Self-employment in Austria is well organised and slightly more bureaucratic than newcomers expect. The first decision is not the logo or the website but your legal status, because it decides your chamber membership, your insurance and your paperwork. This guide explains how to freelance in Austria in 2026: the three main statuses, the steps, the contributions and the VAT regime.
What statuses exist when you freelance in Austria?
Three main categories:
- Gewerbe (trade). Activities under the Trade Code (Gewerbeordnung): a freies Gewerbe (free, with no qualification required) or a reglementiertes Gewerbe (regulated, with proof of qualification, such as joinery, metalwork or an engineering office). You make a Gewerbeanmeldung and become a member of the Economic Chamber (WKO).
- Neue Selbständige. An independent activity that needs no trade licence: an artist, a lecturer, a physiotherapist, working on the basis of service contracts (Werkverträge).
- Freie Berufe (liberal professions). Doctors, lawyers, notaries, outside the Trade Code. Ask the professional chamber concerned.
The line between Neue Selbständige and Gewerbe is sometimes blurred. Have the WKO or the SVS confirm your status before you start.
How do you register to freelance in Austria?
- Get free advice before starting. To benefit from the start-up support law (NeuFöG), the official start-up declaration form must be completed with advice from your chamber (WKO for a trade; otherwise the SVS or WKO).
- Gewerbeanmeldung with the district authority (Bezirkshauptmannschaft) or the Magistrat of the place where you work, on site, in writing or online via the USP (business service portal) or GISA (the trade register). Conditions: 18 years old, EEA or Swiss nationality (or a residence title for others), no exclusion ground.
- Free trade: you can start once the file is complete. Regulated trade: wait for the final decision, which the authority must give within three months. You receive a GISA extract, which replaces the old Gewerbeschein.
- SVS. With a trade, the authority normally informs the SVS, which sends you a welcome letter and an insurance declaration to return. The business service portal still mentions a one-month deadline, so if nothing has arrived after a few weeks, contact the SVS yourself. Neue Selbständige declare themselves to the SVS within a month of starting if their annual income exceeds €6,613.20 (2026).
- Finanzamt. Report the start of your activity to the tax office within a month (a short message is enough). The Finanzamt then sends you the Verf 24 questionnaire and gives you a tax number; see tax number in Austria. If you invoice businesses in other EU countries, request a VAT number (UID) too.
- Choose a severance-type fund (BV-Kasse) within six months: the self-employed pay 1.53% of their base.
Choosing between a trade licence and an independent activity without a licence changes your insurance and your obligations, and the line is not always clear. Moovy can help you put your activity into words and prepare the questions for the WKO or the SVS. It does not make the registration for you.
How much does it cost to freelance in Austria?
Contributions are provisional at first. For your first three years, the SVS bases them on the minimum base; from the fourth year, on your income of three years earlier. When your income tax assessment arrives, it recalculates them on your real profit. In 2026 the self-employed pay:
- health insurance 6.80% (the State adds 0.85%);
- pension 18.50% (trade and Neue Selbständige);
- Selbständigenvorsorge 1.53%;
- accident insurance about €13 a month (€12.95 according to the federation of social insurers, €12.96 on the SVS calculation page).
The base runs from €551.10 to €8,085 a month. A monthly minimum example: €37.47 for health and €101.95 for pension. For a member of the Economic Chamber, the health base for the first two calendar years is fixed at €551.10 a month with no later adjustment.
You may ask to be exempt from health and pension insurance at the start with a trade, if turnover stays under €55,000 and profit under €6,613.20 a year (2026), and you were not insured under the GSVG for more than 12 months in the last 60. Accident insurance remains due. The trap is the adjustment: low provisional contributions in the early years mean the SVS asks for the difference once your tax assessment arrives. Set money aside. For Neue Selbständige who do not declare and are found through their tax assessment, the SVS adds a 9.3% surcharge to the health and pension contributions. See also health insurance in Austria.
How does VAT work for small businesses?
