Doing Business 2019 Austria Economy Profile Austria Page 1 Doing Business 2019 Austria Economy Profile of Austria Doing Business 2019 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction permits Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, and the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time, total tax and contribution rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality Page 2 Doing Business 2019 Austria About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local firms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more efficient regulation; offers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business offers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in different cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The first Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has benefited from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Page 3 Doing Business 2019 Austria Ease of Doing Business in Region OECD high income DB 2019 Rank 190 1 Austria Income Category High income 26 DB 2019 Ease of doing business score Population 8,809,212 0 100 City Covered Vienna 78.57 DB 2019 Ease of Doing Business Score 0 100 78.90: Germany (Rank: 24) 78.57: Austria (Rank: 26) 77.80: Regional Average (OECD high income) 77.29: France (Rank: 32) 76.10: Czech Republic (Rank: 35) 73.95: Belgium (Rank: 45) Note: The ease of doing business score captures the gap of each economy from the best regulatory performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s ease of doing business score is reflected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest and 100 represents the best performance. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Austria 1 1 10 21 28 32 28 33 42 40 55 85 82 Rank 109 118 136 163 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Ease of Doing Business Score on Doing Business topics - Austria 100.00 100 87.72 83.21 83.45 79.97 80 75.49 77.47 75.08 68.33 Score 60 55.00 40 20 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Page 4 Doing Business 2019 Austria Starting a Business This topic measures the number of procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital requirement for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in each economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times the income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and formally operate To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the a company (number) business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay no bribes. • Preregistration (for example, name verification or reservation, notarization) The business: • Registration in the economy’s largest business - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than one type city of limited liability company in the economy, the most common among domestic firms • Postregistration (for example, social security is chosen. Information on the most common form is obtained from incorporation registration, company seal) lawyers or the statistical office. - Operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are • Obtaining approval from spouse to start a also collected for the second largest business city. business or to leave the home to register the - The entire office space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). company - Is 100% domestically owned and has five owners, none of whom is a legal entity; • Obtaining any gender specific document for has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a turnover of at least company registration and operation or national 100 times income per capita. identification card - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does not perform foreign trade Time required to complete each procedure activities and does not handle products subject to a special tax regime, for example, (calendar days) liquor or tobacco. It does not use heavily polluting production processes. • Does not include time spent gathering - Leases the commercial plant or offices and is not a proprietor of real estate and the information amount of the annual lease for the office space is equivalent to the income per capita. • Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special benefits. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of • Procedures fully completed online are recorded operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. as ½ day - Has a company deed that is 10 pages long. • Procedure is considered completed once final The owners: document is received - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, they are • No prior contact with officials assumed to be 30 years old. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. income per capita) - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. - Where the answer differs according to the legal system applicable to the woman or • Official costs only, no bribes man in question (as may be the case in economies where there is legal plurality), the • No professional fees unless services required by answer used will be the one that applies to the majority of the population. law or commonly used in practice Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) • Funds deposited in a bank or with third party before registration or up to 3 months after incorporation Page 5 Doing Business 2019 Austria Starting a Business - Austria Standardized Company Legal form Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH) Paid-in minimum capital requirement EUR 5,000 City Covered Vienna Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Procedure – Men (number) 8 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 21 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 4.8 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Procedure – Women (number) 8 4.9 1 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 21 9.3 0.5 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 4.8 3.1 0.0 (Slovenia) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 11.9 8.6 0.0 (117 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Starting a Business Score 0 100 93.27: France (Rank: 30) 93.03: Belgium (Rank: 33) 91.19: Regional Average (OECD high income) 83.58: Germany (Rank: 114) 83.56: Czech Republic (Rank: 115) 83.21: Austria (Rank: 118) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Page 6 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Starting a Business in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 5 20 Cost (% of income per capita) 4 15 Time (days) 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 *8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 7 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Starting a Business in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain the confirmation from the Economic Chamber that the start-up 1 day no charge company is really a new enterprise Agency : Economic Chamber A form (NeuFö2), which is available electronically on the homepage of the Austrian Ministry of Finance must be filled in and be confirmed by the Economic Chamber. The Neufö applies to the company formation and to the transfer of businesses. Procedure 1 is optional but it can lead to exemption from paying certain publicly levied fees and taxes. If certain requirements are met, the following fees and taxes will be waived: • Stamp duties and certain administrative fees. • Real estate transfer tax. • Charges for registration in the commercial register and the cadastral register. • For 1 year, certain ancillary wage costs borne by the employer in addition to social security contributions. Depending on the requested exemptions, companies must obtain confirmation by certain public bodies (Chamber of Commerce or Social Security Organization) that the application form has been completed, after receiving counseling by that body concerning the scope and applicability of the law. 2 Notarize the statutes/articles of association or the declaration of 1 day About EUR 2,000. establishment There is an official Agency : Notary fee schedule The articles of association (Gesellschaftsvertrag), which must be executed (“Notariatstarifgesetz” before a notary by notary deed (Notariatsakt), must include the following: name, ) which is regarded seat, scope of activities, capital and initial contribution by each shareholder. as a maximum Cost will depend on the authorized share capital and are subject to negotiation amount for notary with the notary public. fees. The notary fees are usually subject to negotiations. 3 Deposit the minimum capital requirement 1 day no charge Agency : Bank or notary The confirmation fee depends on the bank, ranging from EUR 0 to about EUR 30. 4 Register the company at the local court (Handelsgericht) 6 days EUR 34 Agency : Local Commercial Court The application for registering an Austrian limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH) must be accompanied by the following documents: -Declaration of establishment notarized; -Articles of association; -A declaration (accompanied by a banker's confirmation) that the demanded amount of primary deposit, to be paid in cash, has been paid; -Evidence that the free disposability of the paid primary deposit by managing directors is not restricted by counterclaims; -Specimen signatures of the managing directors; If the court has doubts about the company name, it may request an opinion from the Chamber of Commerce. A GmbH comes into legal existence upon registration in the commercial registry. The fixed application fee (court fee) amounts to EUR 34; individual service fees, depending on the information to be registered, apply. Public notaries and lawyers are obliged to file any petition as well as related documents, deeds, etc. in electronic form. Otherwise the cost in paper is EUR 52. Since January 15, 2018, all Austrian legal entities are required to disclose information about beneficial owners. Limited liability companies are exempted from the notification if all partners are natural persons. If no shareholder holds more than 25% of shares, the managing directors registered in the commercial register will be registered by the Federal Institute of Statistics Austria as beneficial owners. If another natural person exercises direct or indirect control over the management of the limited liability company, the limited liability company shall report it in accordance with the Austrian Beneficial Register Act. Page 8 Doing Business 2019 Austria 5 Tax Office registration (obtain a VAT number) 12 days no charge Agency : Tax Office The commercial register automatically informs tax authorities of the registration of new companies. In turn, tax authorities usually respond by requesting that the company file for tax registration. Registration is not available online, several forms must be printed, filled out, and sent by postal mail together with the articles of association, the opening balance sheet, an excerpt of the company register, an identification card of a managing director, and a specimen signature sheet of the representatives. The VAT number is usually issued simultaneously with the tax identification number. The statutory deadline to obtain a tax number is 1 month. Frequently tax authorities extend an introductory visit to those companies intending to engage in business activities that are eligible for the filing of VAT returns. Once registered companies can submit all of their tax returns online, via the website: https://finanzonline.bmf.gv.at/ 6 Register trade (Gewerbeanmeldung) with the trade authority Less than one day no charge if (Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde) (online procedure, exemption is granted Agency : Trade authority simultaneous with under Procedure 1; If permission is mandatory, completion of procedures takes longer, depending on previous procedure) otherwise stamp the requirements and authorities involved (e. g., the production of hazardous duties vary goods requires proof of special qualifications of management and approval and control of the production site). Companies can register in person, by postal mail, depending on the or online. type of trade intended and whether the trade and/or profession only requires registration or it requires permission by authorities (i.e. particular professional qualification must be proven). 