How to Export to Austria in 2026: 20% VAT, Tax Account Booking, EORI

Duty and import VAT: rates and base

Austria applies the EU's common customs tariff, so find the duty rate in TARIC under the 10-digit code, with any preferential rate for goods with valid proof of origin. Duty is charged on the customs value, normally the price paid plus freight and insurance up to the point where the goods enter the EU (Union Customs Code, Article 71). As in the rest of the EU, the import VAT base is the customs value plus duties and other taxes due on import, plus incidental costs up to the place of destination.

Import VAT follows the Austrian rates. The standard rate is 20%. The 10% rate covers goods such as books, newspapers, magazines and foodstuffs, and the 13% rate goods such as live animals, live plants and firewood. A rate of 4.9% applies to select food items, such as bread, butter, eggs and milk. Example with an assumed duty rate of 4%:

• Customs value, the price plus freight and insurance to the EU border: EUR 10,000.
• Duty at 4%: EUR 400.
• Transport from the point of entry to the buyer in Austria, not in the customs value: EUR 200.
• Import VAT base: 10,000 + 400 + 200 = EUR 10,600; import VAT at 20%: EUR 2,120.
• Paid to customs: EUR 2,520, or only the EUR 400 duty if the importer has the import VAT booked on its tax account.

Booking import VAT on the tax account (section 26(3) UStG)

Under section 26(3)(2) of the Austrian VAT Act (UStG 1994), the tax office rather than customs collects the import VAT when three conditions are met: the import VAT debt arose under Article 77 of the Union Customs Code, the debtor is an entrepreneur registered for VAT in Austria who imports the goods for its business, and the debtor declares in the customs declaration that it uses this rule. The import VAT is then booked on its tax account (Abgabenkonto) and falls due on the 15th of the month after the booking, at the earliest on the 15th of the second month after the VAT period in which it arose, so it can be matched with the input VAT deduction instead of being paid at the border.

For an exporter, this means a VAT-registered Austrian buyer importing on DAP or FCA terms can avoid paying import VAT to customs. If you sell DDP and act as importer yourself, you need an Austrian VAT registration to use it; take Austrian VAT advice first (see Triplicate's note on postponed import VAT in Europe).

EORI and consumer parcels

Since 6 June 2024, EORI registration in Austria has been a self-registration in the Portal Zoll of the Ministry of Finance: legal entities reach it through the business service portal (USP), and natural persons and sole proprietors through FinanzOnline. Economic operators whose registered office is outside the EU customs territory may also register. A seller outside the EU usually needs no EORI if the Austrian buyer or its customs agent declares the goods (see Triplicate's note on EORI numbers).

Sales to Austrian consumers follow the EU rules: for consignments up to EUR 150, VAT can be collected through IOSS or by the marketplace, and from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028 distance sales in these consignments pay a customs duty of EUR 3 per item. EU product rules such as the GPSR and CE marking apply as in the rest of the EU (see Triplicate's guide to exporting to the EU).