Adapted version of the Austrian fund reporting scheme from 1 April 2023

The Austrian Ministry of Finance (BMF) released an adapted version of the Austrian fund reporting scheme which must be used for all reporting to the Austrian Kontrollbank (OeKB) from 1 April 2023 onward.

The new reporting requirements mainly refer to:

• Current income from cryptocurrencies and equalization amounts thereon
• Refunded withholding tax (WHT) from previous years that were considered creditablein previous years (creditable under double taxation agreement (DTA) from the perspective of an Austrian fund investor)

Details of refunded withholding taxes

Currently, there is no distinction in refunded WHT between WHT refunded on dividend payments into the fund under Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) or European Court of Justice (ECJ) reclaim procedures. So, the total amount of refunded WHT on dividends is treated as tax neutral.

Starting 1 April 2023, refunded WHT from previous years that were considered creditable in previous years (under DTA from an Austrian fund investor’s perspective) are taxable and will result in a repayment of Austrian (withholding) tax for Austrian investors.

In practice, a refund of WHT from previous years that were considered creditable for Austrian investors is only possible if the fund entered a refund procedure either in accordance with the ECJ. Another possible, but exceptionally rare case might occur if the refund procedure is in accordance with a DTA providing a DTA rate of less than 15% or even 0% for portfolio equity holdings.

On the other hand, a refund of WHT from previous years that were considered non-creditable for Austrian investors will now require a refund procedure of the fund in accordance with a mere standard DTA to provide a DTA rate in line with the OECD DTA of (at least) 15% for portfolio holdings.

We expect that the standard DTA refund procedure will be followed by the vast majority of funds offered to the public.

Consultation with the BMF is ongoing regarding a possible de minimis amount for refunded WHT that were considered creditable under DTA from an Austrian fund investor’s perspective, but no changes to the above-mentioned amendments have been communicated at present.