Capital Gains Tax in Austria
27.5 percent capital gains tax from the first euro, no allowance, no holding-period exemption. Accumulating funds get taxed annually via deemed-distribution income.
Capital gains, dividends, bond income, securitized derivatives, and cryptocurrencies are taxed at 27.5 percent. Unlike Germany, there's no allowance, the tax applies from the first euro.
There's also no holding-period exemption. Whether you held a stock for a week or twenty years, the gain gets taxed the same way. Interest on savings accounts and daily-access accounts is taxed at 25 percent.
For accumulating funds, undistributed income counts as deemed-distribution income and has to be taxed annually, even with no money actually flowing to you. Whether that happens automatically depends on whether it's a reporting fund that submits its data to the control bank.
Two practical points: choose a tax-simple broker with an Austrian custodian, and everything runs automatically. And check an ETF's reporting-fund status, or your tax return becomes a lot of work.
The 27.5 percent is set out as a special tax rate in the Income Tax Act. The tax is withheld at the moment money flows, so when you sell or when a distribution is paid. An example: Anna buys ETF shares for €5,000 and later sells them for €6,000. Of the €1,000 gain her broker withholds €275, there's no allowance.
Dividends from abroad are a bit trickier. If Anna gets €100 in dividends from a US company, the US withholds €15 withholding tax. Austria credits those €15, so Anna only pays €12.50 at home. Under the double taxation treaties Austria credits no more than the treaty rate, which is 15 percent for the US. Whatever a country withholds beyond that you only get back by filing a claim abroad. The bank automatically offsets losses against your gains within the same year. You can't carry them into the next year.
One exception matters a lot in practice. CFDs and other non-securitized derivatives fall under the normal income tax scale of 0 to 50 percent (55 percent only on income above one million euros). So if you earn well with CFDs, you may pay considerably more than 27.5 percent on it. Some Austrian brokers withhold tax on this voluntarily. It's best to ask beforehand how your broker handles it.
Summary
- 27.5 percent from the first euro, no allowance, no holding period.
- Accumulating funds get taxed annually, even with no cash flow.
- CFDs fall under the progressive rate, not the flat capital gains tax.
Did you get it?
Does Austria have an allowance like the German saver's allowance?
No. The capital gains tax applies from the first euro.
How much foreign withholding tax gets credited?
At most the rate in the double taxation treaty, 15 percent for the US, leaving 12.5 percent due domestically.
How are CFDs taxed?
As non-securitized derivatives, generally under the progressive income tax rate of 0 to 50 percent (55 percent only on income above one million euros).
Can I carry losses from stock sales into the next year?
No. The bank automatically offsets losses only against gains in the same calendar year; carrying them forward isn't possible.
Sources and further reading
- Section 27a of the 1988 Income Tax Act, Federal Ministry of Finance. View source ↗
- Overviews of KESt treatment for securitized and non-securitized derivatives, as of 2026
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