Eco-Social Tax Reform 2022 in Austria
What's in for you?

The eco-social tax reform 2022 brings many changes and innovations. Ecological and social were also two terms that played an important role when RelaxTax was founded in 2020.

Is it #ecological if, in the digital age, a third of all (wage) tax adjustments (#employee tax assessments) are still done in paper form and millions of forms have to be printed, sent/returned? We don't think so - let's take a small step together to be more ecological.

Is it #social if, as an employee in Austria, you often only benefit from rightly entitled #tax exemptions or #tax deductions if you apply for them "correctly" or "know your way around"? We don't think so - that's why we want to support every employee in doing it "right".

We at RelaxTax want to show in particular what the eco-social tax reform means for employees in Austria. There should probably be 3 primary elements - namely the #tariff reductions, the #increase in the family bonus and the #climate bonus. So let's take a brief look into the near future.

1. The area of work will be relieved by around 4.7 billion euros per year until 2025 when fully expanded. The tariff reductions in the 2nd and 3rd tariff levels from 35% to 30% and 42% to 40% are to come into force in July 2022 and July 2023 respectively. A mixed tax rate of 32.5% is to be applied for the entire year 2022 (from 1 January 2022). 3.8 million wage taxpayers will benefit from the tariff reduction. Even people who earn so little that they pay little or no tax will have more to live on. The increase in Social Security Tax reimbursements and the increase in the tax credit for pensioners will provide additional relief for low incomes and pensions from 2022. A total of around 4 million employees and pensioners benefit from the relief measures for low earners. Even if the employer/pension fund already withholds the income tax every month and pays it to the tax office, an #employment tax equalization is worthwhile in most cases, also because some benefits such as the SV refund are only possible via application/employee tax equalization.

2. Families are also given a clear boost by increasing the family bonus from the previous year by EUR 1.500 and up to EUR 2,000 depending on the situation. In addition, the additional child allowance has been increased to EUR 450. If the employer does not does not do this already for you, it must be applied for with a wage tax adjustment.

3. The climate bonus was created to compensate for the burden of CO2 pricing on the population. There are different levels here, depending on whether you live in urban centers or in the countryside. Probably the most positive thing about the whole thing is that you don't have to apply for anything here, because the relevant federal ministry makes the payment without an application on the basis of the data/files. Here, the essential data, including the Austrian account number, are sent from the tax office or social insurance to the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. The processing is also much more advanced, because you don't have to submit your own complicated application again.