Austria has no statutory minimum wage; sectoral agreements cover around 95% of employees and set the applicable floor. Combined with the 14-instalment year, this reshapes payroll planning.
- 14 salary payments
- No statutory minimum wage
- Does Austria have a national minimum wage?
The structural detail multinationals must plan around is Austria's group taxation system, introduced in 2005 and still one of the more developed cross-border relief mechanisms in the EU. Only first-tier foreign subsidiaries — resident in the EU or in a state with a comprehensive administrative assistance agreement with Austria, and held at more than 50% directly by an Austrian group member — may be included. Group members' profits and losses are attributed to the parent, but only losses of foreign members may be deducted, and only in proportion to the direct shareholding. Critically, those foreign losses are recaptured and taxed in Austria in later years once they can be offset against the foreign entity's own profits under its domestic regime, or if the entity leaves the group — meaning the deduction is a timing benefit, not a permanent one, and must be tracked accordingly.
What an employee costs in Austria. Every figure below is published on the Austria country page.
| Austria | |
|---|---|
| Employer social security | 20.98% of gross salary (ASVG, 2026) — monthly contribution base capped at €6,930 |
| Minimum wage | No statutory minimum — set by sector collective agreements (Kollektivverträge), typically €1,800–2,000/month gross entry-level (2026), paid 14 times/year |
| Official language | German |
| Legal forms | GmbH · AG · FlexKapG (FlexCo, since 2024) |
| Dividend tax (withholding) | 27.5% (23% to corporate recipients), reducible under double tax treaties |
What makes it complex in Austria
- 14 salary payments — — 13th (Christmas) and 14th (holiday) month payments are mandatory under virtually all collective agreements, affecting payroll cash-flow planning and pro-rating for new hires and leavers.
- No statutory minimum wage — — pay floors are set by roughly 95% sector-level collective agreements (Kollektivverträge), each with its own entry-level minimum, paid over 14 instalments per year.
Does Austria have a national minimum wage?
No. Austria has no single statutory minimum wage; pay floors are set through sector-level collective bargaining agreements (Kollektivverträge) covering roughly 95% of employees. Most 2026 entry-level minimums fall between €1,800 and €2,000 gross per month, paid across 14 instalments including the mandatory 13th and 14th month payments.
14 salary payments is one of the points HTLC Network handles for clients operating in Austria, within a single engagement that covers every other country they operate in — executed locally, governed centrally.
In Austria the scope is: Full-cycle Austrian payroll including ASVG social security contributions, 14-instalment salary structures, and alignment with the applicable sector collective bargaining agreement (Kollektivvertrag).
See Payroll & Workforce Management in Austria for the full scope, or the Austria country page for the statutory framework across every service.
Figures as published on the HTLC Network country pages, reviewed September 2026 and collected from public sources. They are not a substitute for advice on a specific case and should be verified before being relied on.