On October 16, 2025, the draft of the Tax Amendment Act 2025 was submitted for review. Among other things, it includes adjustments to the Austrian Insurance Tax Act, particularly to implement a procedure for the electronic processing of insurance premium tax (IPT).

Digitalization and Standardization of the Procedure

The most significant changes concern the planned digitalization of IPT, although the fundamental system for enforcing IPT will remain unchanged. However, a new monthly electronic filing system will be introduced, requiring those liable for IPT payment (insurers, authorized representatives, fiscal representatives) to electronically file the monthly tax amount on a  self-calculated basis and to pay it by the 15th day of the second following month (currently, only self-calculation and payment are provided). The introduction of electronic filing aims, among other things, to ensure that corrections and refunds for a month already registered can be recorded in a subsequent registration during the year, but at the latest in the annual tax return. Corrections for deviations of up to 5% in the monthly reports should not trigger any consequences for late payments.

Digitalization also includes the electronic submission of the annual tax return by April 30 of the following year for the previous calendar year. In the future, the tax office will issue a notice only if the amount stated in the annual return differs from the tax paid during the year.

Administrative simplifications are also planned for cases where the policyholder owes the tax, for example if the insurer is not domiciled in a member state of the European Union or a contracting state of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and does not have an authorized representative to receive the insurance premium, and the insurer does not exercise the option to calculate the tax itself and pay it on behalf of the policyholder. In such cases, the monthly self-calculation and payment of the tax will be omitted, and the tax will be payable once on the basis of the annual electronic tax return.

At the time of publication of the draft law, the technical design and organizational implementation of the electronic procedures are not yet available. The Federal Minister of Finance will be empowered to specify these details by regulation.

Fiscal Representatives and Liability

The Tax Amendment Act 2025 also aims to reorganize Section 7 of the Insurance Tax Act, "Tax Debtors," to improve readability. In addition to this reorganization, the following substantive adjustments are planned:

In the future, all insurers, regardless of their registered office, will have the option to appoint not only a tax representative authorized to receive insurance premiums but also a fiscal representative to fulfill their tax obligations – particularly regarding self-assessment, tax payment, tax filing, and submission of annual tax returns.

Furthermore, an obligation is to be introduced requiring insurers who are not based in Austria, a member state of the European Union, or a contracting state of the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and who have not appointed an authorized representative, to appoint a fiscal representative based in Austria if they handle the tax on behalf of the policyholder. These amendments are intended to strengthen enforcement in cross-border cases.

Since the technical requirements for the electronic procedure have yet to be established, the regulations concerning digitalization and fiscal representatives are not scheduled to come into force until January 1, 2027. If the technical requirements are not implemented by that date, the Federal Minister of Finance will be authorized to postpone entry into force of these provisions until January 1, 2028, by regulation.

Engine-related Insurance Tax for Motorcycles with Electric Drives

Currently, the insurance tax for purely electric motorcycles is calculated exclusively on the basis of engine power. The Tax Amendment Act now stipulates that, similar to electrically powered cars, the unladen weight should also be used as a basis for assessment. The calculation will then be as follows: €0.40 per kW of engine power reduced by 5 kW, plus €0.04 per kg of unladen weight reduced by 225 kg; however, a minimum of 4 kW and 10 kg must be applied, capped at a maximum of €40.

These changes will be implemented as part of the 2025 Tax Amendment Act for the Motor Vehicle Tax Act in line with the provisions of the Insurance Tax Act.

The changes relating to engine-related insurance tax are to come into force on January 1, 2027, to ensure technical implementation and to avoid changes to existing insurance contracts. They will apply to insurance contracts newly established after December 31, 2026.