7 Register employees for social security Less than one day no charge Agency : Social Security (online procedure, Upon registering in the commercial register, companies with employees must simultaneous with apply for an employer's account number (Dienstgeberkontonummer) previous procedure) electronically via ELDA, the data transmission interface of the statutory health insurance office (Gebietskrankenkasse). In practice, the employer applies for a new account number via ELDA (under the menu item, Online-Services [Kontonummeranforderung]) before a new employee is registered with the statutory health insurance office. Health insurance is obligatory: every new employee must be electronically registered with the statutory health insurance office prior to and no later than the day of employment. Unless the company does not own a computer, the employee must be registered via ELDA. Moreover, the employer must automatically extend obligatory health insurance upon entry. On being registered with the statutory health insurance office, the employee is automatically registered for accident insurance and retirement insurance as provided by law. No further registration is needed. By data transmission, the employee is immediately registered with the competent statutory health insurance office (social insurance office). The employer instantly receives a “sent” report and a confirmation of registration. 8 Register with the municipality 1 day, no charge Agency : Municipality (simultaneous with Municipalities levy community taxes on all businesses. In addition, particular previous procedure) activities (e.g., organizing a public event) may trigger municipal stamp duties or other minor duties and taxes. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 9 Doing Business 2019 Austria Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required notifications, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certification requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) construction company, the warehouse project and the utility connections are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The construction company (BuildCo): all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second • Submitting all required notifications and receiving largest business city. all necessary inspections - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has five owners, none of whom is a • Obtaining utility connections for water and legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both registered with sewerage the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed experts, such as geological or • Registering and selling the warehouse after its topographical experts. completion - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse Time required to complete each procedure upon its completion. (calendar days) The warehouse: • Does not include time spent gathering - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or stationery. information - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of • Each procedure starts on a separate day— approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each floor will be 3 though procedures that can be fully completed meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of approximately online are an exception to this rule 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the • Procedure is considered completed once final warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. document is received - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as obtaining further • No prior contact with officials documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and income per capita) regulatory requirements). • Official costs only, no bribes The water and sewerage connections: Building quality control index (0-15) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer tap. If there • Quality of building regulations (0-2) is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be • Quality control before construction (0-1) installed or built. • Quality control during construction (0-3) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an average • Quality control after construction (0-3) wastewater flow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater flow of 1,136 liters (300 • Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) gallons) a day. • Professional certifications (0-4) - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater flow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Page 10 Doing Business 2019 Austria Dealing with Construction Permits - Austria Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse EUR 2,102,570.60 City Covered Vienna Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Procedures (number) 11 12.7 None in 2017/18 Time (days) 222 153.1 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of warehouse value) 1.2 1.5 None in 2017/18 Building quality control index (0-15) 13.0 11.5 15.0 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Dealing with Construction Permits Score 0 100 79.30: France (Rank: 19) 78.16: Germany (Rank: 24) 75.42: Belgium (Rank: 38) 75.41: Regional Average (OECD high income) 75.08: Austria (Rank: 42) 56.20: Czech Republic (Rank: 156) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of warehouse value) 0.45 200 0.4 Cost (% of warehouse value) 0.35 150 0.3 Time (days) 0.25 100 0.2 0.15 50 0.1 0.05 0 0 1 *2 *3 *4 *5 *6 7 8 9 10 * 11 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 11 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 15 14.0 13.0 12.0 11.5 Index score 9.5 10 8.0 5 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain industrial operating permit 80 days EUR 300 Agency : Vienna City Administration In Austria industrial operating permits (plant permits) are required when the plant (i) could endanger the lives, health or property of neighbors or employees of the plant; (ii) could cause inconvenience to neighbors with respect to noise, dust, smoke or other pollution; (iii) could cause inconvenience to public institutions such as churches, schools, hospitals; or (iv) could possibly endanger the quality of water. When issuing a industrial operating permits, the relevant authority usually imposes a number of conditions that the owner of the plant needs to fulfill during its operation. The plant permit is not obligatory required prior to obtaining a construction permit. However, it might be helpful obtaining the plant permit before obtaining a construction permit as the plant permit (potentially) will set out several requirements that should be considered in respect of the construction permit. 2 Obtain approval of heat and noise insulation 30 days EUR 5,000 Agency : Independent Expert - Insulation Engineering This approval is issued by an insulation engineering expert. BuildCo must hire a third-party specialist to conduct this work. 3 Obtain proof of land ownership 0.5 days EUR 14 Agency : Land Registry BuildCo must obtain and submit with the building permit request a proof of land ownership that is not older than 3 months. This can be obtained online via certain authorized/registers companies' websites. 4 Obtain expert opinion on structural engineering 11 days EUR 5,000 Agency : Independent Expert - Structural Engineering The company must request this opinion from an independent expert. 5 Obtain energy pass (energieausweiss) 10 days EUR 700 Agency : Independent Expert - Energy Engineering Following the Directive of European Union 2002/91/EC the practice of requiring the so called “Energy Pass” (Energieausweiss) by the Municipality of Vienna has become compulsory for all projects as of January 2009. The energy pass is required when applying for the building permit at the relevant authority of City of Vienna. There are officially licensed companies and individual engineers that issue the energy pass. The prices may range, however on average it is EUR 700.00 for a building with overall size of 1300.6 sq. m. This procedure will normally take between 1-2 weeks to complete. 6 Receive on-site inspection prior to issuance of building permit 1 day EUR 46 Agency : Municipal Building Inspection (Baupolizei; MA 37) A physical inspection occurs before a building permit is issued. The inspection fee is EUR 7.63 per half hour. The inspection is estimated at 3 hours. The Building Inspection (MA 37) of the City of Vienna is provided upon approval of construction projects and is responsible for monitoring of buildings, orderly expansion of the city, and ensuring the safety of citizens. 7 Hire a licensed engineer for construction supervision 1 day EUR 4,800 Agency : Private licensed engineer (Prüfingenieur) BuildCo has to hire an external supervising engineer to supervise the entire construction process. The supervising engineer will visit the construction site at least once per week to ensure that the construction is in line with the relevant construction regulations. The engineers usually charge between EUR 120 - EUR 200 per hour of work. Page 12 Doing Business 2019 Austria 8 Obtain building permit 80 days EUR 300 Agency : Municipal Building Inspection (Baupolizei; MA 37) The construction must begin within 4 years of the date of issue, and be completed within and additional 4 years after the start of construction. Documents required for a building permit: • Application for building permit • Approval of the land ownership of registered land • Current Land Registry copy (not older than three months) • An energy performance certificate (in electronic form) and proof of noise control, heat and sound insulation • For new, additions or modifications: confirmation of the plan or author's plan • Demonstration of compliance with the parking requirement • Static concept or preliminary design including foundations for smaller construction projects report that insignificance of the project for structural reasons, where no risk is due to the (experts or expert) • Confirmation of the principles of accessible design and construction • Design concept for garden areas of the site, for new buildings for construction class III • Proving the availability of sufficient water for firefighting on the plan; information on hydrants • Locations for waste receptacles • For enterprises that are under the Seveso II Directive: documentation of the risks • Required documents for architectural review of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design (MA 19) If it is determined that the subjective rights of neighbors are affected, a public hearing must be held. The cost for a public hearing amount to EUR 7.36 per half hour. 9 Request and receive on-site inspection prior to commencement of 1 day no charge construction Agency : Municipal Building Inspection (Baupolizei; MA 37) Municipal Building Inspection performs a physical inspection before the start of construction. The building inspection during construction is done by the building supervisor of the company. However, if any irregularities take place during the construction, the civil engineer appointed by the municipality will come to the site. 10 Request and obtain water and sewage connection 60 days EUR 8,478 Agency : Vienna Water Works The municipal authority provides both water and sewerage connections. The request can be made online, but service delivery takes 60 days. Notify the municipal authority about completion of construction works 1 day EUR 22 11 Agency : Municipal Building Inspection (Baupolizei; MA 37) Upon completion of construction work, BuildCo must provide the municipal authority with a notification of completion. The notification must be certified by a civil engineer and include several reports. The cost is EUR 22 if no changes to the building design were made, and EUR 50 if there were changes. