Request to refer a tax complaint to the Federal Fiscal Court (Austria)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The request (Vorlageantrag) to have your complaint decided by Austria's Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzgericht) when the tax office's preliminary decision on it (Beschwerdevorentscheidung) does not settle the matter, under § 264 of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (BAO): within one month of service, lodged with the tax office. It names the preliminary decision, can add grounds, and is the last chance to ask for an oral hearing and a panel (§§ 272, 274 BAO); a fresh application to suspend collection is optional. Through FinanzOnline, by post or fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Phone
- Tax office and its PO box (the large-business office only if it keeps your tax account)
- City
- Date
- Austrian tax number (Steuernummer)
- Date of the tax office's preliminary decision on the complaint (Beschwerdevorentscheidung)
- Date of service (DataBox: the day it arrived; if left at the post office: the first day it could be collected)
- Date of your complaint against the tax assessment
- Assessment: kind and period (e.g. income tax assessment 2025)
- Date the tax assessment was issued
- Further arguments against the preliminary decision (optional), in German
- Oral hearing before the Federal Fiscal Court: whether you ask for one
- Decision by a panel (Senat) instead of a single judge: whether you ask for one
- Suspension of collection of the disputed amount until the complaint is decided: whether you ask for it
- Amount whose collection is to be suspended (only if you ask for it)
- How that amount is worked out (the additional payment under the assessment minus the figure sought in the complaint), in German
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- By when and where is a request for referral (Vorlageantrag) made in Austria?
- Within one month of service of the preliminary decision (§ 264 Abs 1 BAO), to the tax office that issued it, which passes the complaint and the file to the Federal Fiscal Court. The request need only name the preliminary decision; grounds are not required but may be added. The deadline can be extended like the complaint deadline (§ 264 Abs 4 BAO). Lodge it through FinanzOnline, by post or fax — not by e-mail (§§ 85, 86a BAO); days in the post do not count if it is correctly addressed (§ 108 Abs 4 BAO).
- Can an oral hearing at Austria's Federal Fiscal Court still be requested in the Vorlageantrag?
- Yes, and the Vorlageantrag is the last chance: an oral hearing takes place only if requested in the complaint or in the Vorlageantrag (§ 274 Abs 1 Z 1 BAO), and the same holds for a decision by a panel (§ 272 Abs 2 Z 1 BAO). If both were already requested in the complaint, that request stands. At a hearing you can put your case to the court in person; whether that helps is not something the document judges.
- What happens in Austria to a suspension of collection after the preliminary decision?
- With the preliminary decision the tax office orders the suspension to end (§ 212a Abs 5 BAO); the suspended amount must then be paid within one month (§ 212a Abs 7 BAO). With the Vorlageantrag, suspension can be applied for afresh — a choice in this document, with the amount and how it is worked out. While the new application is pending, no enforcement may be taken (§ 230 Abs 6 BAO).
- Can Austria's Federal Fiscal Court decide to the taxpayer's disadvantage?
- Yes. The court decides the matter itself and may change the contested assessment in any direction — including to your disadvantage — set it aside, or dismiss the complaint as unfounded (§ 279 Abs 1 BAO). Whether that risk exists in your case is not something the document judges; a tax adviser (Steuerberater) can.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
Related documents
- Application to set aside a tax assessment under § 299 BAO (Austria)
The application to Austria's tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich, to set aside a tax assessment whose ruling is wrong, under § 299 of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (BAO) — the route once the one-month deadline for a complaint has passed. It must be lodged within one year of notification of the assessment (§ 302 BAO), names the assessment and says why it is wrong; a new assessment is issued together with the setting aside. Whether to set it aside is at the tax office's discretion. Through FinanzOnline, by post or fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.
- Request to extend the deadline for a tax complaint (Austria)
The request to Austria's tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich, to extend the one-month deadline for a complaint against a tax assessment (§ 245 Abs 3 of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code, BAO) — when documents are missing or there is not enough time for the grounds. It must be lodged, with reasons, before the deadline ends, and may be repeated; it halts the deadline until it is decided, but never beyond the day requested (§ 245 Abs 4 BAO). With the assessment, the date of service, the current end of the deadline and the day sought. Through FinanzOnline, by post or fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.
- Application to suspend collection of disputed tax (Austria)
The application to Austria's tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich, to suspend collection of a disputed tax until your complaint is decided, under § 212a of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (BAO) — because a complaint alone does not stop payment. With the assessment, the date of the complaint, the amount and how it is worked out (§ 212a Abs 3 BAO); it can be made afresh after a request for referral to the Federal Fiscal Court (§ 212a Abs 5 BAO). While it is pending, no enforcement is taken. Through FinanzOnline, by post or fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.
- Notice of business closure (Austria)
The letter telling Austria's single tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich, that your business is being closed, sold or handed over — required within one month under the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (§§ 120, 121 BAO), with no prescribed form. It gives the tax number, the kind and address of the business, its last day and any buyer, and asks for the income tax prepayments to be adjusted. Submit it through FinanzOnline, by post or by fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German; the trade licence is surrendered separately.
- Complaint against a tax assessment (Austria)
The complaint (Bescheidbeschwerde) against an assessment of Austria's tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich — an income tax or VAT assessment, for example — under § 243 of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code (BAO), due within one month of service (§ 245 BAO). It contains what § 250 BAO requires: the assessment, the points contested, the changes sought and the grounds. Optional: suspension of collection (§ 212a BAO), since a complaint does not stop payment, direct referral, an oral hearing and a panel at the Federal Fiscal Court. Submit through FinanzOnline, by post or fax: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.
- Revocation of the waiver of the small-business VAT exemption (Austria)
The letter to Austria's tax office, the Finanzamt Österreich, revoking a waiver of the VAT exemption for small businesses under § 6 Abs 3 of the Austrian VAT Act (UStG 1994) — for a landlord or self-employed person whose turnover is back under €55,000, for example. The waiver binds for at least five calendar years; it can be revoked only from the start of a calendar year, by 31 January of that year at the latest. With the tax number, the years and the turnover. Send it by post, fax or through FinanzOnline: an e-mail is no submission at all (§§ 85, 86a BAO). In German.