Yes — Austria taxes foreign income once you are unlimitedly liable, and § 1(2) of the Einkommensteuergesetz says so in one line: natural persons with a Wohnsitz or a habitual abode in Austria are unlimitedly liable, and that liability "extends to all domestic and foreign income". The trigger is not a day count. Under § 26(1) of the Bundesabgabenordnung a Wohnsitz is a dwelling you have at your disposal in circumstances suggesting you will keep and use it — no minimum stay at all. Companies are caught on a parallel test: § 1(2) KStG makes a corporation unlimitedly liable if either its seat or its place of management is in Austria.
The Short Answer
| Status | Trigger | Taxed on |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited liability, individual | A dwelling at your disposal, or a habitual abode in Austria | All income, domestic and foreign |
| Limited liability, individual | Neither of the above | Only the Austrian-source categories in § 98 EStG |
| Unlimited liability, corporation | Seat or place of management in Austria | All income, domestic and foreign |
Everything else — treaties, credits, exemptions, the rates on the tax page — operates on top of that classification. Get the classification wrong and every calculation below it is wrong too.
A Dwelling, Not a Day Count
Section 26(1) BAO: a person has a Wohnsitz "where they have a dwelling at their disposal in circumstances suggesting that they will keep and use it". Three things about that sentence do the work.
"At their disposal" is not "owns". A rented flat counts. A flat rented in someone else's name but genuinely available to you can count. Ownership is neither necessary nor sufficient — a property let out on a long lease is not at your disposal.
"Will keep and use it" is a test of circumstances, not intention as stated. The question is what the arrangement looks like objectively: a permanent lease, a furnished flat, keys, belongings, utilities in your name. A declaration that you did not intend to live there does not answer it.
There is no number in the provision. This is the part that surprises people arriving with the 183-day rule in mind. That figure comes from the employment article of double-tax treaties and answers a later question — which state may tax employment income once both states claim you. It has no role in deciding whether Austria treats you as resident in the first place.
The practical consequence: someone who keeps a Vienna flat available while living mainly abroad may be unlimitedly liable in Austria on worldwide income, having spent very few nights in it.
The Six-Month Rule Runs Backwards
Where there is no dwelling, the second limb applies. A habitual abode is where a person stays in circumstances showing they are not merely temporarily present — and § 26(2) BAO adds a hard rule: where unlimited liability is tied to habitual abode, it always arises once the stay in Austria exceeds six months.
Then comes the sentence that catches people: "In diesem Fall erstreckt sich die Abgabepflicht auch auf die ersten sechs Monate." The liability extends back over those first six months. Crossing the threshold does not start the clock from that day — it makes the entire period taxable retrospectively. Someone who plans to leave at five and a half months and stays seven has not gained six weeks of Austrian tax; they have acquired seven months of it.
One relief exists and it is narrow. The Finance Ministry is empowered to disapply the provision for people whose stay in Austria is no more than a year and who neither carry on a trade nor exercise a profession in Austria. Anyone working here is outside it.
Companies Are Caught by Where They Are Run
Section 1(2) KStG makes a corporation unlimitedly liable if it has "its place of management or its seat" in Austria, and unlimited liability again covers all domestic and foreign income. The word doing the work is or. These are alternatives.
A company incorporated in another country, registered there, filing there, with a seat there, is nevertheless unlimitedly liable in Austria if its place of management is in Austria — that is, if the day-to-day direction of the business actually happens here. A founder who moves to Vienna and keeps running their foreign company from a desk in the first district has, on the face of it, brought that company into Austrian corporate tax on its worldwide income.
The mirror image is equally real and less often considered. An Austrian GmbH whose management genuinely sits abroad may be resident in both states, and the tie-break then lives in the treaty rather than in either domestic law. Neither situation is resolved by where the company is registered, and neither is improved by silence.
This is also why the substance questions on the corporate services page — who the directors are, where board decisions are taken and minuted, where contracts are signed — are not administrative box-ticking. They are the evidence for the only test that matters here.
What a Treaty Does and Does Not Do
Double-tax treaties are the second layer, and they are frequently described as though they were the first. They do not remove the liability domestic law creates. What they do is allocate taxing rights between two states that both claim the same income, and then relieve the double taxation by one of two mechanisms: exempting the income in one state, usually with progression — the exempt income still lifts the rate applied to the rest — or taxing it and crediting the foreign tax paid.