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 13 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) 13.0 Quality of building regulations index (0-2) 2.0 How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Available online; 1.0 Free of charge. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly specified in the building List of required 1.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) documents; Fees to be paid; Required preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) 0.0 Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in By law, there is 0.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) no need to verify plans compliance; Civil servant reviews plans. Quality control during construction index (0-3) 2.0 What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during construction? Inspections by 1.0 (0-2) external engineer or firm; Inspections at various phases. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 1.0 inspections are always done in practice. Quality control after construction index (0-3) 3.0 Is there a final inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in accordance Yes, external 2.0 with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) engineer submits report for final inspection. Do legally mandated final inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 1.0 always occurs in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) 2.0 Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural flaws or problems in the building Architect or 1.0 once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover possible Architect or 1.0 structural flaws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability Insurance engineer; or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) Construction company; Insurance is commonly taken in practice. Professional certifications index (0-4) 4.0 Page 14 Doing Business 2019 Austria What are the qualification requirements for the professional responsible for verifying that the Minimum number 2.0 architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building regulations? (0-2) of years of experience; University degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer; Passing a certification exam. What are the qualification requirements for the professional who supervises the construction Minimum number 2.0 on the ground? (0-2) of years of experience; University degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer; Passing a certification exam. Page 15 Doing Business 2019 Austria Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tariffs and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (number) warehouse, the electricity connection and the monthly consumption are used. • Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. • Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are receiving all necessary inspections also collected for the second largest business city. • Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is in an purchasing material for these works area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not near a railway. - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the first time. • Concluding any necessary supply contract and - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square meters obtaining final supply (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 square meters Time required to complete each procedure (10,000 square feet). (calendar days) The electricity connection: • Is at least 1 calendar day - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed • Each procedure starts on a separate day capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). • Does not include time spent gathering information - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or underground, whichever is more • Reflects the time spent in practice, with little common in the area where the warehouse is located and requires works that involve follow-up and no prior contact with officials the crossing of a 10-meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property Cost required to complete each procedure (% of because the warehouse has access to a road. income per capita) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has • Official costs only, no bribes already been completed up to and including the customer’s service panel or switchboard and the meter base. • Value added tax excluded The monthly consumption: The reliability of supply and transparency of tariffs index (0-8) - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 • Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy • Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. • Tools to restore power supply (0–1) - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the cheapest supplier. • Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance (0–1) - Tariffs effective in January of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although January has 31 days, for calculation • Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) purposes only 30 days are used. • Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* • Price based on monthly bill for commercial warehouse in case study *Note: Doing Business measures the price of electricity, but it is not included in the ease of doing business score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 16 Doing Business 2019 Austria Getting Electricity - Austria Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 9.8 Name of utility Wiener Netze GmbH City Covered Vienna Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Procedures (number) 5 4.5 3 (25 Economies) Time (days) 23 77.2 18 (3 Economies) Cost (% of income per capita) 88.6 64.2 0.0 (3 Economies) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 7 7.5 8.0 (27 Economies) Figure – Getting Electricity in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Electricity Score 0 100 98.79: Germany (Rank: 5) 95.36: Czech Republic (Rank: 10) 92.01: France (Rank: 14) 87.72: Austria (Rank: 28) 85.47: Regional Average (OECD high income) 67.31: Belgium (Rank: 112) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the scores for all the component indicators except the price of electricity. Page 17 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Getting Electricity in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of income per capita) 100 20 Cost (% of income per capita) 80 15 Time (days) 60 10 40 5 20 0 0 1 *2 3 4 *5 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8 8 8 8 8 7.5 7 7 6 Index score 5 4 3 2 1 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Page 18 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Getting Electricity in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Submit application to Wiener Netze GmbH and await estimate 14 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : Wiener Netze GmbH An application can be submitted online, in person or by mail. There are no costs associated with the application. An assumption of the technical relevant values, like active and reactive power has to be attached to the application. 2 Receive external inspection by Wiener Netze GmbH 9 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : Wiener Netze GmbH An external site inspection is necessary. The waiting time is usually a few days. Someone from the customer’s party has to be present. 3 Submit completion notification for internal wiring and obtain clearance 3 calendar days EUR 24 Agency : Wiener Netze GmbH The customer needs to obtain a clearance for the internal wiring installation from the network operator Wiener Netze GmbH in order to get an electricity connection (“Fertigstellungsanzeige”). The electrician who installed the internal wiring has to complete a completion notification (electrician completion notification) by sending a note to Wiener Netze GmbH proving that the internal wiring is complying with security and safety standards. This clearance is done automatically, meaning the client does not have to go and pick it up, it is processed electronically. The connection contract will be concluded after the clearance. 4 Obtain external works and meter installation by Wiener Netze GmbH 6 calendar days EUR 37,233.4 Agency : Wiener Netze GmbH The external works start immediately after signing the contract. The utility carries out the external work, providing the required material to build a new transformer on the private ground of the customer. The meter gets installed at the same time. The utility installs the meter and is the owner of it. Electricity starts flowing immediately if a contract with a supplier of electricity has been signed. The connection fees in Austria are composed of two parts: 1) Fee for accessing the net ("Netzzutrittsentgelt") which includes all costs such as labor and material cost. The utility installs standard transformers of 360kVA. In the case of a 140kVA connection, the customer would pay about half the cost of the transformer and the remaining capacity would be used by other customers. 2) Fee for using the net ("Netzbereitstellungsentgelt" at Netzebene 6). With a power connection of 140kVA, the customer is automatically on Level 6, meaning the customer owns the connection to the transformer and is directly connected to the low tension side of the transformer. There are meter installation costs. 