Good news for tenants in Austria: Up until very recently, for every rental contract in Austria a special fee had to be paid, the so called tax on tenancy. This tax has been removed from the Austrian rental market.
This tax had to be paid by either the tenant or the landlord (or both) but in practice it was paid by the tenant most of the time. Besides the deposit and the first rent that are due when a new rental contract is signed, the tax on tenancy therefore was another financial burden for the tenant.
In addition, the tenant on the Austrian rental market needs to pay in most cases the real estate agent fee. These costs still need to be taken into consideration when looking for a new property in Austria.
In order to calculate the amount of the tax for unlimited rental contracts, the monthly rent was multiplied by 36 and this sum was used as the base (or 3 times the amount of the yearly gross rent). The tax was then 1 % of exactly this sum.
Example: Monthly rent = 1.000,00 €
36 x 1.000,00 € = 36.000,00 €
Tax on tenancy = 1% = 360,00 €
In Austria, rental contracts for a limited period of time are also very common. In these cases the total amount of the rent in the contract was used as the base from which the 1% was calculated.
Tax Reform for the Austrian Rental Market
Exactly this tax has now been abolished. The release is valid for all rental contracts concerning living space that were signed from November 11th 2017 onwards.
Please note: Unfortunately the release is not valid for all contracts that were signed before this date and the tax on tenancy still has to be paid to the fiscal authority.
https://www.help.gv.at/Portal.Node/hlpd/public/content/21/Seite.210225.html
If you need further information on the tax on tenancy or the Austrian Rental Market, we will be glad to assist.