Government measures in key jurisdictions 2nd edition final pages - Flipbook - Page 8
Austria
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Property
Have any changes
been made to
the laws around
property, rent and
enforcement?
Litigation
Are the courts
operating?
Tax
Has any new
legislation been
introduced in light
of COVID-19?
•
If a tenant of a private apartment does not pay rent (or a part thereof) due
from 1 April 2020 until 30 June 2020 because he or she has been significantly
economically impaired by the crisis, the underlying lease agreement may not be
terminated by the landlord solely based on the payment default. Moreover, the
landlord may neither enforce these outstanding payments nor draw a deposit
provided by the tenant, before 31 December 2020.
•
An eviction is to be postponed at the request of the tenant if the apartment is
indispensable for urgent housing needs of the tenant and other persons living in
the same household, unless the eviction is necessary to avert serious personal
or economic disadvantages of the landlord. Before the decision on suspension is
made, the landlord shall be given the opportunity to make a written statement.
•
Under the Austrian Civil Code tenants may be entitled to a rent relief provided
that their premises cannot be used as contractually agreed due to COVID-19; in
practice, this currently mostly concerns leases in the retail and leisure industry, as
most of such businesses had to be closed due to respective ordinances. However,
as these provisions of the Civil Code are not mandatory and can therefore be
deviated from (which in practice rarely has been the case, though), the question if
and to which extent a rent relief actually applies, needs to be reviewed on a case by
case basis.
•
In Austria, courts are operating regularly again. Procedural periods at civil courts
and administrative courts, which had not expired as of 22 March 2020 were
suspended. These time limits restarted as of 1 May 2020.
•
Arbitration is also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many arbitration
institutions continue their work as far as possible. The Vienna International Arbitral
Centre (VIAC) is working remotely and its case management is fully operational due
to the new electronic case management system that was introduced in 2019.
•
Taxpayers affected by a liquidity shortage due to COVID-19 may, until 31 October
2020, apply for a reduction of (corporate) income tax prepayments for the year 2020
to the lower amount of (corporate) income tax expected for 2020 or even to zero. No
interest will be charged in case the (corporate) income tax ultimately assessed for
2020 turns out to be higher than the (corporate) income tax prepayments.
•
Taxpayers affected by a liquidity shortage due to COVID-19 may apply for a deferral
of tax or payment in monthly instalments by 30 September 2020. Late payment
interest may be reduced or altogether waived.
•
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.
Government measures in key jurisdictions
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