Sbg: Secondary residence and vacancy tax under review

Feb 18, 2022 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The provincial government of Salzburg has sent its draft of the so-called "Secondary Residence and Vacancy Tax Act" („Zweitwohnsitz- und Wohnungsleerstandsabgabengesetz“, ZWAG) for review.

The ZWAG authorises the municipalities to levy a municipal tax on secondary homes and flats without a residence (vacancy) (Section 1 ZWAG).

The secondary residence tax can be levied on all dwellings that are not a main residence. Exempted are, among others, dwellings used as main residence, for guest management, for agriculture and forestry (e.g. management of alpine pastures), for educational and professional purposes (as far as there is an urgent need for housing) or for care (Sec. 4 ZWAG).

The person liable to pay the tax on secondary residences is the respective owner or person entitled to building rights, or - if there is one - the tenant or leaseholder (Sec. 5 ZWAG). The amount of the tax is calculated according to the usable floor space. The rate of the tax can be set by the municipality itself - depending on the market value of the properties in the municipality and the financial burden on the municipality due to secondary residences, but not exceeding EUR 100 per year and m² (Sec. 7 ZWAG).

The subject of the vacancy tax are dwellings that are neither registered as main residence nor other residence for more than half of the year (Sec. 9 ZWAG). A number of exceptions are made to this (Sec. 10 ZWAG), e.g:

• Dwellings unfit for use and unusable
• Buildings with up to three flats in which the owners have a main residence
• Company flats
• Second homes and holiday homes
• Inherited flats and retirement flats (at most one per child)

The person liable to pay the vacancy tax is the owner or the person with building rights (Sec. 11). The amount of the tax is calculated according to the usable floor space and the calendar weeks in the year without residence. With regard to the amount (Sec. 13 ZWAG), the same applies as for the second residence tax.

The review period runs until 03.02.2022.

Salzburg Provincial Government, draft opinion