Taxes and surcharges

Electricity consumers in Austria have to pay the electricity levy, the green power support payments, the community levy and VAT.

The electricity levy

Like the other energy forms -€” such as oil or LP gas -€” electricity is subject to a separate tax. The legal basis for this tax is the  Elektrizitätsabgabegesetz (Electricity Levy Act), published in FLG no 201/1996 and last amended by FLG I no 26/2000.

The levy is 1.5 cent/kWh .


All electricity supplies are subject to the levy, with the exception of power delivered to companies that are electricity suppliers themselves, i.e. where most of the electricity is passed on to others. Any power an electricity supply company does not pass on is taxable. This mainly relates to power used for lighting, heating and similar purposes in offices and other buildings. Electricity used to generate power and transport it to consumers is exempt from the levy. An example of own use for power generation is the electricity generated to pump water up to a reservoir at a pumped storage station. Electricity consumed when transmitting power to transformers, etc. is also exempt.

Community levy

The community levy is charged by some local authorities for the use of public land, e.g. for electricity networks. On our German pages, we also provide a compilation of the current level of the community levy in the Austrian provinces.

Value added tax

All the components of electricity prices are subject to 20% VAT.

Green electricity support payments

Since 1 July 2012, the green electricity support scheme in Austria has been financed by way of two types of charges: the renewables contribution and the flat metering point charge.

Renewables contribution

The renewables contribution is the first component of the financing mechanism for Austria's renewable support scheme. Each year, an ordinance with the revised amount of the contribution is issued.

It is set as a uniform percentage applied to the system utilisation charge and the charge for system losses.

The flat-rate renewables charge per metering point

The flat-rate renewables charge is the second component of the financing mechanism for Austria's renewable support scheme as of 1 July 2012.
It is an annual flat rate payable per metering point; its amount varies depending on the grid level at which the metering point is connected. The flat-rate renewables charge already existed under the previous financing regime, but its amounts have been adjusted:

a customer connected at network level 7 currently pays € 35,97 per year.