Three consequences follow for anyone with foreign income and an Austrian connection. The income is declared in Austria whether or not tax ends up payable on it. The analysis is done per category — employment, dividends, interest, royalties, immovable property and business profits each have their own article, and the answer for one does not carry to another. And exemption with progression means "no Austrian tax on that income" is not the same as "no effect on your Austrian bill".
The 90 Per Cent Option for EU and EEA Nationals
Section 1(4) EStG contains an election that is worth knowing about because it runs in the opposite direction to everything above. A national of an EU or EEA state who has neither a residence nor a habitual abode in Austria, but who has Austrian-source income under § 98, may apply to be treated as unlimitedly liable — provided at least 90 per cent of their income in the calendar year is subject to Austrian income tax.
Why ask to be taxed more widely? Because unlimited liability brings the personal allowances and deductions with it, including the zero-rate band on the first EUR 13,539 of taxable income, which a limited-liability taxpayer does not get in the same way. For a cross-border worker earning almost everything in Austria, the election is usually favourable. It is an application, not an automatic status, and it is made for the year.
Four Ways People Get This Wrong
Counting days instead of checking for a dwelling. The commonest error, and it produces confident wrong answers because the 183-day rule feels like law. It is a treaty tie-breaker for one income category, not the Austrian residence test.
Treating the six-month line as a start date. It is retroactive. Planning a stay around it means planning around the wrong end of the rule.
Assuming the company follows the register. Place of management is an independent trigger. Where the directing mind sits is a question of fact that a certificate of incorporation does not answer.
Believing a treaty means nothing needs declaring. Relief is claimed, not assumed, and it is claimed on a return. Undeclared foreign income with a treaty behind it is still undeclared foreign income.
None of these is settled by reading a page — including this one. What this page can do is tell you which question to put to an adviser, and the question is not "how many days did I spend in Austria" but "did I have a dwelling at my disposal, and where is the business actually run from".
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Austria tax foreign income?
Yes, if you are unlimitedly liable. Section 1(2) of the Einkommensteuergesetz says that natural persons with a residence or a habitual abode in Austria are unlimitedly liable, and that the liability 'extends to all domestic and foreign income'. Someone with neither is liable only on the specific Austrian-source categories in section 98. A double-tax treaty may then allocate taxing rights or give credit, but it does not remove the Austrian liability that domestic law creates.
Is there a 183-day rule in Austria?
Not in the domestic residence test. Section 26(1) of the Bundesabgabenordnung defines a residence as having a dwelling at your disposal in circumstances suggesting you will keep and use it — with no minimum number of days. The 183-day figure people remember comes from the employment article of double-tax treaties, which is a different question answered at a later stage. You can be Austrian tax-resident having spent very few nights in the country.
How long can I stay in Austria before becoming tax resident?
If you have no dwelling available to you, a stay of more than six months creates a habitual abode and with it unlimited liability — and section 26(2) BAO extends that liability back over the first six months as well. So passing the six-month mark does not start the clock from that date; it makes the whole period taxable. If you do have a dwelling available, the six-month question never arises, because the residence test is already met.
Is my foreign company taxable in Austria if I live in Vienna?
Possibly. Section 1(2) of the Körperschaftsteuergesetz makes a corporation unlimitedly liable if either its seat or its place of management is in Austria — the two are alternatives, not cumulative. A company incorporated elsewhere but actually directed from Austria has its place of management here, and its worldwide income falls into the Austrian net. Where the real decisions are taken, and by whom, is the question that decides it.
Can a double-tax treaty stop Austria taxing my foreign income?
It can change the outcome without changing the liability. Domestic law makes you taxable on worldwide income first; a treaty then allocates taxing rights between the two states and applies either exemption with progression or a credit for foreign tax. The practical result is often that little or no additional Austrian tax is due — but the income still has to be declared, and the treaty analysis is done per category of income, not once for the whole return.
Does holding an Austrian residence permit make me tax resident?
Not by itself, and the two questions are decided by different authorities under different acts. A permit is granted under settlement and residence law; tax residence turns on whether you have a dwelling at your disposal or a habitual abode under section 26 BAO. In practice a permit usually comes with a flat and a life in Austria, so both tests end up satisfied — but a person can be tax resident with no permit, and hold a permit while the tax test is arguable.