Under €55,000 of annual turnover (current and previous year), you fall under the Kleinunternehmerregelung (small business scheme) and are a Kleinunternehmer: no VAT on your invoices, but no recovery of VAT on purchases. The threshold has been €55,000 since 2025 (€35,000 before), with a 10% tolerance in the year of exceedance. You can opt out in writing for five years. Do not write VAT on a small-business invoice: if you do, you owe it to the tax office.
If you charge VAT, you file periodic returns (UVA) through FinanzOnline: quarterly if the previous year's turnover exceeded €55,000, monthly above €100,000, plus an annual return. Payment is due on the 15th of the second month after the period.
What bookkeeping do you need?
Under the thresholds, a simple income-and-expense account (Einnahmen-Ausgaben-Rechnung) is enough, carried on annex E 1a (or E 1a-K for small businesses) of your income tax return E1. Keep a register of fixed assets and, for a shop, a goods-received book. A cash register is mandatory if turnover exceeds €15,000 a year and cash receipts exceed €7,500. Double-entry bookkeeping is compulsory for a commercial sole proprietor above €700,000 in two consecutive years. Liberal professions are never obliged. You file the annual return by 30 April (paper) or 30 June (FinanzOnline), with advance payments on 15 February, 15 May, 15 August and 15 November. See taxes in Austria.
When does a GmbH make sense?
A GmbH (limited liability company) requires at least €10,000 of capital, half paid in cash in principle, a notarial deed (possible remotely) and registration in the Firmenbuch. It pays 23% corporation tax, with a minimum of €500 a year, even at a loss, keeps full accounts whatever its size and has a second layer of tax on dividends (27.5%). A simplified route exists for a sole shareholder who is also the only manager (€10,000 capital, €5,000 in cash, electronic filing, and the bank must verify your ID). It limits your liability but adds cost; discuss it with a notary and a Steuerberater.
What are the pitfalls?
- Choosing the wrong status. Get it confirmed.
- False self-employment. Working for one client, under orders, with imposed hours, can be requalified as employment.
- Forgetting NeuFöG advice. Without the confirmed form, no exemption.
- Forgetting the SVS declaration. The surcharge is 9.3%.
- Working for clients in your home country. Social security is decided by EU coordination rules: in principle where you work. The SVS can issue an A1 form.
For Britons, a residence title that allows self-employment is needed first: moving to Austria from the UK. For the overall sequence, see the guide to moving to Austria.
What does a first year look like for a freelancer?
Months 0 to 1. You settle your status with the WKO or the SVS, register the trade or the activity and declare yourself to the SVS within a month. You report the start of your activity to the Finanzamt, which sends you the Verf 24 questionnaire. If your clients are in other EU countries, you add the VAT number.
Months 2 to 12. You issue invoices, keep your receipts and your income-and-expense account. If you charge VAT, you file the periodic returns. You pay provisional SVS contributions and, once the tax office has fixed them, income tax instalments on 15 February, 15 May, 15 August and 15 November.
The following spring. You file your income tax return (form E1 with annex E 1a), by 30 June on FinanzOnline. When the assessment arrives, the SVS recalculates your contributions on the real profit and asks for the difference, or reimburses you. A freelancer who arrives mid-year should expect a first year with partial figures and an adjustment afterwards.
Useful bodies for free advice: the WKO's start-up service for a trade, the SVS for insurance questions and, for independent professionals, their professional chamber. A Steuerberater costs money but pays for itself in complicated cases, such as income from several countries.
Contribution rates and thresholds change every year. Before you choose a status or sign your first contract, have your situation confirmed by a Steuerberater (tax adviser) or an accountant in Austria.
What if you already work abroad as a freelancer?
If you live in Austria and invoice clients in your home country, you are generally treated as exercising your activity in Austria, where you live and work, so you register and pay in Austria. If you work in several countries, you pay social security in your country of residence once at least 25% of your activity is there; otherwise where the centre of your activity lies. A self-employed person posted temporarily to another country for up to 24 months stays affiliated in their home country with an A1 form, which the SVS issues and uses to decide. Tax follows the treaty between the two countries. Ask for written confirmation of your case before you invoice.