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Austria Now News – Austria
Car owners in Austria and anyone planning to buy a new car next year face additional costs, as several changes take effect from 1 January 2027. Chief among them are a higher purchase tax on new petrol and diesel cars, a new tax charge on the private use of electric company cars, and a change to the motorway vignette, according to the newspaper Heute.
Higher NoVA for new cars
The standard consumption tax (Normverbrauchsabgabe), known as NoVA, is levied when buying a new car and is calculated based on CO2 emissions. From January, the deduction amount falls from 91 to 88 grams per kilometre, raising the tax rate on many models by one percentage point. The penalty threshold remains at 155 grams, with 80 euros charged for every gram above it.
For example, for a car with a net price of 30,000 euros and emissions of 136 grams, the tax rises from 2,350 to 2,650 euros, an increase of 300 euros. For a car priced at 40,000 euros with emissions of 163 grams, the tax including the penalty rises from 5,890 to 6,290 euros. Those who sign a written, irrevocable purchase contract by 30 November 2026 and take delivery of the car before 1 April 2027 can, under certain conditions, still benefit from the 2026 values. Fully electric and hydrogen vehicles remain exempt.
Vignette digital-only
The price of the annual car vignette is expected to rise in 2027 to around 108.90 euros instead of 106.80 euros, after the government softened the originally planned increase. More importantly, from 2027 the annual vignette will be sold only in digital form, and the traditional sticker will disappear. According to available information, those who buy the 2027 vignette by 31 December 2026 can still pay the current price.
Electric company cars
The most far-reaching change affects employees who use an electric company car for private purposes. For the first time, a so-called benefit in kind (Sachbezug) of 0.375 percent of the purchase price per month will be applied, capped at 180 euros, rising in 2028 to 0.625 percent with a cap of 300 euros. This also covers cars already in use. For a car costing 42,000 euros, the amount is 157.50 euros per month, subject to income tax and social insurance contributions. Experts estimate the additional burden on a gross salary of 3,000 euros at around 75 to 80 euros net per month, possibly reaching 125 to 130 euros in 2028.
Fuel prices still undecided
It remains unclear how the CO2 price will affect fuel in 2027. The current price is 55 euros per tonne, equivalent to around 15 cents per litre of petrol and 16.5 cents per litre of diesel including tax. Following the postponement of the European emissions trading system ETS 2 to 2028, the Austrian system will remain in force until the end of 2027, although the new price has not yet been set.
Austria Now News – keeping you up to date.
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Sources
- Heute, Neue Regeln kommen! Autofahren wird deutlich teurer, 1 November 2026, https://www.heute.at/s/neue-regeln-kommen-autofahren-wird-deutlich-teurer-120275181
