GmbH Compliance in Austria: WiEReG, Firmenbuch Filings and the Annual Calendar
Your GmbH's beneficial-owner filings and Firmenbuch deadlines, set out on one dated calendar.
- WiEReG filings
- Disclosure within nine months
- § 283 UGB fines
Disclosure runs from the balance-sheet date, not the calendar year.
What this service covers
A GmbH carries two register duties every year. It reports its beneficial owners under the Beneficial Owners Register Act (WiEReG), and it discloses its annual accounts to the Firmenbuch (company register) court of its seat under § 277 UGB. We file the first, coordinate the second and keep both on one calendar.
We do not keep the books, run payroll, prepare the annual accounts or file tax returns. That work is reserved in Austria to licensed professionals under the BiBuG 2014 and the WTBG 2017. A licensed Bilanzbuchhalter or Steuerberater prepares the accounts, and we coordinate the register filings around them. The tax side is in the GmbH taxation guide.
What's included
The beneficial-owner report
The first WiEReG report, filed electronically through the Business Service Portal (USP) within four weeks of the GmbH's first Firmenbuch entry, where no exemption applies.
Change reports and the annual verification
A new report within four weeks of learning of a change, and the yearly re-verification, reported within four weeks of its due date.
Disclosure of the annual accounts
The electronic filing with the Firmenbuch court of the seat within nine months of the balance-sheet date, with the size-class declaration.
The compliance calendar
One calendar from your balance-sheet date: accounts prepared within five months, adopted within eight, disclosed within nine.
Municipal tax registration
For a GmbH paying wages at an Austrian establishment: the written application for a Kommunalsteuer (municipal tax) account in each municipality concerned.
Who it is for
Taking over a company? See how we handle ready-made GmbH.
Every GmbH
Every GmbH discloses its annual accounts, and either reports its beneficial owners or falls within the exemption.
A GmbH held through a trustee or a company
A GmbH is exempt only if all shareholders are natural persons. A § 2a WiEReG trust or nominee arrangement removes the exemption; see holding GmbH shares through a trustee.
A GmbH with staff in Austria
It owes Kommunalsteuer to each municipality where it pays wages; in Vienna an employer levy (Dienstgeberabgabe) is added.
How the compliance calendar works
Map the dates
From the GmbH's balance-sheet date we set out every deadline: the accounts, the WiEReG filings, and the tax and social-insurance dates.
Report the beneficial owners
Where the GmbH is not exempt, we file within four weeks of its first Firmenbuch entry, and within four weeks of a change, for example after a GmbH capital increase.
Accounts prepared by a licensed professional
A licensed Bilanzbuchhalter or Steuerberater prepares them for the managing directors, who must have them ready within the first five months of the financial year. The general meeting adopts them within eight.
Disclose to the Firmenbuch
We file the accounts electronically with the court of the seat, at the latest nine months after the balance-sheet date (§ 277 UGB).
Verify and roll forward
The yearly WiEReG re-verification is reported within four weeks of its due date. A missed disclosure date triggers the § 283 UGB fines below.
The yearly compliance calendar
Annual accounts, from the balance-sheet date
- Balance-sheet dateevery deadline is mapped from it
- Five monthsaccounts prepared by the managing directors, UGB
- Eight monthsadopted by the general meeting
- Nine monthsdisclosed to the Firmenbuch court, § 277 UGB; missed: § 283 UGB fines
Beneficial owners, WiEReG
Not sure how this applies to your GmbH?
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Documents you will need
- The adopted annual accounts, with the notes
- The management report, where the GmbH must prepare one
- The audit opinion, where the GmbH is audited under § 268 UGB
- The resolution on the appropriation of profit
- The managing directors' declaration of the GmbH's size class
- The twelve-month turnover figure, where the accounts are filed on paper
- Identification details of each beneficial owner, for the WiEReG report
- Any trust or nominee agreement over the GmbH's shares
The annual calendar and the fines for missing it
What falls due each year, with its legal basis. Law as at 28 September 2026.
