Tax-News | Business-News

Tax reform 2020/23: Revised income tax law

LBG Austria - Summary: The Austrian Federal Government plans to fundamentally reform and redraft the income tax law currently in force since 1988. Important topics in this are a possible new regulation of the taxable profit determination for partnerships (e.g. OG, KG, GmbH & Co KG) and their partners including the topic "special tax assets" as well as once again a start to the so-called "Einheitsbilanz – standard balance sheet", namely a regulatory merger of corporate law and tax regulations. The entry into force is scheduled for 2021. We recommend dealing early with this topic for the purpose of optimal choice of legal form and forward-looking tax planning.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

May 1, 2019 Read article

Optimal tax planning when selling your company respectively terminating your business activity – especially in the case of existing business premises and land

LBG Austria - Summary: In the context of the taxation of the sale of a business respectively the termination of a business the property gains tax of 30% on buildings and/or land and ground that are sold respectively transferred to private assets may be reduced to half of the average income tax rate (up to 27,5% when in the highest income tax rate of 55%) – however, certain requirements need to be met.

Requirements:
• the business for sale has existed for at least seven years
• the selling entrepreneur has completed its 60th year
• the selling entrepreneur quits its business activity or became incapacitated for work

The use of the tax advantage in connection with the use of half the average income tax rate (also for land) is usually the cheapest tax variant when selling or abandonment of a business. Therefore, in the run-up to a company sale or business termination, a restructuring of a limited liability company into a sole proprietorship or partnership should be considered in order to ensure optimal taxation. In any case, we recommend a timely and forward-looking planning when thinking about selling your company respectively quitting your business activity.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

April 17, 2019 Read article

Anticipatory need for action: Longer notice periods for workers from 1st of January 2021

LBG Austria - Summary: From 1st of January 2021, the notice periods and termination dates of the workers will be aligned with those of the employees. This also means, that the termination provisions previously contained in the collective agreements of the workers no longer apply at the end of December 31, 2020. As a rule, the new legal provisions will lead to a massive extension of the previous, very short notice periods for workers. If, as of January 2021, the employer terminates the contract with an "old" time limit which is too short, affected workers are entitled to a termination benefit in accordance with the new statutory notice periods.

LBG recommendation: It is therefore worth considering – depending on the operational requirement – to already now make use of the legally granted option to agree on a termination possibility also to the 15th and the last of a month in new and existing contracts with workers – as it is already common on contracts with employees.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

April 17, 2019 Read article

How do you get to your money faster - minimize default risk

LBG Austria - Summary: Companies often pay in advance for their customers, as services provided are billed only after they have been rendered and the customer is also granted a payment term. However, this means for the company that it usually has to finance the period between delivery or service provision and the receipt of payment on its own bank account. Here are some tips on how to keep this time span as short as possible and minimize your default risk:

Selection of Business Partners and Contract Design: At the beginning of the business relationship, and subsequently depending on the occasion from time to time, information about the creditworthiness and payment behaviour of the customer should be obtained. In the assignment is to pay attention to a precise agreement of the terms of payment (possibly with retention of title). By agreeing down payments, the payment flow can be designed according to the service provision and a default risk can be reduced.

Invoicing: Invoices should be sent (electronically) as soon as possible upon delivery or end of service provision. Queries due to unclear phrasing in invoices not only costs expensive working hours, but also delays the receipt of payment.

Payment Reminders: Reminders should be timely, clearly formulated and reach the customer with exact deadlines. Active calling in the form of professionally conducted remand talks is often more effective than multilevel written reminder letters.

We also recommend implementing clear standards ("billing and reminder policy") in the company: When is the company billed? Who is responsible for that? In the accounting software, credit limits, dunning levels, standardized dunning letters and a strict dunning cycle should always be recorded and their adherence strictly observed.

Thereby you reduce your default risk, create liquidity and a fair cooperation to secure the sustainable success of your company.

We check your current invoicing and dunning system and support you in the organizational optimization in the company. If you outsource your accounting to us and we agree on a timely (digital) document flow, we will also gladly integrate a professional periodic dunning process for you.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

March 21, 2019 Read article

Design variants in crowdfunding

LBG Austria - Summary: Crowdfunding has become increasingly important as an alternative to traditional forms of financing in recent years. Depending on the type of consideration, the following types of crowdfunding with different income tax effects can typically be distinguished:

Crowdinvesting and Crowdlending (subordinated loans): crowd investing is characterized by the fact that investors provide capital in the long term and in turn participate in the company's success. In crowd lending, subordinated loans are issued and interest is paid in return. From the capital acquirer's point of view, compensation to investors is usually tax-deductible only if the capital invested is debt capital. The investor may receive income from capital assets, operating income, interest income or income from participations, depending on the nature of the consideration, the type of company of the capital acquirer and whether the investment is made out of private assets or business assets.

Crowdsponsoring: in crowd sponsoring, investors/sponsors receive non-monetary consideration, such as advertising services. From the point of view of income tax, it must be distinguished between sponsoring or pre-financing of products. For the capital acquirer, sponsoring payments constitute income tax receivable. This is only deductible for the sponsor if the payment is made on an operational basis, has a broad public advertising impact and there is an appropriate relationship between performance and consideration.