5 Sign supply contract with an electricity supplier 2 calendar days EUR 0 Agency : Wien Energie Vertrieb GmbH & CO KG, or another energy supplier The Distribution System Operator (Wiener Netze GmbH) only provides network services, so the customer needs to conclude a contract with a supplier in order to receive electricity. The customer can choose the electricity supplier of his/her choice – the largest supplier for the Vienna area is Wien Energie Vertrieb GmbH & Co KG, but any other supplier can also be chosen. The supply contract can be concluded already before the external connection works are finished. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 19 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Getting Electricity in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index (0-8) 7 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 3 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) 0.7 System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) 0.7 What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI 3.0 Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? Yes Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 1 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? Yes Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on reliability of Yes supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face fines by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tariffs and tariff changes (0-1) 1 Are effective tariffs available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online https://www.e- control.at/ Are customers notified of a change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Page 20 Doing Business 2019 Austria Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the immovable property (number) parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. • Preregistration procedures (for example, The parties (buyer and seller): checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. For 11 • Registration procedures in the economy's largest economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. business city. - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. • Postregistration procedures (for example, filling - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. title with municipality) - Perform general commercial activities. Time required to complete each procedure The property (fully owned by the seller): (calendar days) - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. • Does not include time spent gathering - Is fully owned by the seller. information - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for the past 10 years. • Each procedure starts on a separate day - - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title disputes. though procedures that can be fully completed online are an exception to this rule - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters (6,000 • Procedure is considered completed once final square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is document is received located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in good condition, has no • No prior contact with officials heating system and complies with all safety standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its Cost required to complete each procedure (% of entirety. property value) - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical monuments of • Official costs only (such as administrative fees, any kind. duties and taxes). - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for • Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural payments are excluded activities, are required. - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Quality of land administration index (0-30) • Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) • Transparency of information index (0–6) • Geographic coverage index (0–8) • Land dispute resolution index (0–8) • Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Page 21 Doing Business 2019 Austria Registering Property - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Procedures (number) 3 4.7 1 (4 Economies) Time (days) 20.5 20.1 1 (New Zealand) Cost (% of property value) 4.6 4.2 0.0 (Saudi Arabia) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 23.0 23.0 None in 2017/18 Figure – Registering Property in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Registering Property Score 0 100 79.97: Austria (Rank: 32) 79.74: Czech Republic (Rank: 33) 77.17: Regional Average (OECD high income) 65.70: Germany (Rank: 78) 63.33: France (Rank: 96) 51.41: Belgium (Rank: 143) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of property value) 5 20 Cost (% of property value) 4 15 Time (days) 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 3 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a different procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://doingbusiness.org/en/methodology). For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary below. Page 22 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Registering Property in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 30 25.0 24.0 25 23.0 22.5 23.0 22.0 Index score 20 15 10 5 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Details – Registering Property in Austria – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedures Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Obtain a land registry extract from either the competent District Court, a Less than one day, EUR 14.4; (For an notary public or an attorney-at-law online electronic uncertified Agency : District Court, Notary public or Attorney-at-law land registry extract Before purchasing a property, the buyer inspects the government land register the fees are EUR for any legal requirements, rights and restrictions including the seller’s ownership 3.56 per lot. For a title, mortgages, liens, pre-emption rights, rights of way, canals, lines, brooks. certified land registry extract, obtained from The extract from the government land register will contain that information about a District Court, the any Austrian property and can be obtained at any district court [Bezirksgericht] or fees are EUR 14.40.) mapping office [Vermessungsamt]. Public notaries, lawyers and other people or authorities dealing with the transaction of property also have access to the property database. 2 Authenticate signatures and authorization of representatives, and property 3 days EUR 96,988.05; acquisition tax clearance from the notary (EUR 134.90 per Agency : Notary signature + 3.5% of property value At the notaries office the parties can combine three steps: (transfer tax) + 1.1% 1. The signatures of seller and buyer must be authenticated on the contract. That of property value can be done by the notary or in court. Fees for signature authentication is set in (Registration fee)) the Act on Fees of Public Notaries, last amended by the regulation Federal Law Gazetta BGBI II NR 218/2010. Court fees may differ slightly to the notary’s. Provided that more than one signature should be authenticated in one document (e.g. sales agreement), the costs for the further signature amount to 50% of the costs stated. 2. In case of a corporation as seller or buyer the authorization of the signing representatives must be proven, and this is done together with the authentication of the signatures; otherwise a certified excerpt out of the business register produced by the High Court (Landesgericht) must be presented to the Land Book. 3. The parties must pay the Property Acquisition Tax or Transfer Tax (Grunderwerbssteuer) which, in this case, amounts to 3.5 % of the purchase price. They must present to the Land Register a clearance certificate (Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung) furnished by the tax authorities certifying that the tax was paid (time to complete: tax assessment will last about 4 weeks; to get the certificate after paying the tax further 2 weeks; no extra costs). This clearance certificate may be substituted by a self-assessment declaration (Selbstbemessungserklärung) filed by a notary or a lawyer (attorney at law/solicitor) if the tax is paid to the notary or lawyer who cooperates with the tax authorities. The notary public or the attorney-at-law usually issues the clearance certificate stating that the real estate transfer tax (3.5% of the purchase price) and registration fee for the Land Register (1.1% of the purchase price) have been paid. The registration fee for the Land Register rises from 1% to 1.1 % of the purchase price due to the regulation Federal Law Gazetta BGBI I Nr 111/2010 and is effective as of January 01, 2011. The certificate will be issued immediately after the notary or lawyer has received the amount of the real estate transfer tax and registration fee. The money for the purchase and the taxes is given to the notary/lawyer on a trust account. The parties may set up the contract themselves or use a standard template. In late 2005, the Act concerning “Changes in the vocational law of notary public, attorneys-at-law and civil engineers” was announced, providing for the use of electronic signatures which are to be submitted electronically to the courts. This Act has therefore created the legal basis for online registration and electronic notarial attestation. This reform is effective as of July 1, 2007. Page 23 Doing Business 2019 Austria 3 File the application at the competent District Court (Land Registry) 17 days EUR 44; (EUR 44 (if Agency : District Court (Land Registry) the application and all As of November 1, 2009, applications to transfer and register a property are deeds are submitted required to be submitted electronically via an online data-exchange system called via Web ERV) or WebERV. The WebERV is an online-based form of communication between the EUR 60 (if the courts, notaries and lawyers for submission of claims, briefs and applications and delivery of court transcripts, orders and decisions. This system provides application and all standardized masks and forms for various kinds of applications such as deeds are not registration of the ownership, registration of mortgages, precedence submitted via (Vorrangeinräumung) and cancelations. Documentation on the fact that the WebERV)) company is owned by Austrian or European Community citizens. This system is effective as of November 1, 2009 and is provided for by the "Grundbuchs-Novelle 2008" (Land Registry Amendment 2008), Federal Law Gazetta Part 1 No. 100/2008 (BGB1 I 100/2008). As per this law, it is mandatory for attorneys and notaries to submit their applications concerning the transfer and registration of property using this system. Registration with the Land Registry has a binding effect as from the date of application, i.e. from this moment the company becomes the owner of the entire property (land, building, etc.). The fee for registration (paid to the attorney at law or notary) is freed from the trust account. Also, the notary/lawyer transfers the real property transaction tax to the tax office and transfers the purchase price to the seller. The documentation shall include: • Sales agreement • Clearance Certificate of the tax authority verifying the payment of land transfer tax or self-assessment certificate • Documentation on the fact that the company is owned by Austrian or European Community citizens Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 24 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Registering Property in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 7.