| Obligation | When | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| First WiEReG report; change reports | Within four weeks of the first Firmenbuch entry or of the end of an exemption; changes within four weeks of becoming aware; filed through USP | WiEReG; exemption lost under § 2a WiEReG |
| Annual WiEReG re-verification | Result reported within four weeks of the due date | WiEReG |
| Annual accounts with notes and, where required, management report | Prepared by the managing directors within the first five months of the financial year | UGB |
| Examination and adoption | By the general meeting within the first eight months of the financial year | WKO (Austrian Economic Chamber) |
| Audit | Before submission to the supervisory board; not required for a small GmbH without a mandatory supervisory board | § 268 UGB |
| Disclosure to the Firmenbuch court of the seat | At the latest nine months after the balance-sheet date, electronically; on paper only where turnover did not exceed EUR 70,000 | § 277 UGB |
| Corporate income tax (KöSt) return | After the end of the calendar year, filed electronically; advance payments take the minimum tax into account | KStG; minimum tax under § 22 Abs. 2 KStG |
| Notice of social insurance for a managing shareholder | Within one month of starting or resuming the trade, to the SVS or the trade authority | Business Service Portal |
| Kommunalsteuer account | Applied for in writing in each municipality where wages are paid at an establishment | Business Service Portal |
| Retention of books, records and vouchers | Seven years from the end of the calendar year concerned | § 132 BAO |
Sources: WiEReG, UGB, KStG and BAO in the Austrian Federal Legal Information System (RIS); Business Service Portal; WKO.
The coercive fines (Zwangsstrafen) for a late disclosure, as § 283 UGB sets them.| Trigger | Consequence under § 283 UGB |
|---|---|
| Day after the disclosure deadline | Penalty order without prior procedure: EUR 700, or EUR 350 for a micro company; objection within 14 days |
| Each further two months unfiled | A further fine, with at least six weeks between orders for the same addressee and balance-sheet date |
| Ordinary range | EUR 700 to EUR 3,600; micro company EUR 350 to EUR 1,800 |
| Medium GmbH | Three times the amounts |
| Large GmbH | Six times the amounts |
| Who is fined | The managing directors and, in parallel, the company itself |
| Accounts filed afterwards | Fines already imposed are still enforced |
Source: § 283 UGB, consolidated text in the Austrian Federal Legal Information System (RIS). Law as at 28 September 2026.
Coercive fines for a late disclosure
- Disclosure deadlinenine months after the balance-sheet date
- Day afterpenalty order without prior procedure: EUR 700, micro company EUR 350; objection within 14 days
- Each further two monthsunfiled: a further fine, at least six weeks between orders
Range and multipliers, § 283 UGB
Fined: each managing director and, in parallel, the company. Fines already imposed are enforced even after the accounts are filed.
Problems we solve
"Nobody told us the accounts had to be published"
The first fine is ordered automatically the day after the deadline, against the managing directors and the company, and it repeats every two months.
"Our shares are held by a trustee, so the register does not concern us"
It does. A § 2a WiEReG trust or nominee arrangement removes the GmbH's reporting exemption, so the GmbH files a full beneficial-owner report.
"We filed late, so the fine should fall away"
It does not: § 283 UGB fines are enforced even after the filing. What else the law puts on a director is in what a GmbH director is liable for.
Ready to put your GmbH's deadlines on one calendar?
Send us the balance-sheet date and the shareholder structure.
Why work with us
Prepared and reviewed by the gmbh-austria.com team. Updated 28 September 2026.
From our practice. The deadline founders abroad most often miss is the disclosure: the accounts are ready, and nobody files them. The first § 283 UGB penalty order then arrives without any prior procedure.
Related services
FAQ
Nobody told us the accounts had to be published. What happens now?
Disclosure is due at the latest nine months after the balance-sheet date (§ 277 UGB). On the day after the deadline the court orders a fine without prior procedure: EUR 700, or EUR 350 for a micro company, against the managing directors and, in parallel, the company. A further fine follows for every two more months without filing.
Does our GmbH have to report its beneficial owners?
Not if all its shareholders are natural persons: the register then takes holders above 25 % from the Firmenbuch, or the managing directors if nobody exceeds 25 %. A § 2a WiEReG trust or nominee arrangement ends the exemption. A reporting GmbH files within four weeks of its first entry, reports changes within four weeks and re-verifies yearly.
Do you keep the books or prepare the annual accounts?
