Forex Trading Tax in Austria 2026 — Complete Guide

Forex Tax Treatment in Austria

Forex profits are subject to Kapitalertragsteuer (capital gains tax) at a flat rate of 27.5%. This applies to all capital gains including forex. Losses from leveraged products can be offset against gains from the same category. Austrian brokers typically withhold KESt automatically.

Forex and CFD profits are Einkunfte aus Kapitalvermogen (capital income) and taxed at a flat 27.5% KESt. KESt is a final withholding tax for Austrian-domiciled brokers.

Tax Rates Table — Austria EUR

Applicable rates as of April 2026.

What Counts as Taxable?

Most Austria residents need to declare the following types of trading income:

• Realised forex/CFD capital gains. Profits from closing positions during the tax year.
• Dividend-equivalent payments. Cash adjustments paid by your broker on long share-CFD positions when the underlying issues a dividend.
• Carry / swap interest received. Positive overnight financing credited to long carry-trade positions is normally taxable as financial income.
• Cashback, rebates and bonuses. Cash incentives paid by the broker may be reportable as miscellaneous or financial income.
• Crypto CFD profits. Profits from cryptocurrency CFDs are taxed under the same rules as other CFDs (this is different from spot crypto, which usually has its own treatment).
• Foreign exchange differences. Gains or losses from holding foreign-currency balances may need to be reported separately when converted back to your home currency.

Professional vs Retail Trader — Tax Implications

If activity is classified as gewerblich (commercial), profits leave the KESt regime and enter the progressive income tax (Einkommensteuer) up to 55%.

How to Declare Forex Income in Austria

1. 1

   Download your annual statement from each broker (and convert all amounts to EUR using year-end FX rates if your account is in another currency).

2. 2

   Calculate net realised profit or loss for the tax year — buy/sell pairs only (unrealised positions are usually excluded, except for mark-to-market regimes).

3. 3

   Add carry/swap interest, dividend-equivalent payments, and any cashback or rebates.

4. 4

   Open Einkommensteuererklarung — formular E1 with E1kv attachment on the Bundesministerium fur Finanzen / Finanzamt Osterreich portal.

5. 5

   Enter the totals in the capital-gains / investment-income section and indicate the source country of each broker.

6. 6

   Pay any balance owed by the deadline (30 April (paper) or 30 June (FinanzOnline) of the following year) and keep the receipt and broker statements with your records.

Loss Offset Rules

Record Keeping Requirements

Austrian brokers issue an annual Steuerreport. For foreign brokers, traders must compile their own E1kv documentation with EUR-converted gains.

• Annual broker statements (PDF and machine-readable formats)
• Trade-by-trade ledger with timestamps, instrument, and P&L
• Year-end account valuation (mandatory for wealth-tax regimes)
• Proof of any foreign tax already paid, to claim against home liability under double-tax treaties
• FX-conversion rates used to translate amounts into EUR

Tax Reporting Deadlines

Recommended Accountants & Software

FinanzOnline is the official portal. Active traders typically use a Steuerberater for E1kv reporting on foreign-broker accounts.

We do not endorse any single product. For active traders we generally recommend a local advisor who has direct experience with CFD/derivative reporting and any cross-border passporting that applies to your broker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Popular brokers used by Austria traders