More money - 5 tips for your tax equalization

Do you already do your annual tax adjustment? Or do you only understand the terms employee assessment, annual adjustment and income-related expenses? Many employees still leave money lying around at the Austrian tax office every year. Some think tax equalization is too complicated and others simply forget to do it. Yet it is so easy to get back the overpaid taxes from the tax office.

We'll show you which forms and documents you need and give you tips on how to get your extra money back!

You will benefit most from your tax equalization if you have had different levels of employment over the past year. Perhaps you worked full-time for a while and then part-time for a few months. Or you may even have taken parental leave. Incidentally, you can do the tax adjustment retrospectively for up to 5 years.

You can of course obtain the L1 form from the Austrian tax office and send in your tax adjustment by good old-fashioned post, but it's quicker online. The best way is to get access to the FinanzOnline portal and submit your employee tax assessment electronically. It's practical, quick and you can calculate how much money you can expect to receive at the touch of a button before submitting your return.

The tax adjustment has a section called "Special expenses". Here you can claim the amounts that you have spent over the year on church tax, for example, or that you have donated. Even if you voluntarily take out higher insurance and have supplementary health insurance, accident insurance or life insurance, for example, you can claim the sums here.

Are you a chef, working in service or at reception and your work clothes are not provided by your company? Then you can include the expenses for this under the heading "work-related expenses". The same applies to specialist books that you have purchased for your job. Are you doing further training to get ahead in your job and paid for the course yourself? Great, you can write the costs in the relevant item under income-related expenses. Important: You must keep the invoices and receipts for these expenses for seven years in case you are subject to a tax audit. Another thing that not everyone knows: you have to collect money in your job and if something is missing in the till, you have to reimburse your employer for the missing money? You can also claim these amounts as income-related expenses. You can find a detailed overview of what else counts as income-related expenses on the website of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Have you been to the dentist and received a proper bill? You can claim the expenses of all medical and pharmacy bills under "Extraordinary expenses".

You can find more general information on tax equalization at www.bmf.gv.at.