378 € gifted by the state – with an application, you often get twice as much!

Many lose real money because they do not submit a tax return.

The automatic tax return starts in the second half of the year for those who have not submitted an application by July 1st. Around 1.7 million people in Austria benefit from this and receive an average refund of €378.80 for the 2023 tax year. The requirement: They had only income subject to wage tax and no other tax-relevant circumstances.

How Much the Own Application Brings

Those who submit their own tax return can expect significantly higher refunds. On average, the difference is €500 to €600, in many cases even over €900 or €1,000. The reason for this is that numerous individual deductions can be considered in the manual application, which remain unconsidered in the automatic process.

Why Is the Effort Worth It?

The automatic assessment only uses basic data such as pay slips or social security contributions. Advertising expenses, special expenses, or extraordinary burdens are not included. With your own application, you can claim, for example, the commuter allowance, costs for further education or work equipment, the family bonus, or additional child allowance.

Overview of Deadlines and Options

The tax return can be submitted retroactively for up to five years. The automatic refund usually occurs within a few weeks, with the Ministry of Finance citing an average period of 11 days from the delivery of the tax assessment. The annual wage statement is sent by the end of February at the latest – submission is possible from March.

Recommendations for Taxpayers

To reclaim the maximum amount, all relevant documents should be collected – such as receipts for travel expenses, home office, childcare, or extraordinary burdens. The application can be easily submitted via FinanzOnline or through an app like Taxefy. Those who take action almost always benefit from a higher refund.

Info:

The automatic employee assessment has been available in Austria since 2017. It is used when no active tax return is filed and only income subject to wage tax is present. It is particularly intended for people with low incomes or pensions. Those who want to deduct more must submit the application themselves.

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.