act 2022 (AbgÄG 2022) brought about, among other things, a change in the method of calculating the amount of the commuter allowance for cases in which the employer provides the employee with a public transport ticket free of charge or reimburses a part of the cost of a transportation ticket (weekly, monthly or annual ticket). As of 1 January 2023, the commuter allowance will be calculated differently, as outlined below.
Legal situation until 31 December 2022
If the employer bore the costs (or partial costs) of a public transport ticket (weekly, monthly or annual) for the majority of the time during the payroll period, the employee could not claim a commuter allowance or a commuter euro for the distance covered by the public transport ticket. Commuter allowance and commuter euro could only be claimed for an additional part of the route that was not covered by the public transport ticket.
Example
• An employer provided his employee living in Lower Austria with the annual ticket for the core zone of Vienna (€ 365 per year)
• home to employee’s place of work: 70 km
• home to the Vienna core zone border: 60 km
• The employee commuted for 13 days a month
Under the previous legal situation, for the distance not covered by the public transport ticket (home – Vienna core zone border, 60 km), the employee could claim the large commuter allowance (assuming the use of a means of mass transportation such as a train/bus etc is not reasonable) in the amount of € 214.00 per month as well as the commuter euro of € 10.00 (60 km) per month.
Legal situation as of 1 January 2023
In a first step, the commuter allowance is to be calculated as if the employer does not bear any of the employee’s transportation costs. Using the commuter calculator (provided by the Federal Ministry of
Finance), the commuter allowance for the distance between home and their place of work has to be determined. From the calculated commuter allowance, the amount granted by the employer for the public transport ticket is now to be deducted. The employee can then claim the commuter allowance in respect of the remaining amount.
The commuter euro, however, can be claimed for the entire distance between the employee’s home and place of work. Even in the cases in which the commuter allowance is zero due to the deduction of the costs borne by the employer, the employee still has an entitlement to the commuter euro.
In case the employer (partially) reimburses the costs of a ticket valid for more than one month, the reimbursement shall be apportioned evenly over the entire period of validity of the weekly, monthly or annual ticket.
Example
• An employer provides their employee living in Lower Austria with the annual ticket for the core zone of Vienna (€ 365 per year)
• home to employee’s place of work: 70 km
• home to the Vienna core zone border: 60 km
• The employee commutes for 13 days a month
Under the legal situation applicable as of 1 January 2023, the commuter allowance shall be calculated (with the help of the commuter calculator) for the entire distance from their home to their place of work (70 km). This results in a large commuter allowance (assuming, as before, that the use of a means of mass transport is not reasonable) in the amount of € 306 per month. The costs borne by the employer are to be deducted from the amount calculated. Therefore, the costs of the annual ticket for the core zone of Vienna borne by the employer (€ 365. per year) are to be apportioned evenly over the months of its validity (12 months).
A commuter allowance can now be claimed in the amount of € 275.58.
€ 306 – (€ 365 / 12 month) = € 275,58
The commuter euro is due in the full amount for 70 km (€ 11.67)
The examples are based on the values of the commuter allowance and the commuter euro without the
temporary increase (from May 2022 to June 2023).
Contact us
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:
• Elke Preßl, Manager | elke.pressl@vialto.com
• Petra Demel, Manager | petra.v.demel@vialto.com
Further information on Vialto Partners can be found here: www.vialtopartners.com
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