Image: WKOÖ
One-person companies (EPU) and companies with fewer than five employees are granted “special tax treatment” compared to larger companies in order to keep the bureaucratic effort low. This depends on so-called value limits, which must not be exceeded.
For example, the preparation of annual financial statements (accounting obligation) is only necessary if the company posts sales of more than 700,000 euros twice in a row or more than one million euros once.
According to Doris Hummer, President of the Upper Austria. Chamber of Commerce (WKOÖ), an upward adjustment of such value limits is necessary. Due to the high inflation, companies often exceed this, “although the small business character does not change in any way,” Hummer said at a press conference in Linz on Monday. The above-mentioned limit for the obligation to keep accounts is to be raised to EUR 1 million if it is exceeded twice and to EUR 1.3 million if it is exceeded once.
In addition, Hummer calls for the key figures for the distinction between small and medium-sized corporations to be raised. In the future, companies with a balance sheet total of up to six million euros (currently five million) and sales of up to twelve million euros (currently ten) will be considered small businesses. This saves many companies the obligatory and costly annual audits for medium-sized corporations (costs from 10,000 euros).
Furthermore, according to Hummer, the thresholds for the tax exemption of participation in company events and benefits for employees at these (currently 365 euros or 186 euros per employee and year) are to be raised.
Economic factor EPU
The EPU industry spokesman for the WKOÖ, Michael Stingeder, drew attention to the currently difficult situation of the EPU. These are currently “demanded in several respects” by high energy and raw material prices. That is why the bureaucratic relief resulting from the increase in said value limits is “urgently necessary” for EPU.
There are around 52,000 EPUs in Upper Austria, which is around 61 percent of all companies in the state. Most EPUs can be found in trade and commerce (66.9 of all companies). More than half of the Upper Austrian EPU (52.8 percent) are managed by women.
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