More digitalisation and less bureaucracy (in the long term)

At the beginning of December 2025, a comprehensive package to reduce bureaucratic hurdles in economic life was presented in a ministerial council speech. This consists of 113 individual measures of varying scope, divided into 10 large thematic blocks. Selected planned measures – especially in the area of taxes – are outlined below – the further implementation (and whether it will succeed) remains to be seen.

• Simplification of employee taxation and wage calculation;
• Unification and modernization of the fee law through the use of flat rates. The entire process, including fees and traffic taxes, is also to be modernized through new input forms, communication tools, and interfaces;
• Increase of the filing deadline pursuant to § 109a EStG - this is intended to reduce the associated administrative burden;
• The book-keeping limits in the UGB (700,000 € or 1 million €) and in the BAO (700,000 €) are to be raised to 1 million € or 1.5 million €;
• Introduction of an activation option for self-created intangible assets;
• Simplification of the retention policies, so that electronic archiving should generally be possible; paper originals should only be required in exceptional cases;
• In the area of funding policy, a one-stop-shop should be created to unify procedures;
• The goal of "less documents" and "digital confirmation of registration" is to be achieved by allowing passport authorities to use digital data with full evidentiary value. National citizenship documents will no longer be required to be presented when digital verification is possible. Furthermore, historical confirmation of registration will be available digitally in the future to facilitate the proof of previous places of residence without having to visit an authority;
• The "Pickerl" vehicle inspection program is to be extended from the current 3:2:1-year intervals to 4:2:2:2:1 years. The five-year retention requirement for "Pickerl" reports is to be reviewed and shortened;
• The topic of permits: here, "expert pools" are intended to contribute to shorter permit procedures in permit procedures. Non-permit-free operating facilities should remain unrestricted. Furthermore, it is intended to ensure that PV systems and e-charging stations can be quickly and without permits installed;
• The business registration will be fully digitized by the introduction of "GISA Express" - a fast procedure - from 1.1.2026;
• Foreign documents are now easier to be accepted in the company book procedure. Furthermore, the digital EU Company Certificate is being introduced.

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