The tax agreement between Austria and Liechtenstein 

The tax agreement encompasses not only individuals resident in Austria who directly hold assets at a Liechtenstein paying agent, but also those who indirectly hold assets at a Liechtenstein paying agent, for example via a foundation or a trust in which they are beneficial owners. Furthermore, the scope is even broader as not only assets with banks in Liechtenstein are covered but also assets administrated through Liechtenstein wealth management structures held with banks in third states.

 

The tax agreement between Austria and Liechtenstein contains, in particular, rules on the following topics:

 

• Regularisation of the past by levying an anonymous one-off payment in the range of 15% to 38% of the relevant capital or by disclosure to the responsible Austrian authority. On the right you find a tool to calculate the one-off payment for the regularisation of the past.
• Ensuring the taxation of future investment income and capital gains by levying a final withholding tax of 25% or disclosure to the responsible Austrian authority.
• Taxation of contributions into non-transparent foundations and of distributions of such foundations to beneficiaries.

 

Despite the tax agreement, Austrian clients may still file a voluntary disclosure in Austria for regularising their past tax liabilities.

The tax agreement between Austria will most likely enter into force in less than a year. Therefore, the Liechtenstein banks and fiduciaries should initiate immediately the implementation of the agreement. The Liechtenstein banks and fiduciaries should as soon as possible identify the affected Austrian clients and inform these clients about the tax agreement. Only by beginning of the implementation, there will be enough time to analyse the impact on the clients and involved banks/fiduciaries and the respective alternatives. Simultaneously, for each client it has to be analysed whether a voluntary disclosure would be more advantageous or whether the bank client should wait for the regularisation within the framework of the agreements.

KPMG can support both, banks/fiduciaries as well their clients, with the various issues; in particular with the implementation of the agreement. Selected experts from our experienced banking team are available to support you particularly through the following services:

 

• Client identification (In-House) Training of bank employees/ Information of bank clients
• Voluntary disclosure Individual comparative calculation to assess advantages of alternatives
• Support in connection with amendments on IT infrastructure Preparation of tax reporting
• Review tools for correct application of the treaties ("certification")
• Calculation of the one-off payment and the final withholding tax