Austrian Minister of Economics Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer (ÖVP) plans to abolish the obligation to issue receipts for amounts up to 35 euros as part of the Middle-Class Package he announced this year. Businesses would no longer be required to print receipts for amounts up to 35 euros. No specific date for the abolition was mentioned in the government’s program. As previously known, the government also plans to increase the base lump-sum taxation for traders and freelancers and to introduce an exemption from the Normverbrauchsabgabe (NoVA) for vans.
Starting in 2025, the base lump-sum taxation, including the pre-tax lump-sum of 220,000 euros and 12 percent, will be increased to 320,000 euros and 13.5 percent. By 2026, it is planned to raise the amount to 420,000 euros with a rate of 15 percent. From July 1, 2025, the Normverbrauchsabgabe (NoVA) for all light commercial vehicles (N1) will be abolished, making company cars and vans cheaper. “The planned Middle-Class Package is a clear commitment to entrepreneurship, to high achievers, and to the preservation of jobs,” said the new Minister of Economics on Sunday in a statement. The goal is to “put Austria’s economy back on the fast track.”
Additional measures are planned for 2026 and 2027, including the simplification of business transfers, an increase in the profit exemption from 33,000 to 50,000 euros, the digitization of company founding, the acceleration of approval processes, and simplifications in the industrial law.
Hattmannsdorfer and the ÖVP-Wirtschaftsbund pointed to the economic importance of SMEs in Austria. In 2023, Austria had around 579,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with around 2.5 million employees. “Our SMEs are the backbone of the Austrian economy,” said Kurt Egger, Secretary General of the Economic Federation and ÖVP spokesperson on economic matters, in a statement. Tax reliefs were “long overdue.” However, the FPÖ criticized the Minister of Economics. “For real relief, financial and budgetary leeway must also be created, which we Freedom Party members have clearly advocated for in coalition negotiations,” said FPÖ’s Economic Spokeswoman Barbara Kolm. Anything else is “just political announcements.”
