Austria: Second Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2014 (Abgabenänderungsgesetz 2014): Taxation of interest payments

Effective 

1 January 2015

Austrian paying agents are obliged to deduct Austrian withholding tax at source from Austrian interest payments made to investors that are not residents of Austria. This follows an amendment of the law by the Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2014 (Abgabenänderungsgesetz 2014).

Previously, interest income derived by foreign investors was not subject to limited tax liability in Austria and exempt from Austrian withholding tax.

Impact on customers

The new regulation will mainly affect foreign individual investors that are resident outside the European Union. Interest payments made by Austrian credit institutions to foreign credit institutions have not been amended by the Austrian Tax Amendment Act 2014 and are still exempted from Austrian withholding tax.

Austrian sourced interest payments paid from Clearstream Banking’s¹ depository will not be affected and will therefore be exempt from Austrian withholding tax as in the past.

Further information

For further information, please contact the Clearstream Banking Tax Help Desk or Clearstream Banking Client Services or your Relationship Officer.

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1. Clearstream Banking refers collectively to Clearstream Banking AG, registered office at 61, Mergenthalerallee, 65760 Eschborn, Germany and registered in Register B of the Amtsgericht Frankfurt am Main, Germany under number HRB 7500, and Clearstream Banking S.A., registered office at 42, avenue John F. Kennedy, L-1855 Luxembourg, and registered with the Luxembourg Trade and Companies Register under number B-9248.