The Austrian tax authorities have confirmed that from fiscal year 2020, insurance companies writing in Austria both from their head office and their network of branches will be required to file single Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) and Fire Protection Tax (FPT) returns. This means that making separate IPT and FPT filings for branches will no longer be possible and insurance companies will need to ensure they can report their premium taxes accordingly.
The 2019 annual returns, due by the 30 April 2020, will not be affected by this change as it will be the last year insurance companies will be able to declare their branches’ premium taxes separately. However, as the payment of IPT and FPT is paid monthly in Austria, all payments starting with the January 2020 tax period will need to be made under the head office tax ID.
