Gift notification (Austria)
Schenkungsmeldung
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Austrian duty to notify the tax office of gifts above EUR 50,000 between relatives within one year, or above EUR 15,000 between other persons within five years (section 121a Federal Fiscal Code).
The notification must be made within three months. Real estate and contributions to private foundations are exempt, because real estate transfer tax or foundation entry tax applies to them.
In practice
The notification duty covers not only cash gifts but also securities, company shares and movable assets; real estate follows its own rules. In practice, gifts within the family are recorded continuously, because the thresholds are calculated across several gifts. The notification must be made within three months; missed notifications can constitute a fiscal administrative offence even if no tax is due.
Distinctions and common mistakes
The gift notification is not a tax return: Austria has not levied gift tax since August 2008, and the notification serves transparency towards the tax administration. The recipient, the donor and any lawyers or notaries involved are obliged to notify; a notification by one of them is sufficient. Typical mistakes are overlooking that several gifts between relatives within one year are added together, and contributions to a foreign foundation for which the foundation entry tax was not examined.
Relevant in: Austria
Related terms
- Foundation entry tax (Austria)
- Austrian tax on contributions to a private foundation, generally 2.5 percent of the assets contributed.
- Private foundation (Austria)
- Austrian legal form under the Private Foundations Act for permanently dedicating assets to a purpose set by the founder.
- Interim tax (Austria)
- Tax on certain investment income of an Austrian private foundation at the corporate income tax rate, credited when the foundation later makes distributions.