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? District Courts (Bezirksgerichte) In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city—in a Computer/Scann 1.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? ed Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, restrictions Yes 1.0 and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: Federal Office for Calibration and Measurement (Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswes en) In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city—in a Computer/Fully 2.0 paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? digital Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing Yes 1.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the cadastral Different 1.0 or mapping agency kept in a single database, in different but linked databases or in separate databases but databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use the Yes 1.0 same identification number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 3.0 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of immovable Anyone who 1.0 property registration in the largest business city? pays the official fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction made Yes, online 0.5 publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: https://www.help. gv.at/Portal.Node /hlpd/public/conte nt/20/Seite.20006 0.html#Verfahren sablauf Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, online 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: https://www.ris.bk a.gv.at/GeltendeF assung.wxe? Abfrage=Bundes normen&Gesetze snummer=10002 667 www.ris.bka.gv.at (Bundesrecht - Bundesrecht konsolidiert - search for Titel, Abkürzung "GGG", Paragraf von "32" and then scroll to "Tarifpost 9" for the court fees https://www.usp.g v.at/Portal.Node Page 25 Doing Business 2019 Austria Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a legally No 0.0 binding document that proves property ownership within a specific time frame–and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available official statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2017: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Anyone who 0.5 pays the official fee Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available— Yes, online 0.5 and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.bev.gv .at/portal/page? _pageid=713,194 1531&_dad=port al&_schema=PO RTAL https://www.usp.g v.at/Portal.Node (amount depending on size of property) https://www.help. gv.at/Portal.Node /hlpd/public/conte nt/60/Seite.60030 0.html#Grundbuc hsabfrage Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a No 0.0 specific time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a specific and separate mechanism for filing complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 8.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable property Yes 2.0 registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the Yes 2.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? Yes 2.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? Yes 2.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 5.0 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private guarantee? Yes 0.5 Is there a specific compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certified by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a property Yes 0.5 transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar; Notary; Page 26 Doing Business 2019 Austria Does the legal system require verification of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar; Notary; Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? No 0.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a property Regional Court worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the largest business for Civil city, what court would be in charge of the case in the first instance? Proceedings Vienna (Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen Wien) How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the first-instance court for such a Between 1 and 2 2.0 case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the first instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2017: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Page 27 Doing Business 2019 Austria Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions through 2 sets of • Rights of borrowers and lenders through indicators. The depth of credit information index measures rules and practices collateral laws (0-10) affecting the coverage, scope and accessibility of credit information available • Protection of secured creditors’ rights through through a credit registry or a credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index bankruptcy laws (0-2) measures the degree to which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first Depth of credit information index (0–8) determined whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case • Scope and accessibility of credit information scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory security distributed by credit bureaus and credit registries interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Special emphasis (0-8) is given to how the collateral registry operates (if registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a secured borrower, company ABC, and a Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) secured lender, BizBank. • Number of individuals and firms listed in largest In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow only case credit bureau as a percentage of adult population A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) • Number of individuals and firms listed in credit Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) registry as a percentage of adult population are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Page 28 Doing Business 2019 Austria Getting Credit - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 6.1 12 (5 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 7 6.7 8 (42 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 2.2 21.8 100.0 (4 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 52.2 65.3 100.0 (25 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Getting Credit Score 0 100 70.00: Czech Republic (Rank: 44) 70.00: Germany (Rank: 44) 65.00: Belgium (Rank: 60) 64.12: Regional Average (OECD high income) 55.00: Austria (Rank: 85) 50.00: France (Rank: 99) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their scores for getting credit. These scores are the sum of the scores for the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Austria and comparator economies 8 8 7 7 6 6.1 6 Index Score 5 4 4 4 3 2 1 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Page 29 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Legal Rights in Austria Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 4 Does an integrated or unified legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a specific description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring a No specific description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds and No replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and obligations be Yes secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is unified geographically and by No asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be performed No online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency Yes procedure? Are secured creditors paid first (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? Yes Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised reorganization No procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law allow Yes the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Austria and comparator economies 8 8 7 7 7 6.7 6 6 Index Score 5 5 4 3 2 1 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Page 30 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Credit Information in Austria Depth of credit information index (0-8) Credit Credit Score bureau registry Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No No 0 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? Yes No 1 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and Yes No 1 financial institutions - distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries Yes No 1 that distribute more than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? Yes No 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or Yes No 1 credit registry? Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online Yes No 1 (for example, through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help Yes No 1 banks and financial institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Total Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 7 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 3,065,702 65,705 Number of firms 0 66,198 Total 3,065,702 131,903 Percentage of adult population 52.2 2.2 Page 31 Doing Business 2019 Austria Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions • Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related- party transactions The business (Buyer): • Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important stock of minority shareholders to sue and hold exchange. If there are fewer than ten listed companies or if there is no stock interested directors liable for prejudicial related- exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with party transactions; Available legal remedies multiple shareholders. (damages, disgorgement of profits, fines, - Has a board of directors and a chief executive officer (CEO) who may legally act on imprisonment, rescission of the transaction) behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not specifically required by law. • Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): - Has a supervisory board in economies with a two-tier board system on which Mr. Access to internal corporate documents; James appointed 60% of the shareholder-elected members. Evidence obtainable during trial and allocation of - Has not adopted bylaws or articles of association that go beyond the minimum legal expenses requirements. Does not follow codes, principles, recommendations or guidelines that are not mandatory. • Extent of conflict of interest regulation index - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, extent of director liability and ease of The transaction involves the following details: shareholder indices - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer, sits on Buyer’s board of directors and elected two • Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): directors to Buyer’s five-member board. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of retail decisions hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused fleet of trucks to expand • Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer agrees. The price Governance safeguards protecting shareholders is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the market value. from undue board control and entrenchment - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s principal activity and is not • Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): outside the authority of the company. Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, and all compensation, audits and financial prospects required disclosures made—that is, the transaction was not entered into fraudulently. • Extent of shareholder governance index (0– - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the 10): Simple average of the extent of shareholders executives and directors that approved the transaction. rights, extent of ownership and control and extent of corporate transparency indices • Strength of minority investor protection index (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of interest regulation and extent of shareholder governance indices Page 32 Doing Business 2019 Austria Protecting Minority Investors - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 5.0 6.5 10 (13 Economies) Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5.0 5.3 10 (Cambodia) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7.0 7.3 10 (Djibouti) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 7.0 6.4 10 (Kazakhstan) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 9.0 5.4 None in 2017/18 Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 8.0 7.6 10 (6 Economies) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Protecting Minority Investors Score 0 100 68.33: Austria (Rank: 33) 66.67: France (Rank: 38) 64.21: Regional Average (OECD high income) 61.67: Belgium (Rank: 57) 58.33: Czech Republic (Rank: 72) 58.33: Germany (Rank: 72) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the extent of conflict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Austria 8 5 5 9 7 7 Belgium 7 6 8 4 5 7 Czech Republic 5 6 2 7 6 9 France 10 3 8 8 5 6 Germany 7 5 5 6 7 5 OECD high income 7.4 5.5 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) Extent of director liability index (0-10) Extent of disclosure index (0-10) Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) Page 33 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0-10) 5.7 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 5.0 Whose decision is sufficient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Board of 2.0 directors excluding interested members Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his conflict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Existence of a 1.0 conflict without any specifics Must Buyer disclose the transaction in periodic filings (e.g. annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on the 2.0 transaction and on the conflict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public? (0-2) No disclosure 0.0 obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue for the damage the Yes 1.0 transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold Mr. James liable for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0- Liable if negligent 1.0 2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused to Liable if negligent 1.0 Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay profits made from the transaction upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disqualified upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-1) No 0.0 Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of 0.0 fraud or bad faith Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 7.0 Before suing, can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plaintiff obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Any relevant 3.0 document Can the plaintiff request categories of documents from the defendant without identifying No 0.0 specific ones? (0-1) Can the plaintiff directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) Preapproved 1.0 questions only Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) Yes 1.0 Can shareholder plaintiffs recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 8.0 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 7.0 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of Yes 1.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Page 34 Doing Business 2019 Austria Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new Yes 1.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the affected Yes 1.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a Yes 1.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all or almost all members consent to add a Yes 1.0 new member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member first offer to sell their interest to No 0.0 the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 9.0 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chairperson of the board of Yes 1.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? Yes 1.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the end Yes 1.0 of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising board Yes 1.0 members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Yes 1.0 Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve Yes 1.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender offer to No 0.0 all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute profits within a maximum Yes 1.0 period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 8.0 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect beneficial ownership stakes representing 5%? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and No 0.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? Yes 1.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? Yes 1.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general meeting Yes 1.0 agenda? Must Buyer's annual financial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on the No 0.0 meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual financial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Page 35 Doing Business 2019 Austria Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as the administrative burden of paying taxes and contributions and complying with postfiling procedures (VAT refund and tax audit). The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2017 (January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017). See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory contributions a 2017 (number per year adjusted for electronic medium size company must pay in a year, and measures the administrative burden and joint filing and payment) of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with postfiling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of filing and payments, time taken to comply with tax • Total number of taxes and contributions paid or laws, time taken to comply with the requirements of postfiling processes and time withheld, including consumption taxes (value waiting. added tax, sales tax or goods and service tax) • Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January 1, 2016. Time required to comply with 3 major taxes It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes and contributions (hours per year) recorded are paid in the second year of operation (calendar year 2017). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. • Collecting information, computing tax payable • Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2017, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the • Completing tax return, filing with agencies machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are • Arranging payment or withholding equally expensed per month (875 times income per capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess input VAT incurred in June will be Total tax and contribution rate (% of commercial fully recovered after four consecutive months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, profits) sales and the machine and the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will • Profit or corporate income tax exceed Output VAT in June 2017. • Social contributions, labor taxes paid by The corporate income tax audit process: employer - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect tax • Property and property transfer taxes depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. • Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions discovered the error and voluntarily notified the tax authority. The value of the taxes underpaid income tax liability is 5% of the corporate income tax liability • Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax return, but within the tax assessment period. Postfiling Index • Time to comply with a VAT refund (hours) • Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) • Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) • Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) Page 36 Doing Business 2019 Austria Paying Taxes - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Payments (number per year) 12 11.2 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 131 159.4 49 (Singapore) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 51.5 39.8 26.1% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 98.54 84.41 None in 2017/18 Figure – Paying Taxes in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Paying Taxes Score 0 100 83.45: Austria (Rank: 40) 83.32: Regional Average (OECD high income) 82.11: Germany (Rank: 43) 81.42: Czech Republic (Rank: 45) 79.31: France (Rank: 55) 77.48: Belgium (Rank: 60) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their scores for paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators, with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax and contribution rate. The threshold is defined as the total tax and contribution rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax and contribution rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 98.54 97.67 100 92.40 90.75 83.45 84.41 80 Index score 60 40 20 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Page 37 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Paying Taxes in Austria Tax or Payments Notes on Time Statutory Tax base Total tax Notes on mandatory (number) Payments (hours) tax rate and TTCR contribution contribution rate (% of profit) Social 1.0 online 50.0 20.98%-21.48 gross salaries 23.65 security % contributions Corporate 1.0 online 46.0 25% taxable profit 17.08 income tax Contribution 0.0 online and 4.1% gross salaries 4.62 to family fund jointly Municipal 1.0 online 3% gross salaries 3.38 employees tax Contribution 0.0 online and 1.53% gross salaries 1.73 to pension jointly fund Contribution 1.0 online 0.4% gross salaries 0.45 to the chamber of commerce Property tax 1.0 online variable value land 0.41 assessed by tax authority Tax on 1.0 online 1% & 11% insurance 0.12 insurance premium contracts Advertising 1.0 online 5% value of 0.09 tax service Value added 1.0 online 35.0 20% value added 0.00 not included tax (VAT) Vehicle tax 1.0 online fixed fee 0.00 small amount Road tax 1.0 online fixed fee 0.00 small amount Stamp duty 1.0 0.8% to 2% depending on 0.00 small amount taxable event Fuel Tax 1.0 EUR 397 per fuel 0.00 small amount 1000 liter consumption Totals 12 131 51.5 Page 38 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Paying Taxes in Austria – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 17.1 