to content
Accesskey
[1]
to menu
Accesskey
[2]
to submenu
Accesskey
[3]
to search
Accesskey
[4]
Supervision & Regulation
Monetary Policy
Federal Reserve Banks
Financial Stability
Topics
Budget & Economic Policy
Climate policy
Combating Fraud
Customs
Digitalisation
Financial Sector
Taxation
Mining
Telecom & Postal Services
The Ministry
Federal Minister of Finance
State Secretary
Tasks & Organisation
Official Signature
Contact
National Financial Literacy Strategy
New e-commerce regulations from 1 July 2021
The 2022 Tax Book
ECJ ruling on the indexation of tax deductions
Information on SWIFT block and tax office payments
Support to cushion consumers against high energy costs
What does the increase in the Family Bonus Plus do for the family budget?
Press
Media contact
display search
display navigation
search term
search
start page
Home
Press Releases
Media contact
Media contact
Rupert Reif
Spokesperson for the Minister of Finance
Mr. James Williams
back
display search
close navigation
search
search
Supervision & Regulation
Monetary Policy
Federal Reserve Banks
Financial Stability
Topics
Taxation
Budget & Economic Policy
Combating Fraud
Mining
Climate policy
Telecom & Postal Services
The Ministry
Federal Minister of Finance
Tasks & Organisation
Contact
State Secretary
The 2022 Tax Book
New e-commerce regulations from 1 July 2021
Information on SWIFT block and tax office payments
Support to cushion consumers against high energy costs
What does the increase in the Family Bonus Plus do for the family budget?
ECJ ruling on the indexation of tax deductions
Press
Media contact
Press Releases 2019
Press Releases 2020
January 2020
Gernot Blümel is Austria's new Finance Minister
Budget surplus significantly higher than expected
Finance Minister Blümel attends first ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings
Biggest seizure of counterfeit luxury watches in Austria, with an equivalent original value totalling EUR 15 million
Finance Minister Blümel urges tightening of eurozone Stability and Growth Pact
Finance Minister Blümel: 2021 to see reduction in base rate of income tax deducted at source
February 2020
Finance Minister Gernot Blümel meets US State Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross
Customs: 80 % increase in drug confiscations
Finance Minister Blümel at ECOFIN and Eurogroup meeting in Brussels
March 2020
Corona - Blümel: “Good talks with representatives of the banking sector and the OeNB”
Blümel: “Will help quickly and directly”
Blümel: "Supply of cash in Austria is assured"
Finance Minister Gernot Blümel: “A balanced budget is important, but health and jobs in Austria are more important!”
Blümel on Austria's 2020 Budget: More money will be provided
Blümel: We will do whatever is necessary to help
Budget statement: We will do whatever is necessary
Extension of deadline for submitting the tax return
Blümel on hardship fund – to give quickly is to give double
April 2020
Finance Minister Blümel: Hardship fund doubled to EUR 2 billion
Finance Minister Blümel: EUR 15 billion corona assistance fund to safeguard jobs and protect Austria as a centre of economic activity
Blümel: Employee bonuses tax-exempt, full lump sum for commuters remains
Blümel: Wearing masks now compulsory – no VAT on protective masks
Finance Minister Gernot Blümel on the agreement of the EU Finance Ministers on an aid package in the Corona crisis
Finance Minister Blümel: “Times of crisis are not a legal void. Hence zero tolerance for misuse of subsidies.”
Corona Aids: Blümel demands temporary suspension of EU state aid law
Blümel: Rapid assistance and the greatest possible goodwill are paramount
Blümel: Phase II of the hardship fund to be extended
Blümel: The Commission is lacking problem awareness
Blümel on Austria's 2020 Budget: More money will be provided – No deficit anticipated this year – First EUR 4 bn package of initial emergency aid – Everything necessary will be done
Mai 2020
EU Commission gives green light for fixed cost subsidy
Blümel: 4.6 billion euros of tax have been deferred - three out of four of applicants are small businesses.
Blümel Comments on Budget 2020: Volatile Figures
Money for business: Fixed cost subsidies will be available this year
Blümel: zero tolerance for subsidy fraud amounts to careful handling of tax money.
Federal government presents €500 million package for restaurants and pubs.
