Drop in passengers at Austrian airports

Categories
Travel

Austrian airports saw a 1% drop in visitors last year when compared to 2012, with smaller airports in particular struggling to keep up passenger numbers. Linz Blue Danube Airport showed the weakest figures, seeing the second significant drop in two years, with passenger numbers falling by 11.8%. Between 2011 and 2012, they had dropped off […]

416 million won back from tax dodgers in Switzerland

Categories
General News

By Rob Hyde Austria has won back 416,7 million Euros deposited in Switzerland since the two countries signed a special tax agreement. Since the start of the new information-exchange at the start of 2013, 13,600 Austrians have come forward and divulged details of assets they have based in Switzerland. The investors, who managed to declare […]

Baumgartner tax row

Categories
Finance

The tax proceedings of the extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner are still underway. Mr Baumgartner told the Austria Press Agency that he asked the Independent Finance Senate (UFS) to resolve his case. Mr Baumgartner has recently told the newspaper “Kronen Zeitung” that the Ministry of Finance denied his tax-saving status as part of an external audit. […]

State secretary denies interfering over Baumgartner taxes

Categories
Sports

The extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner stated that the Ministry of Finance spared him additional taxation by political intervention. The former Financial Secretary Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP) denies these claims. It was known that Baumgartner moved to Switzerland due to tax reasons. Mr Baumgartner told the newspaper “Kronen Zeitung” that the Ministry of Finance denied his tax-saving […]

Faymann warns against greed in society

Categories
Politics

The SPÖ converted its traditional May Parade at Rathausplatz in Vienna to some kind of unofficial election campaign. Chancellor and head of the SPÖ Werner Faymann appealed to his party officials to put “every effort” in the time before the elections. “If the debate at the end of September is: do you want a neoliberal […]

Tax fraud whistleblower says Innsbruck prosecutors hid data

Categories
Finance

Klaus Lins from Feldkirch, Vorarlberg (Western Austria), indirectly passed on documents of tax fugitives to German authorities in 1997. He stated in an interview with the magazine “trend” that the public prosecutor’s office of Innsbruck possibly sheltered these documents. The public prosecutor’s office of Innsbruck has possibly been sheltering documents about Austrian tax fugitives for […]

Huge tax fraud revealed

Categories
Finance

A large-scale tax fraud has been revealed in Lower Austria. The customs investigation discovered that a 55-year-old man sold adulterated diesel in East European countries. He is believed to have earned millions of Euros. The Ministry of Finance confirmed the facts to the Austrian Press Agency yesterday evening (Tues). The damage caused by avoided tax […]

Gastein congress tackles fat tax question

Categories
General News

New statistics released last month reveal every fifth child between the age of 11 and 13 in Austria is overweight, five per cent are obese. These figures represent a 40 per cent increase over the last 16 years. If these trends continue they will reach epidemic levels. The Austrian Green Party is pressing for higher […]

EC warns debt-ridden Austria

Categories
Politics

Austria has been criticised for its high public debts. The European Commission (EC) announced yesterday (Weds) the country – which became a member of the European Union (EU) in 1995 – must do more to reduce its debts. The state’s debt ranges around 74 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). EU rules say […]

TV tax increase ahead

Categories
Business

TV consumers in Austria must pay higher taxes from Friday. The ORF licence fee increases by seven per cent as of 1 June. The rise was agreed on last November when ORF general director Alexander Wrabetz justified it as “moderate”. Political decision-makers and telecommunications regulation authority KommAustria gave the go-ahead to the disputed tax hike. […]