Austria VAT invoice requirements

An Austrian Rechnung follows § 11 of the VAT Act (UStG 1994). Austria asks for the customer's UID on larger invoices and for goods to be named by their usual trade description, and from 1 July 2026 some foods are taxed at 4.9%.

Last checked November 2026Sources

Invoice: Rechnung
VAT number: ATU + 8 digits UID-Nummer [1]
Standard VAT rate: 20% [2]
Simplified invoice: Up to €400 gross [4]
Keep invoices: 7 years [7]
E-invoicing: Federal public buyers only

What an invoice in Austria must show

Every EU VAT invoice carries the details of Article 226 of the VAT Directive: number, dates, both parties, VAT numbers, goods or services, taxable amount per rate, rate and VAT. The overview lists them. Austria adds:

Customer's UID number on invoices over €10,000: If the gross total exceeds €10,000 and a supplier established in Austria supplies another business for its enterprise, the customer's UID number must also be shown. [3]
Date of supply: The date of the supply or service, or the period it covers, is mandatory in addition to the issue date. Even on small-amount invoices a note such as "Rechnungsdatum = Lieferdatum" is needed. [4]
Customary trade description: Goods must be described by quantity and their usual trade name (handelsübliche Bezeichnung); collective terms such as "food" or "office supplies" are not enough. [3]
Reverse-charge note and both UIDs: Reverse-charge invoices must note that the tax liability passes to the recipient (Übergang der Steuerschuld) and show the UID numbers of both supplier and customer; VAT is not shown separately. [5]
Tax amount labelled as VAT: The tax amount must be shown with the label Umsatzsteuer or Mehrwertsteuer; the net amount must be split by tax rate. [3]

VAT rates in Austria

The 4.9% rate is new: it applies from 1 July 2026. Advance payments received before 1 July 2026 generally stay at the old rate; returns of earlier deliveries are corrected at the original rate. An invoice shows the taxable amount and the VAT for each rate it uses [2].

VAT rates in Austria
Rate	Applies to (examples)
20%	Standard rate: everything without a lower rate
13%	Live animals, live plants, firewood, artists' income, film and circus screenings, tickets for sporting events
10%	Food (other than the 4.9% list), books, newspapers and magazines, residential rental, accommodation, campsite rental, waste collection
4.9%	Selected basic foods listed in Annex 3 to the VAT Act, e.g. bread, butter, eggs, milk; restaurant and catering sales are excluded, and bundled items stay at 10%

Issuing and keeping invoices

Currency: An invoice may be issued in another currency, but the VAT amount must then also be stated in euro, converted by a method under § 20(6) UStG; if the euro amount is not yet known, the invoice must state which conversion method is used. Input VAT deduction is based on the euro amount. [6]
When to issue: Invoices to businesses must be issued within 6 months of the supply. Reverse-charge supplies and intra-EU supplies: by the 15th of the calendar month after the supply. [7]
Simplified invoice (Kleinbetragsrechnung): Invoices up to €400 gross (including VAT) are small-amount invoices: the customer's name and address, the sequential invoice number and the UID may be left out, and the VAT amount need not be shown separately; stating the gross amount and the tax rate is enough. Supplier name and address, description, supply date and issue date are still required. [4]
Keeping invoices: The business must keep a copy of each invoice it issues for 7 years. [7]

E-invoicing in Austria

Austria has no B2B or B2C e-invoicing mandate and has announced no next step. E-invoices between businesses need the recipient's agreement; federal public bodies accept only structured e-invoices.

1 January 2014
B2G: suppliers to federal government bodies must send structured e-invoices
Paper invoices are no longer accepted by federal bodies. Submission via USP.gv.at (e-Rechnung.gv.at) or Peppol. States and municipalities may use the same service, but their suppliers currently have no e-invoice obligation. [8]
In force

Good to know for Shopify sellers

Selling into Austria from another EU country? An invoice follows the rules of the country where the supply takes place. If you report your sales to consumers through the One Stop Shop (OSS), the rules of your OSS country apply instead, and when a business customer pays the VAT under the reverse charge, your own country's rules apply [11].

Small-business exemption (Kleinunternehmerregelung): since 1 January 2025 the limit is €55,000 of turnover a year (previously €35,000 net). Exceeding it by no more than 10% keeps the exemption until year end. [9]
A small business that shows VAT on an invoice despite the exemption owes that VAT to the tax office unless it corrects the invoice. [9]
For intra-EU transactions all required invoice details must always be given; the small-amount simplification does not apply. [7]
Food sellers: check each product against Annex 3 to the VAT Act since 1 July 2026; only listed foods get 4.9%, others stay at 10%. [10]

Make an invoice for Austria

For a one-off sale, the free invoice generator lays out seller, buyer, VAT per line and the reverse charge note in your browser and saves a PDF. Add the national details listed above yourself.

For every Shopify order, Paperly: Invoice Order Printer builds the invoice from the order with the totals Shopify recorded, numbers invoices without gaps in your own series, issues a credit note for each refund that refers to the invoice, and keeps issued invoices unchanged for 10 years. When you enter your VAT number, the PDF carries Factur-X / ZUGFeRD XML (EN 16931).

Open the invoice generator Install Paperly on Shopify

Sources

Every fact on this page links to one of these pages, published by the national tax authority, the official law gazette or the European Commission. Last checked November 2026.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and your case may differ: check the tax authority’s current guidance or ask an accountant before you rely on it.

Invoice rules in the other EU countries

The EU baseline every country starts from is on the overview page.