ÖAMTC: Austria has the second highest car ownership tax

ÖAMTC: Austria has the second highest car ownership tax

In the climate and environmental discussion, reference is regularly made to the relatively low fuel prices and mineral oil tax rates in Austria compared to neighboring countries. A current study by the EU Commission shows that this is only half the truth: With its engine-related insurance tax, which is constantly levied together with the liability premium and is therefore usually not perceived as a separate tax, Austria is the EU runner-up when it comes to ownership taxes on a new car. says Martin Grasslober, transport economics expert at the mobility club. “However, there are also countries in which there is no ownership tax at all for a new, efficient vehicle.” Incidentally, according to the study, Austria is always among the most expensive countries in the EU when it comes to owning older cars.

Up to 65,000 kilometers per year are necessary to get around cheaper in Austria than in Germany

A current ÖAMTC comparison with Germany also clearly shows that the mineral oil tax alone says nothing about the total tax burden for the car owner. "Although the mineral oil tax in Austria is 17.2 cents lower for a liter of petrol and 7.3 cents lower for diesel than in Germany, due to the engine-related insurance tax, the annual burden for drivers in this country is significantly higher with average use - for example, around 260 euros for a petrol-powered VW Golf and around 180 euros for a Skoda Octavia with a diesel engine," calculates Grasslober. This means: In order to travel cheaper in Austria than in Germany despite lower prices at the pumps, you would have to drive around 37,000 kilometers per year with the Golf and around 65,000 kilometers per year with the Octavia. “This calculation does not even take into account the standard consumption tax, which does not exist at all in Germany,” explains the ÖAMTC expert – then the difference would be even more serious.