15 April: New reporting obligations for cross-border services

With effect from 1 January 2006, the reporting system for Austria's balance of payments was reorganised. Companies are now required to report cross-border services to Statistics Austria. (Reporting Regulation ZABIL 1/2005)

Cross-border services

A service is considered cross-border if one party to the contract is based domestically and the other is based abroad, or if one party is an international organisation or a diplomatic mission. Cross-border services within a corporate group are also to be included.

Services for the purposes of this survey are:

• Transport services
• Communication services
• Construction services
• Insurance Services
• Financial services
• EDV and Information Services
• Patents and licences
• Other business-related services (including transit trade contracts)
• Personal, cultural and recreational services
• Staff costs for employees who do not have their primary residence in Austria
• Ongoing transmissions

Examples
Other business-related services
Export (Revenue) An Austrian lawyer represents a foreign client before Austrian authorities.
Import (Cost) An Austrian hotelier places advertisements directly in Germany.

Construction services
Export (Revenue) An Austrian construction company is building a property for a German client in Munich.
Expenditure: A foreign construction company is building a building in Vienna for an Austrian client.

Notification requirement

If the thresholds for cross-border services were exceeded in the previous calendar year, there is a reporting obligation for all reporting periods (quarters) of the reporting year. If the threshold was not met in the previous year but was reached or exceeded during the reporting year, the reporting obligation applies from the quarter in which it was reached.
If you have not yet received any documents, you will receive them at www.netquest.at or Tel: 01/71128-7546.

Thresholds

The legally defined threshold is €200,000 or €50,000, depending on the company's economic sector. (excluding VAT, whole EURO, after deduction of cash discounts and other rebates)

Deadlines

The reports must be submitted quarterly and annually, broken down by country or by type of service. The reports must be submitted no later than 15 days after the end of the quarter (therefore, for the first time by 15 April); annual reports must be submitted by 15 February of the following year.

Statutory regulation

If information is not provided in full, within the deadline, or is knowingly incorrect, the failure to comply with the reporting regulations can be penalised as an administrative offence with a fine of up to €5,000.

Image: © Anna Blau - BMF