Business Start-Ups

Business Start-up Promotion Act (Neugründungsförderungsgesetz)

If you intend to set up a company, you will be expected to pay various fees. However, if your business start-up meets a number of requirements set forth by what is known in Austria as the Neugründungsförderungsgesetz (which translates as Business Start-up Promotion Act), certain fee exemptions may apply.

Your start-up might be exempt from the following fees:

• stamp duty (Stempelgebühren),
• administrative fees (Bundesverwaltungsabgaben),
• real property transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer),
• court fees (Gerichtsgebühren),
• payroll fringe costs (Lohnnebenkosten).

Industrial law (Gewerberecht)

In Austria, a number of trades require some sort of qualification certificate. You will need a business license, especially if the nature of your work requires skilled labour (e.g., a mechanic or a carpenter). The qualification you need to provide depends on the type of business you intend to establish.

To obtain a business licence you generally need to:

• have Austrian or EU/EEA citizenship;
• be a natural person aged 19 or older;
• have no reasons for exclusion in your records (e.g., financial offence, court sentence);
• have a business location and, if required, hold an operating licence (Betriebsanlagengenehmigung).

If you intend to establish a corporation or a partnership, you need to appoint one managing director who holds the right to exercise this trade (e.g., a carpentry business must have at least one fully qualified carpenter as its managing director).

Sole proprietors are required to designate a licensed managing director if they do not meet the requirements themselves.

There are a lot of unregulated trades for which you do not need any qualification (e.g., any kind of trading).