No. Bookkeeping, payroll and the preparation of annual accounts are reserved in Austria to licensed professionals under the BiBuG 2014 and the WTBG 2017, and tax returns to a licensed Steuerberater. A licensed Bilanzbuchhalter or Steuerberater prepares the accounts; we coordinate the WiEReG and Firmenbuch filings around them and keep the calendar.
What are a GmbH's accounting obligations in Austria?
The managing directors prepare the annual accounts, with notes and, where required, a management report, within the first five months of the financial year. The general meeting examines and adopts them within the first eight months. They are audited unless the GmbH is small and needs no supervisory board by law, and disclosed within nine months.
When and how are the annual accounts filed with the Firmenbuch?
At the latest nine months after the balance-sheet date, with the Firmenbuch court of the GmbH's seat (§ 277 UGB). Filing is electronic, and the documents enter the publicly accessible Urkundensammlung (collection of documents). Paper filing is allowed only where turnover in the twelve months before the balance-sheet date did not exceed EUR 70,000, stated with the filing.
Do the accounts still have to be published in a newspaper?
No. The former newspaper-publication duties in § 277 Abs. 2 and 2a UGB were repealed by BGBl. I Nr. 6/2026. What remains is the filing with the Firmenbuch court: the accounts enter the Urkundensammlung, publicly accessible under §§ 33 f FBG. The nine-month deadline and the § 283 UGB fines attach to that filing.
Does a small GmbH need an audit?
Not where it has no mandatory supervisory board. § 268 UGB requires the annual accounts of corporations to be audited before they go to the supervisory board, except small GmbHs that are not required by law to have one. Consolidated accounts are always audited. Where an audit is due, the audit opinion is filed with the accounts.
Which size class does our GmbH fall into?
Two of three criteria decide, with the thresholds raised by BGBl. II Nr. 318/2024. Micro: balance-sheet total EUR 450,000, turnover EUR 900,000, 10 employees. Small: EUR 6.25 m, EUR 12.5 m, 50. Medium: EUR 25 m, EUR 50 m, 250. Above that, large. After a new incorporation the class applies from the first balance-sheet date.
How high are the fines for a medium or large GmbH?
§ 283 UGB sets an ordinary range of EUR 700 to EUR 3,600, and EUR 350 to EUR 1,800 for a micro company. For a medium GmbH the amounts are tripled, for a large one they are multiplied by six. Each fine is imposed on the managing directors and, in parallel, on the company itself.
Can a penalty order be challenged, and does filing late stop the fines?
An objection may be lodged within 14 days of the automatic penalty order. Filing late does not undo the fines: under § 283 UGB they are enforced even if the accounts are filed afterwards. Further orders follow for every two months of non-filing, with at least six weeks between orders for the same addressee and balance-sheet date.
How long must a GmbH keep its books and vouchers?
Seven years under § 132 BAO, and longer while they matter for pending tax proceedings. The period runs from the end of the calendar year of the entry; with a non-calendar financial year, from the end of the calendar year in which it ends. Electronic storage is permitted where the reproduction stays complete, ordered and true to the original.
Does a GmbH with employees owe municipal tax?
Yes, where it pays wages at an Austrian establishment. Kommunalsteuer is owed to each municipality where the GmbH has an establishment, and a tax account must be applied for in writing in each one. In Vienna an employer levy (Dienstgeberabgabe) is payable on top. We file the account applications as part of the calendar.
Do managing shareholders register with the SVS?
A managing shareholder of a GmbH with a trade licence and WKO membership is compulsorily insured from the day of the trade registration, with notice due within one month to the SVS or the trade authority. According to the Business Service Portal, a managing shareholder holding more than 50 % is never insured under the ASVG, so the GSVG applies.
Do you file the GmbH's corporate income tax return?
No, that is work for a licensed Steuerberater. The KöSt (corporate income tax) is assessed after the end of the calendar year on that year's income, and the return is filed electronically. Advance payments are fixed with the minimum tax under § 22 Abs. 2 KStG taken into account. The tax itself is explained in the GmbH taxation guide.
Want your GmbH's filing dates on one calendar?
Send the balance-sheet date and the shareholder list, or write to info@gmbh-austria.com.