Government measures in key jurisdictions 3rd edition final - Flipbook - Page 8
Austria
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?
8
•
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 taxprepayments.
•
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