Coalition Agrees on Nationwide Tipping Rules in Austria

According to Tourism State Secretary Elisabeth Zehetner (ÖVP), the tip flat rates in 2026 will be 65 euros for waiters with cash handling and 45 euros for those without. In 2027, they will increase to 85 and 45 euros respectively, and in 2028 to 100 and 50 euros respectively. From 2029, an annual adjustment to inflation is planned. Additional claims by social insurance are excluded.

Social partners' proposal for tip flat rates was too high for NEOS

"A central point was the elimination of unpredictable back payments due to retroactive audits by the social insurance carriers. This sword of Damocles is now gone," explained Zehetner. Within the three-party coalition, it was initially the NEOS who slowed things down. The social partners close to the ÖVP and SPÖ had already agreed on tip flat rates two weeks ago. However, these were too high for the NEOS. "We were able to reduce the flat rate by a third in the negotiations," said NEOS State Secretary Josef Schellhorn on Thursday in an Instagram video.

Industry representatives demanded that tips be exempt from all contributions; the union, on the other hand, warned that employees' pensions would suffer as a result. SPÖ social spokesperson Josef Muchitsch pointed this out when announcing the agreement. "We are the party of work and we want people to be able to live well from work. First from wages, then from pensions."

Tips: Tax-free, but subject to social security contributions

Tips are tax-free in Austria, but subject to social security contributions. Previously, the amounts were difficult to verify, but now they appear in the cash register when paid by card. This led to partly high additional claims by the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) and has triggered the current discussions. The Hotel Association ÖHV and the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) welcomed the new regulation. The Trade Union Federation ÖGB calculated that the increase in flat rates would raise pension entitlements by around 27 euros per month.

The flat rates are met with incomprehension by the FPÖ. The salaries in the gastronomy sector are already at the lower end of the spectrum in collective agreements, criticized Secretary General Christian Hafenecker on the sidelines of a press conference. He wondered: "How broken must a state be if I am now chasing after people who get a little tip here and there?" The Greens also see an agreement at the expense of employees, while the original solution of the social partners was torpedoed by the NEOS for ideological reasons, criticized social spokesperson Markus Koza.

(APA/Red)

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