Coronavirus - Government measures in key jurisdictions - Flipbook - Page 9
Austria
8
Company
law matters
•
Taxpayers may apply for a waiver of late payment fines already imposed, if the
belated payment of taxes was due to a liquidity shortage related to COVID-19.
•
The general filing deadline regarding (corporate) income tax declarations and
annual value added tax declarations for the year 2019 has been extended from 30
June 2020 to 31 August 2020. Up to 1 September 2020 there will be no fines for
missing tax filing deadlines.
•
Legal transactions necessary for the proper handling of the COVID-19 crisis are exempt
from stamp duty if concluded any time from 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020 (e.g.,
sureties granted to ensure the liquidity of a company during the COVID-19 crisis).
•
Bonus payments of up to EUR 3,000 made by employers to their employees in the
calendar year 2020, which are solely being granted due to the COVID-19 crisis and
would not have been granted otherwise, are exempt from income tax.
•
Public grants to be offered from 1 March 2020 onwards to maintain sustainability
during the COVID-19 crisis are tax-free.
•
An exemption from fees and federal administrative charges for all documents and
official acts related to COVID-19 applies. In particular, registrations of mortgages to
secure loans taken out by companies to bridge their liquidity problems due to the
COVID-19 crisis shall be exempt from court fees, provided that the application for
registration has been received by the court before 1 July 2020.
•
Meetings of all types of Austrian companies can be held without the physical
presence of the participants. In principle, an acoustic and optical connection is
necessary in order to hold virtual (general) meetings, whereby a common video
conference solution should be sufficient. In exceptional cases, participants can only
participate acoustically. Special rules apply, inter alia, to the general meetings of a
listed companies: it may be provided that submitting an application for a resolution,
voting and raising of an objection in the virtual general meeting can only be made
by a special proxy instructed by the company. In such case, the company has to
propose at least four suitable and independent proxies, whereby at least two of such
special proxies must be lawyers or notaries.
•
To the extent a notarial deed or a certification is required with respect to e.g. M&A
transactions, capital measures and any legal document, notaries are entitled to use
electronic tools to render their services. Such regulation applies until December
2020 and substitutes the requirement of physical meetings in front of a notary.
•
The deadline for the ordinary general meetings has been extended to twelve
months following the balance sheet date.
•
Furthermore, the deadline for submitting the annual financial statements has been
extended by three months, so that the annual financial statements of companies
must be submitted to the responsible commercial register court no later than
twelve months following the balance sheet date.
Have any measures
been put in place
to accommodate
social distancing
(such as remote
general meetings)?
Government measures in key jurisdictions
9