At Remote, we partner with you as the Employer of Record (EoR) for your team in Austria. While we don't directly provide company cars or manage vehicle leases, we offer straightforward ways for you to extend this valuable benefit to your employees. Here’s how:
In this article:
Understanding Company Car Options with Remote
Option A: Offering a Car Allowance
Option B: Reimbursing Vehicle Expenses
Fuel Reimbursements and Mileage Claims
Important Information About Austrian Taxes (and how car benefits are treated)
For Clients: Setting Up Car Benefits in Remote
For Employees: Submitting Your Expense Claims
Frequently Asked Questions
Understanding Company Car Options with Remote
As your EoR in Austria, Remote manages payroll and ensures full compliance with Austrian employment and tax law. While we don’t directly offer company cars, fuel cards, or vehicle leases, you can easily provide similar benefits to your Austrian employees using one of the following two approaches:
Option A: Offering a Car Allowance – A Regular Payment for Vehicle Costs
A car allowance is a fixed monthly amount added to your employee’s salary to help cover vehicle-related expenses.
How it works:
Your Employee Chooses Their Vehicle: They lease, rent, or purchase a car in their own name.
You Set Up the Allowance in Remote:
Go to the “Pay items” tab, select “Allowances,” then “Recurring monthly.”
Enter the gross allowance amount or select “gross-up” to ensure a specific net payout.
Allowance Processed Through Payroll: The allowance is treated as part of regular taxable income. It’s subject to Austrian income tax and social security contributions (both employer and employee portions), which Remote automatically calculates and withholds.
This option is simple, transparent, and requires no additional documentation from the employee each month.
Option B: Reimbursing Vehicle Expenses – Covering Actual Lease or Rental Costs
If you prefer to reimburse employees for specific vehicle-related costs (like a monthly lease), this can be done through the Expenses feature in Remote.
How it works:
Employee Pays and Keeps Records: The employee pays their monthly car lease or rental invoice and retains the receipt.
Employee Submits an Expense Claim:
Log in to Remote → “Expenses” → “Add expense.”
Upload the invoice and select “General expense.”
Enter the amount in EUR.
Client Approves Before Payroll Cut-off: Once approved, the reimbursement will be included in the employee’s next salary payment.
In Austria, reimbursements of this kind are generally considered a taxable benefit, since the car is used privately and the contract is in the employee’s name. Therefore, the reimbursed amount is subject to standard tax and social contributions.
Fuel Reimbursements and Mileage Claims
If your employee uses their personal or leased car for business travel, you can reimburse fuel expenses or mileage costs.
Fuel Reimbursements:
Employees can submit receipts for actual fuel purchases through the “Expenses” section in Remote.
The reimbursement should reflect business-related fuel use only.
These payments are taxable if fuel is also used for private purposes, since the benefit cannot be separated from personal use.
Mileage Claims (Tax-Free Option):
Alternatively, you can reimburse travel using the official Austrian mileage rate instead of actual fuel receipts.
The current tax-free mileage allowance is €0.42 per kilometer for cars used for business trips.
This rate already covers all costs related to fuel, wear and tear, and insurance.
Any reimbursement exceeding the tax-free rate is treated as taxable income.
Mileage claims are typically easier to administer and keep compliant, especially when employees use their personal vehicles for both business and private trips.
Important Information About Austrian Taxes
In Austria, when an employer directly provides a company car for private use, the “Sachbezug” (benefit in kind) rules apply. Typically, 1.5% or 2% of the car’s gross list price (depending on emissions) is added to the employee’s taxable income each month, up to a legal maximum.
However, because in both Option A (Allowance) and Option B (Reimbursement) the vehicle is owned or leased personally by the employee — not by Remote — the Sachbezug rules do not apply.
Instead, any allowance or reimbursement paid is treated as regular taxable income for payroll purposes. Remote automatically ensures that all associated taxes and social contributions are correctly withheld and reported.
For Clients: Setting Up Car Benefits in Remote
Setting Up a Recurring Allowance (Option A):
Go to the “Pay items” tab in Remote.
Select “Allowances.”
Click “Add allowance.”
Choose “Recurring monthly.”
Enter the gross or desired net amount (select “gross-up” if you want Remote to calculate the gross).
Approving Expense Reimbursements (Option B):
Remind employees to submit their lease or rental invoices monthly through the “Expenses” section.
Review and approve claims before the payroll deadline to ensure timely payment.
For Employees: Submitting Your Expense Claims (Option B)
Log in to your Remote account.
Go to “Expenses” → “Add expense.”
Select “General expense.”
Upload your monthly lease or rental invoice (PDF or photo).
Enter the total (gross) amount in EUR and assign it to the correct month.
Click “Submit.” You can track the status under “Pending,” “Approved,” or “Paid.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we reimburse mileage instead of lease payments?
Yes. Use the “Mileage claim” option under “Expenses.” In Austria, the tax-free mileage reimbursement rate for business trips is currently €0.42 per kilometer for cars. Any amount exceeding this rate is taxable.
Can we “gross-up” an expense reimbursement?
No. “Gross-up” applies only to recurring allowances. Expense reimbursements are processed based on the actual submitted amount.
Does Remote provide vehicle insurance?
No. Insurance remains the responsibility of the employee. However, you may set the allowance or reimbursement amount to cover estimated insurance costs.
Will the car allowance affect statutory benefits?
Yes. Since the allowance is considered part of taxable income, it increases the base for social security contributions — including health, pension, unemployment, and accident insurance.
Summary
Providing a car benefit in Austria through Remote is simple and compliant. While Remote doesn’t directly manage vehicles or leases, you can offer employees flexibility and financial support through taxable car allowances or reimbursements, which Remote fully processes through Austrian payroll.
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team.
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