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 33.8 Other taxes (% of profit) 0.6 Page 39 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Paying Taxes in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Postfiling index (0-100) 98.54 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? Yes Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? Yes Restrictions on VAT refund process None Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) 25% - 49% Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) 2.0 96 Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) 3.2 100 Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24% Time to comply with a corporate income tax correction (hours) 2.5 98.17 Time to complete a corporate income tax correction (weeks) No tax audit per 100 case study scenario Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, profit tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The postfiling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax correction and time to complete a corporate income tax correction. N/A = Not applicable. Page 40 Doing Business 2019 Austria Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tariffs) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 days are or border handling in origin economy recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 hours, the data are • Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are submitted to a customs agency required by destination economy and any transit at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. economies The time for customs clearance would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 hours. • Covers all documents required by law and in practice, including electronic submissions of Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are information excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Contributors Border compliance are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. Contributors are private sector • Customs clearance and inspections experts in international trade logistics and are informed about exchange rates. • Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more Assumptions of the case study: than 20% of shipments) - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a • Handling and inspections that take place at the warehouse in the largest business city of the exporting economy and travels to a economy’s port or border warehouse in the largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS Domestic transport 8708) from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the largest • Loading or unloading of the shipment at the value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the warehouse or port/border product of its comparative advantage (defined by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. • Transport between warehouse and port/border Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. • Traffic delays and road police checks while - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import shipment is en route product and the trading partner, as is the seaport or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 41 Doing Business 2019 Austria Trading across Borders - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 0 12.5 1 (19 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 0 139.1 0 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance (hours) 1 2.4 1 (26 Economies) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 35.2 0 (20 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 0 8.5 0 (25 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 0 100.2 0 (28 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance (hours) 1 3.4 1 (30 Economies) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 0 24.9 0 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Trading Across Borders Score 0 100 94.21: Regional Average (OECD high income) 91.77: Germany (Rank: 40) 100.00: Austria (Rank: 1) 100.00: Belgium (Rank: 1) 100.00: Czech Republic (Rank: 1) 100.00: France (Rank: 1) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import. Figure – Trading across Borders in Austria – Time and Cost Time (hours) Cost (USD) 1.2 1.2 1 1 1 1 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Export Export Import Import - - - - Border Documentary Border Documentary Compliance Compliance Compliance Compliance Page 42 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Trading across Borders in Austria Characteristics Export Import Product HS 84 : Nuclear reactors, boilers, HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor machinery and mechanical appliances; vehicles parts thereof Trade partner Germany Germany Border Austria-Germany border crossing Austria- Germany border crossing Distance (km) 131 131 Domestic transport time (hours) 2 2 Domestic transport cost (USD) 188 188 Details – Trading across Borders in Austria – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete (hours) Associated Costs (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by customs authorities Export: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by agencies other than customs Export: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Import: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by customs authorities Import: Clearance and inspections required 0.0 0.0 by agencies other than customs Import: Port or border handling 0.0 0.0 Page 43 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Trading across Borders in Austria – Trade Documents Export Import Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Packing List CMR Waybill CMR Waybill Packing list Intrastat Intrastat Page 44 Doing Business 2019 Austria Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local first-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and efficiency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract between 2 courts (calendar days) domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes the case from simple debt • Time to file and serve the case enforcement. • Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses several • Time to enforce the judgment assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller and courts (% of claim) Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. • Attorney fees - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay alleging that the goods are not of adequate quality. • Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local • Enforcement fees currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. • Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests the pretrial attachment of the defendant’s movable assets to secure the claim. • Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. • Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable • Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) assets. Page 45 Doing Business 2019 Austria Enforcing Contracts - Austria Standardized Case Claim value EUR 79,737 Court name Vienna Commercial Court City Covered Vienna Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Time (days) 397 582.4 None in 2017/18 Cost (% of claim value) 20.6 21.2 None in 2017/18 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.0 11.5 None in 2017/18 Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Enforcing Contracts Score 0 100 75.49: Austria (Rank: 10) 74.89: France (Rank: 12) 70.39: Germany (Rank: 26) 67.65: Regional Average (OECD high income) 64.25: Belgium (Rank: 54) 56.38: Czech Republic (Rank: 99) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Austria – Time and Cost Time (days) Cost (% of claim value) 800 40 Cost (% of claim value) 700 678 33.8 35 582.4 600 30 Time (days) 505 499 500 25 397 20.6 21.2 395 400 18.0 17.4 20 14.4 300 15 200 10 100 5 0 0 Austria Belgium Czech France Germany OECD Republic high income Page 46 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Austria 2.5 4 2 4.5 Belgium 2.5 1 0 4.5 Czech Republic 2 3 3 1.5 France 2.5 3 2 4.5 Germany 3 1.5 1.5 4.5 OECD high income 2.5 3.1 2.3 3.6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) Case management (0-6) Court automation (0-4) Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Austria Indicator Time (days) 397 Filing and service 30 Trial and judgment 277 Enforcement of judgment 90 Cost (% of claim value) 20.6 Attorney fees 13.6 Court fees 6.5 Enforcement fees 0.5 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 Case management (0-6) 4.0 Court automation (0-4) 2.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 Page 47 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Enforcing Contracts in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 13.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 4.5 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? Yes 1.5 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? Yes 0.0 Case management (0-6) 4.0 1. Time standards 0.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil Yes case? 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? No 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? Yes 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) time to Yes 1.0 disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the Yes 1.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for Yes 1.0 use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court for Yes 1.0 use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 2.0 1. Can the initial complaint be filed electronically through a dedicated platform within the yes 1.0 competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? Yes 1.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in official gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.5 1. Arbitration 1.5 Page 48 Doing Business 2019 Austria 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 1.0 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there financial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation No (i.e., if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court filing fees, income tax credits or the like)? Page 49 Doing Business 2019 Austria Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are used: • Measured in calendar years • Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 suppliers. The hotel experiences financial difficulties. Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent in local estate) currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over the hotel’s • Measured as percentage of estate value real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes enough money to • Court fees operate otherwise. • Fees of insolvency administrators In addition, Doing Business evaluates the quality of legal framework applicable to • Lawyers’ fees judicial liquidation and reorganization proceedings and the extent to which best insolvency practices have been implemented in each economy covered. • Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees • Other related fees Outcome • Whether business continues operating as a going concern or business assets are sold piecemeal Recovery rate for creditors • Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors • Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered • Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted • Depreciation of furniture is taken into account • Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) • Sum of the scores of four component indices: • Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) • Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) • Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) • Creditor participation index (0-4) Page 50 Doing Business 2019 Austria Resolving Insolvency - Austria Indicator Austria OECD high Best Regulatory income Performance Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 80.1 70.5 None in 2017/18 Time (years) 1.1 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 10.0 9.3 1.0 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going concern) 1 .. .. Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.0 11.9 None in 2017/18 Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Austria and comparator economies – Ranking and Score DB 2019 Resolving Insolvency Score 0 100 90.12: Germany (Rank: 4) 83.88: Belgium (Rank: 8) 80.05: Czech Republic (Rank: 15) 77.47: Austria (Rank: 21) 75.21: Regional Average (OECD high income) 74.08: France (Rank: 28) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Austria – Time and Cost Time (years) Cost (% of estate) 2.5 17.0 18 2.1 16 Cost (% of estate) 2 1.9 14 1.7 Time (years) 12 1.5 10.0 9.0 9.3 10 1.2 1.1 8.0 0.9 8 1 6 3.5 4 0.5 2 0 0 Austria Belgium Czech France Germany OECD Republic high income Page 51 Doing Business 2019 Austria Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Austria and comparator economies – Measure of Quality Austria 5.5 2.5 2 1 Belgium 6 2.5 2 1 Czech Republic 5.5 2.5 3 3 France 6 3 1 1 Germany 6 3 3 3 OECD high income 5.3 2.8 2.2 1.9 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Austria and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery rate(cents on the dollar) 100 89.1 80.1 80.4 80 73.8 70.5 67.4 60 40 20 0 Austria Belgium Czech Republic France Germany OECD high income Page 52 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Resolving Insolvency in Austria Indicator Answer Score Proceeding liquidation (after Mirage management has to initiate either insolvency proceedings or reorganization proceedings an attempt at within 60 days after the company becomes insolvent. Management is likely to apply for reorganization) reorganization proceedings with self-administration, as it will allow them to continue managing day-to-day operations of the business. However, one of the conditions of this proceeding is that creditors must be repaid at least 30% of the debt within two years, which is not possible in case of Mirage. Therefore, BizBank will vote against the plan and the proceedings will be converted into liquidation under Article 167 of the Insolvency Act. Outcome going concern Mirage is a viable business and it is likely that it will be sold as a going concern and will continue operating under new ownership. Time (in years) 1.1 Mirage management will file for reorganization proceedings with self-administration within 60 days after Mirage becomes insolvent. Together with the application, it must file a reorganization plan, which offers repayment of 30% of creditors' claims within 2 years of when the plan is adopted, an inventory of assets, a current status report and a liquidity plan for the next 90 days. The court will schedule a "reorganization hearing" where creditors representing 50% of the total outstanding debt, as well as the simple majority of creditors present at the hearing must vote in favor of the plan for it to be adopted. As it is not possible under the case assumptions that Mirage will be able to repay 30% of the claims with 2 years, the plan will be rejected. At that time, reorganization proceedings will be continued as bankruptcy proceedings. During bankruptcy proceedings, the court will appoint a receiver who will manage the debtor's assets. The court will hold several hearings, including the general creditors meeting right after the opening of the bankruptcy proceedings, the examination hearing, where the receiver will acknowledge or reject creditors' claims, and the reporting hearing, where the receiver will report on the status of the proceedings. At the reporting hearing, the receiver will report on the pre-requisites for the sale of the business. Assets will probably be sold out of court by the receiver. After the assets are sold, the receiver will present a statement of accounts. Cost (% of 10.0 The majority of the expenses will be comprised of attorneys’ fees (5-8% of the value of the estate) estate) and fees of insolvency administrator (1-2% of the value of the estate), as well as payments to other professionals involved in the proceedings, such as accountants and other professionals (1- 2%) of the value of the estate. Recovery rate 80.1 (cents on the dollar) Page 53 Doing Business 2019 Austria Details – Resolving Insolvency in Austria – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 11.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.5 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency proceedings? (a) Debtor may 1.0 file for both liquidation and reorganization Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to file for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may file for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (c) Both (a) and 1.0 insolvency framework? (b) options are available, but only one of them needs to be complied with Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 5.5 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential goods Yes 1.0 and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome Yes 1.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit after Yes 1.0 commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (a) Yes over all 0.5 pre- commencement creditors, secured or unsecured Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 1.0 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? (b) Only creditors 1.0 whose rights are affected by the proposed plan Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization receive at No 0.0 least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors divided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization plan, No 0.0 does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 2.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial Yes 1.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request information No 0.0 from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to decisions Yes 1.0 accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice.” Page 54 Doing Business 2019 Austria Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents detailed data for the labor market regulation indicators on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ease of doing business score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The most recent round of data collection was completed in May 2018. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the (i) whether fixed-term contracts are prohibited for worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of fixed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest business city. nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. same night hours as men; (v) length of paid annual - Has 60 employees. leave. - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to firms that are not party to them. Redundancy rules - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more benefits than (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective bargaining workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify agreements. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of five fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Page 55 Doing Business 2019 Austria Labor Market Regulation - Austria Details – Labor Market Regulation in Austria Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No Maximum length of a single fixed-term contract (months) No limit Maximum length of fixed-term contracts, including renewals (months) No limit Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 1620.9 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.3 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 1.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 Maximum number of working days per week 5.5 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 67.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 100.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 50.0 Restrictions on night work? Yes Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men Yes Restrictions on weekly holiday? No Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 25.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 25.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 25.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 25.0 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party notification if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? No Third-party notification if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? No Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? Yes Priority rules for reemployment? Yes Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 2.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 2.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 2.0 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 2.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.0 Page 56 Doing Business 2019 Austria Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 0.0 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? Yes Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? Yes Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 112.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? Yes Unemployment protection after one year of employment? Yes Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? 12.0 Page 57 Doing Business 2019 Austria Business Reforms in Austria In the past year, Doing Business observed a peaking of reform activity worldwide. From June 2, 2017, to May 1, 2018, 128 economies implemented a record 314 regulatory reforms improving the business climate. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are reforms implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more difficult to do business. DB2015 Starting a Business: Austria made starting a business easier by reducing the minimum capital requirement, which in turn reduced the paid-in minimum capital requirement, and by lowering notary fees. DB2012 Resolving Insolvency: Austria passed a new law that simplifies restructuring proceedings and gives preferential consideration to the interests of the debtors. DB2011 Registering Property: Austria made it easier to transfer property by requiring online submission of all applications to register property transfers. DB2009 Enforcing Contracts: Austria made enforcing contracts easier by making electronic filing mandatory in civil matters and thereby increasing the efficiency of proceedings. DB2008 Trading across Borders: Austria made trading across borders easier by introducing an electronic customs clearance system and a risk- based inspection system. Page 58 Doing Business 2019 Austria Page 59