Crowddonating: is usually used for the promotion of Projects in the creative, cultural and art Scene. The investor/donor is waived entirely on a consideration. From the point of view of the recipient of the donation, as far as the operational area is concerned, there is an operating income. For the donor, the donation is tax deductible only if the recipient of the payment is a favoured beneficiary.

The income tax assessment of crowdfunding financing is always dependent on the individual case, both from the point of view of the investor and from the point of view of the receiver. In this regard, the classification as equity or debt capital (crowdinvesting, crowdlending) as well as the evaluation as pure pre-financing, sponsoring or donation (crowd sponsoring, crowd donating) are decisive. In addition, depending on the type of company and whether the investment is made from private assets or business assets, a different tax assessment may result.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

February 28, 2019 Read article

BREXIT - Austrian limited liability company as an alternative to the British Limited (Ltd)

LBG Austria - Summary: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is expected to leave the European Union on March 29th 2019. In recent years, many limited companies have been incorporated under English law and registered in the English commercial register, which have been operating in Austria from the very beginning and are also headquartered here. This was often due to the admissibility of a foundation without minimum capital and the unbureaucratic construction. In the context of the announced Brexit, panic is inappropriate because the Austrian legislator is preparing a limited grace period until the end of 2020. Nevertheless, it makes sense to think about legal form alternatives, for example, an Austrian (start-up-privileged) limited liability company and thus avoid imponderables. But also for all companies in Great Britain, which aim a company seat in the European Union in the future, a limited liability company with seat in Austria is a good option.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

February 1, 2019 Read article

Federal Ministry | Republic of Austria: Information on Brexit scenarios and the tax implications of an "unregulated" Brexit

LBG Austria - Summary: The Federal Ministry has published an overview of the possible scenarios for the UK's exit from the EU following the rejection of the withdrawal agreement by the British Parliament on January 15th 2019. This may be a regular EU exit ("deal"), the extension of the negotiation phase and withdrawal of the withdrawal application or an unregulated EU exit ("no deal").

In the event of a "disorderly" Brexit at the end of March 2019 (ie, no exit agreement and no "transitional phase"), the United Kingdom should be treated as a third country with immediate effect, with corresponding tax consequences for income tax, value added tax and private individuals.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

January 18, 2019 Read article

Precautionary tax check: tax audit, financial criminal law, payroll accounting - minefields in practice

LBG Austria - Summary: Each (!) tax audit report is subsequently also assessed by the Financial Criminal Authority with regard to criminal-law-relevant facts. The confidence to achieve a useful "negotiation result" in the course of the tax audit or the enjoyment of an already achieved "good" result can therefore be too early.

Anyone who wants to be on the safe side as a manager, board member, entrepreneur or commercial manager should at least follow those key word-like practice recommendations: Was a duty to report, disclosure or truth violated or caused a tax reduction? Are there any possibilities for restructuring, such as a self-disclosure, the withdrawal from the trial or the use of a reduction surcharge (§ 30a FinStrG) depending on the amount of the tax reduction? In case of potential wage tax offenses also the effects on social security contributions, non-wage labour costs and risks from wage and social dumping have to be taken into account.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

January 18, 2019 Read article

Risk Check: Economic Relations between close relatives or affiliates

LBG Austria - Summary: Especially in family businesses there is the need for close cooperation accompanied by a variety of service relationships, just as within corporate groups. But what seems necessary and reasonable in the daily work to quickly meet customer wishes, can lead to fatal tax and social security arrears in the hardly permeable thicket of tax and social security law and in the family circle at most to jeopardize pension or social benefits for co-working family members. In the business association, risks arise from inappropriate transfer prices. Related tax audits are becoming stricter than ever.

It therefore absolutely makes sense to take a critical and careful look at all economic and legal relationships in the family circle or companies connected to one another through timely participation, to create order and to set the right course in time.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

January 18, 2019 Read article

Fit for talking to banks: documents, creditworthiness, balance sheet, conditions

LBG Austria - Summary: The professional cooperation with financiers on the basis of reliable, realistic numbers proves itself. The timely and careful preparation of documents is important for the purpose of determining one's own position and for the orderly communication of the company's economic and financial situation. It must always be considered: entrepreneurs, managing directors, board members, shareholders, commercial managers are personally responsible for the accuracy of their oral and written information about the current or future situation of the company – furthermore they are also liable for not holding back information that might be disadvantageous for credit lending decisions.

In any case, the following documents should be available: annual financial statement of the last financial year including the comparison with the previous year. Current "balance sheet" or "short-term profit-and-loss accounts", which are separated in terms of time and content, whereby the assets, liabilities, income and expense accounts should be structured in the same way as the annual financial statements, including amounts and percentages and pressure from the previous year (depending on the industry including seasonal comparison); a monthly target / actual comparison of the current year completes a current economic overview. Additionally, an overview of the annual performance planning (budget), the annual financial plan and, if necessary, an investment calculation.

Contact & Advice: This information naturally shows basic aspects of the topic - for completeness and correctness no guarantee can be given despite careful preparation. LBG will gladly advise you in your individual situation. Please contact one of our 31 Austria-wide locations (www.lbg.at) or welcome@lbg.at - we will gladly bring you together with one of our experts, who is very familiar with your request.

January 18, 2019 Read article