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Austrian Tax Amendment Law

Please note this information does not constitute any legal or tax advice.

The Austrian Tax Amendment Law 2020 requires all sellers who have a VAT obligation in Austria to provide their VAT registration number to AbeBooks by December 31, 2020 to avoid any interruption of service. This information needs to be kept up to date as it is reported to the Austrian Tax Authority on a yearly basis. 

While there are many actions that generate an Austrian VAT registration requirement, three of the most common for sellers on AbeBooks are:

  • You are established in Austria, ship goods to Austrian customers from Austria, and your total sales per year across all sales channels exceeds €30,000.
  • You are established outside Austria and store goods in Austria for sale to customers.
  • You ship goods to customers in Austria, delivered from another European country (not Austria), and the value of these sales exceed €35,000 in the current or prior year.

If you have registered for VAT in Austria but only received an Austrian Tax ID (“steuernummer”) from the authorities, please contact AbeBooks Customer Support.

If you are not required to be VAT registered in Austria, you can provide your primary VAT registration number and confirm that any VAT numbers previously provided in your AbeBooks account are accurate and valid.

Submitting your VAT number

You can submit your tax registration numbers directly through your Members Menu

  1. Sign into your AbeBooks.com seller account using your verified email address and password
  2. Click on Account Details under the ‘My Personal Information’ header
  3. Click Tax Registration Number on the ‘Manage my account’ page
  4. Click Add a VAT/GST Number to add a new tax ID or Edit next to any existing IDs
  5. Submit your changes once completed

Please ensure the information provided is correct and valid. AbeBooks cannot enter this information on your behalf.

How do I obtain an Austrian VAT registration number?

You are required to submit an application form to the Austrian Tax Office. If you are a legally-established seller in Austria, your local tax office will issue your Austrian VAT registration number. If you are based outside Austria, the Graz-Stadt tax office will issue your Austrian VAT registration number. Further information can be found on the Austrian Tax Authority website.

What do I do if I am not required to be VAT registered in Austria?

If you are not required to be VAT registered in Austria, please ensure that you have uploaded a VAT registration number held from another EU Member State on our Tax Registration Number page. For example, if you have a German VAT number, you canupload it to the Germany section if it has not already been provided.