Corona aid: fixed costs subsidy, packages for pubs & restaurants and clubs & associations
Tax office: appointments possible from 18 May
Short-time working: funds increased to €12 billion
Fixed costs subsidy: Start of the largest subsidy in the history of the Second Republic
Finance Minister Blümel: €300 million for public transport
Federal Government’s €1 billion municipal package
Film Industry Summit: €25 million package for Austrian film
Hardship funds: six payments instead of three, up to €3,000 comeback bonus
€1,000 per month for freelance artists
June 2020
Ministerial Council launches economic stimulus act
Checks on short-time working by the Financial Police: showing as much goodwill as possible, but with as much enforcement as is necessary
Economic Stimulus Act: easing the burden, enabling investment
Government consultation: €50 billion for rescue, relief and investments
Gastronomy and culture sector: VAT reduced to 5%
Investments for a strong comeback of Vienna’s economy
Austrian Airlines: Austria package to secure Vienna as an operating centre and air transport hub and Austrian Airlines as a brand
Finance Minister Blümel: deferral of loan repayments for private individuals and micro-enterprises extended by four months
July 2020
Austria assumes chair of EUROFISC
Blümel: Targeted controls to combat understated invoices will create fairness for domestic retailers
August 2020
Blümel: Applications open for second tranche of fixed cost grant
German-speaking Finance Ministers meet in Vienna
Blümel: Austria one of top three countries in terms of economic reconstruction
September 2020
Blümel: "Getting Austria fit for the financial future"
Blümel outraged at comments by Commission representative Selmayr
Finance Minister Gernot Blümel receives Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe
Blümel: Fraudulent fruit-growers are harming Austria as a location, as well as buyers and consumers, to the tune of around EUR 10 million!
Blümel: "Federal Finance Ministry's Coronavirus Hotline guarantees swift and unbureaucratic assistance
October 2020
Blümel/Schramböck/Köstinger: EUR 25 million for Schönbrunn Zoo
Customs seizes 500,000 pieces of fake "Marlboro”
Blümel on the 2021 budget: Getting through the crisis together
Over 5,000 controls undertaken by Financial Police in the fight against social security fraud
Finance Ministry/customs: Biggest drug seizure in years – 140 kg cannabis found in "empty" articulated truck. Customs officers discover false floor
Blümel: Turnover compensation to provide unbureaucratic assistance to affected sectors
Protecting jobs: More money for short-time work, bridging finance secured
November 2020
Blümel presents turnover compensation – what we need now is unbureaucratic assistance for affected companies
Blümel: Providing rapid assistance to all businesses affected by lockdown
Blümel: Proposed initiative for legislative winter package extends existing support
Blümel: Applications open today for extension to turnover compensation and fixed cost subsidy phase II
Suspected money laundering – customs officers confiscate over DKK 2.5 million
December 2020
Blümel extends turnover compensation: businesses subject to closure will receive 50%
Police and customs seize cannabis valued at EUR 1.3 million
Blümel/Köstinger: Seamless system of relief instruments to be available by tomorrow
Customs: Raid on illegal cigarette factory in Vienna
Brexit: Finance Ministry boosting information resources and customs capacity
Press Releases 2021
January 2021
EU expands State Aid Framework
Financial Police take stock of a successful year in 2020
Customs officers stop animal traffickers: 74 endangered chameleons found in suitcase with black market value at around EUR 37,000
Blümel: 'Turnover loss bonus' - up to 30% of turnover, capped at EUR 60,000 per month
Financial Police conduct investigations at Amazon partners
Linz customs officers uncover illegal cigarette production in Lower Austrian district of Bruck an der Leitha
March 2021
Blümel: Turnover loss bonus increased for March
Finance Ministry/Customs: Over 1 tonne of drugs withdrawn from circulation in 2020
Blümel: Austria's membership of EFRAG strengthens our interests at international level
Raab/Blümel: "Through FABIAN, we are making family allowance as straightforward as possible"
Finance Minister Blümel presents 2020 Product Piracy Report
Blümel: EUR 1.3 billion already paid out to municipalities
Tax refunds running into millions obtained by fraud – leading to 5-year jail sentence
Blümel: Planning phase begins for 'Graz Center of Physics'– Federal government investing EUR 354 million
Customs and police again rescue 9 trafficked puppies
April 2021
IMF figures show Austria ranks second in the EU in terms of support provided as part of the country's COVID-19 response
ECOAustria Study: Austria ranks top in Europe for COVID-19 support
Ministry of Finance/Customs: £46,000 carried across half Europe hidden under a mattress in a van
261 kg cannabis resin worth EUR 2.5 m seized by Customs in Kufstein
Looking back on a successful year for the Finance Ministry's Coronavirus Hotline – 361 000 queries resolved
Blümel: Successful meeting with Daniel Risch, Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Liechtenstein
May 2021
New BMF app - a European showcase project: one step ahead of the cigarette smugglers
Fitch keeps Austria's AA+ credit rating and ensures stable outlook
Austria's plan for the EU Recovery Fund
Vienna Airport: Customs check on passenger carrying EUR 97 510 in cash confiscated to pay outstanding tax debt
Finance Ministry/Customs: High numbers of live animals trafficked in Q1 2021
Notional interest on equity - the key to greater crisis resilience
New President of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council, Christoph Badelt, pays inaugural visit to Finance Minister Gernot Blümel
Blümel: "No let-up in the dedication of our customs officers even during the pandemic!"
June 2021
Blümel: "Customs investigation into international cigarette mafia reaches final conclusion" – Illegal production machine destroyed
Blümel: Helping businesses repay deferred taxes
Potentially record-breaking illicit earnings stash uncovered by Tax Fraud Investigation Unit: more than 3.5 m euros had been hoarded
EU customs regulations: 22-euro exemption threshold scrapped from the beginning of July
Financial help for badly affected businesses extended
Blümel: “The tenacity of the Financial Police is paying off. We will not back down even if a global minimum tax rate is implemented.”
Stopped by Customs: jeweller wanted to bring 4.5 kilos of gold jewellery into the country illegally
Customs officials catch smuggler in the green channel
Blümel: “Heavy blow dealt to illegal gambling”
Blümel: Explosion in numbers of dummy companies in Vienna
Blümel and Kocher present control plan
July 2021
Blümel: Seeking to ensure tax transparency and to combat the transfer of profits
Minister Blümel welcomes agreement on global tax reform
Blümel: Corona help for the economy is working: 90 per cent of businesses do not need the special Covid-19 instalment payment facility
August 2021
In a week of targeted action, Finance Ministry and Interior Ministry intercept 180 welfare offenders at border controls
Blümel: Economic recovery is setting government budget on a positive course
Blümel: "We will return to a sound fiscal policy"
Applications open for two categories of coronavirus assistance
Finance Ministry/Customs: Passenger attempts to export EUR 46 000 for Cairo apartment purchase
Blümel: Austrian economy is picking up speed, now ranks second in the EU
Blümel: In 2020, Tax Fraud Investigation Unit recovered EUR 172 million in the fight against fraud
Ministry of Finance/Customs: 12 years of the Trade in Species Act – 818 seizures of endangered species at Vienna Airport
Blümel/Schwarz: New Productivity Council to be established in Austria
Blümel offers his congratulations to the new Chair of the ÖBAG, Edith Hlawati
Smoked out: airport customs force seizes 7.6 tonnes of counterfeit shisha tobacco
Blümel: Austrian economy and Austrian businesses in a positive mood - instalment payment model proving its worth
Austria to issue Green Bonds for the first time in 2022
September 2021
Blümel: Continuing positive trend - economy now bigger than pre-crisis level
Customs officers conduct 173 000 successful operations and controls in first half of 2021
'Coalition of responsibility' backing Stability and Growth Pact
Blümel: Positive trends in the employment market, tax income and the budget
Blümel: 5 million to help the recovery in Eastern Europe
Blümel presents national financial education strategy: 'My money, my life, my decision – I'm sure'
EU recovery fund: Austria receives EUR 450 million pre-financing from EU
October 2021
Blümel: “We’re reducing tax for everyone who goes to work and is industrious”
Blümel: 2022 Budget stands for recovery, stability and sustainability
November 2021
Blümel: Millionth COFAG application for Corona aid processed
Eco-social tax reform creates a framework for the taxation of cryptocurrencies
Blümel presents first sitrep on Tax Authority Austria
Blümel: Economic upturn clearly evident in federal budget
Blümel: Trusted forms of assistance for the domestic economy and jobs
Ministry of Finance responds to changed world of work: Tax benefits for home office
Blümel: "Reactivation and extension of coronavirus assistance to protect the economy and workers"
Application deadline extended for fixed cost subsidy 800 000 and loss compensation I
Blümel: “We’re reducing tax for everyone who goes to work and is industrious”
December 2021
Blümel/Köstinger: Rapid assistance vital to support businesses and workers
The Budget in Charts and Figures
Blümel hands over office to Brunner at the Finance Ministry
Finance Minister Brunner: "We are continuing to help impacted sectors of the economy"
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner invites top economic researchers to exchange of ideas
Press Releases 2022
February 2022
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner meets UK counterpart Rishi Sunak: green finance, digital tax, COVID recovery and economic support also on the agenda
Customs officers in Upper Austria seize more than 60 pieces of ivory jewellery and art
Financial Police raid poppy processing factory: 13 undocumented workers deported
Graz woman fined after half a million fermented plums smuggled into Austria
March 2022
Brunner: Austria's AA+ rating confirmed: Outlook improved to "positive"
Brunner: Austria supports Ukraine aid program of the World Bank with 10 million euros
The relief package in action – calculate your savings now at bmf.gv.at/entlastungsrechner
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner gives green light for €150 energy costs voucher
Austrian customs prevents the illegal sale of four rare parrots – red-fronted macaws (Ara rubrogenys) and military macaws (Ara militaris)
Tax justice ensured online too: no fewer than 7.5 million reports filed by online platforms since 1 January 2020
Customs: over 300,000 counterfeit products confiscated in 2021
April 2022
Finance Minister Brunner: "Customs offices protect the economy and citizens at the gateway to the rest of the world"
Austria, IMF renew agreement on Joint Vienna Institute
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner says 150-euro energy costs voucher will now go to 4 million households
May 2022
Finance Minister Brunner elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Brunner/Tursky: Three goals for taking greater advantage of digitalisation for Austria
June 2022
Section head Waiglein re-elected in a key position at EU level