Loss Netting · §27 EStG · KeSt · 9 min read
Loss Netting in Austria: What Actually Offsets What
Loss netting on capital income is exhaustively regulated in §27 Abs 8 EStG — and tighter than many people think. Savings-account interest cannot be netted against equity losses, no carry-forward to future years exists, and from 2025 a new Tax Reporting Regulation applies.
The basic rule: same year only, within the buckets
§27 Abs 8 EStG 1988 opens with: “Loss netting is only permitted in accordance with the following provisions.” This implies four hard limits:
- Only within the 27.5% bucket — not against savings-account interest or foundation distributions.
- Silent partnerships are a separate pot (waiting-list loss).
- No netting between the 27.5% bucket and tariff-rate capital income.
- No loss carry-forward to future years. Anything not used by 31 December expires.
Three tax buckets — strictly separated
Bucket A — 27.5%
§27a Abs 1 Z 2 EStG
Realised capital gains/losses on equities, ETFs, bonds · Dividends · Interest from publicly offered bonds · Income from securitised derivatives · Crypto value gains (§27b)
Bucket B — 25%
§27a Abs 1 Z 1 EStG
Savings-account interest · Demand deposits · Fixed deposits · Private foundation distributions (§27 Abs 5 Z 7)
Bucket C — Tariff rate
§27a Abs 2 EStG
Private loans · Non-publicly offered bonds · Crypto lending and staking-pool yields
Losses from Bucket A can be netted onlyagainst gains in Bucket A — never against B or C.
What works and what doesn't
OK
Equity loss ↔ equity gain
Both Bucket A.
OK
Equity loss ↔ foreign-equity dividend
Both Bucket A, both 27.5%.
OK
Equity loss ↔ bond interest (publicly offered)
Bucket A.
OK
Equity loss ↔ direct-crypto gain
§27b is part of Bucket A.
✗
Equity loss ↔ savings-account interest
Bucket B — explicitly excluded, §27 Abs 8 Z 1.
✗
Equity loss ↔ foundation distribution (§27 Abs 5 Z 7)
Bucket B.
✗
Equity loss ↔ private-loan interest
Bucket C — tariff rate.
OK
Crypto loss ↔ equity gain
Both 27.5% bucket.
✗
Crypto loss ↔ crypto-lending income
Lending is tariff (Bucket C).
✗
Equity loss ↔ §30 real-estate gain
§30 is its own pool, strictly separate.
✗
Silent-partnership loss ↔ equity gain
Waiting-list loss, §27 Abs 8 Z 2.
Automatic vs manual loss netting
Automatic: only by domestic depositaries (e.g. Erste, BAWAG, easybank, dadat, flatex Austria, Hello Bank, Bank Direkt, Wiener Privatbank). Per calendar year, per taxpayer, all depots at the same bank.
Manual via E1kv:
- Multiple Austrian banks (cross-bank)
- Domestic + foreign (e.g. Erste + IBKR, BAWAG + Scalable)
- Foreign-only brokers (IBKR, DEGIRO Germany, Scalable Capital, Lightyear)
- Crypto + securities (even if both at the same domestic bank)
- Joint and trustee accounts
Legal basis for automatic netting: §93 in conjunction with §97 Abs 2 EStG.
New from 1 January 2025: Tax Reporting Regulation
The old Verlustausgleichsbescheinigung per §96 Abs 4 Z 2 EStG is replaced by a uniform Steuerreporting per §96 Abs 5 EStG (new) and the Steuerreportingverordnung BGBl II 213/2024.
- First applicable for tax year 2025.
- Loss netting now happens at the gross-income level, not on KeSt amounts.
- Mandatory for all KeSt withholding agents (banks, crypto service providers).
- Contents: all capital income, including items not subject to netting (savings-account interest).
- Available by 31 March of the following year (on request).
For tax years up to and including 2024 the old Verlustausgleichsbescheinigung still applies.
Crypto: what works, what doesn't
Since 1 March 2022 cryptocurrencies are governed by §27b EStG. New crypto holdings (acquired from 1 March 2021) are subject to the 27.5% special rate.
- Crypto losses ↔ equity gains: Permitted (Bucket A).
- Crypto lending / staking pools: Tariff rate (Bucket C) — NOT netting-eligible against equities.
- Crypto legacy holdings (before 1 March 2021): one-year speculation period — if sold after one year, possibly tax-free.
- Automatic crypto-to-securities netting: Not possible even from 2025 — only via E1kv.
Source: BMF: Cryptocurrencies
§30 real estate — strictly separated
Per §30 Abs 7 EStG losses from private real-estate disposals are netted internally. Any remainder is reduced to 60% and offset against rental income (§28) over 15 years — never against §27 capital income.
Three worked examples
Example 1 — Domestic, single broker, automatic
Equity gain +5,000 EUR · ETF loss −2,000 EUR · Dividend +1,000 EUR → 4,000 EUR × 27.5% = 1,100 EUR income tax. Savings-account interest of 50 EUR is taxed separately at 25% (12.50 EUR), not netted with the equity loss.
Example 2 — Erste Bank + IBKR (manual via E1kv)
Erste: −3,000 EUR equity loss (the KeSt certificate shows an unused loss). IBKR: +5,000 EUR US equity gain, +500 EUR US dividend with 75 EUR US withholding tax.
E1kv: KZ 994 +5,500, KZ 891/892 −3,000 → balance 2,500 × 27.5% = 687.50 EUR. Credit 75 EUR (KZ 998) → final tax 612.50 EUR.
Example 3 — Loss expiry
Equity loss −1,000 EUR · equity gain on another position +200 EUR · savings-account interest +800 EUR.
Netted: −1,000 + 200 = −800 residual loss. Savings-account interest taxed in full at 25% (200 EUR). Residual loss expires on 31 December. No carry-forward to 2026 possible. Tip: realise pending gains before year-end to “use up” the loss.
Important special rules
- No wash-sale rule: Austria does not prohibit selling-and-rebuying for loss realisation. Tax-loss selling is permitted (except in extreme cases under §22 BAO abuse rules).
- Incidental acquisition costs not deductible: Order fees do not increase the cost basis for private investors (§27a Abs 4 Z 2 EStG; Constitutional Court G 168/2017).
- Per-country withholding-tax cap: DTA credit calculated separately per source country (USA 15%, Switzerland 15%, France 12.8%).
- Joint accounts: No automatic netting — each co-holder declares separately.
Common mistakes
- Trying to net savings-account interest against equity losses (§27 Abs 8 Z 1 forbids it).
- Hoping for loss carry-forward to future years — it doesn't exist for §27.
- Trusting automatic netting across multiple brokers (only intra-bank).
- Ignoring loss netting at foreign brokers — must be done manually via E1kv.
- Expecting automatic crypto + equity netting at the same bank (not even in 2025).
- Trying to deduct order fees (excluded in private investment).
- Reporting Bucket-C income (private loans, crypto lending) in the 27.5% bucket.
Official sources
- §27 EStG (Abs 8 loss netting)
- §27a EStG (special rates, buckets)
- §27b EStG (crypto)
- §93 EStG (KeSt withholding)
- §96 EStG (certificate / tax reporting)
- §97 EStG (loss netting on application)
- §30 EStG (real-estate pool)
- Steuerreportingverordnung BGBl II 213/2024
- BMF: losses on capital disposals
- BMF: capital income taxation
- USP: capital income certificate
- BMF E1kv 2024 (PDF)
As of: May 2026. Tax statements are not legal advice — for material amounts, consult a tax advisor or request a binding ruling under §90 BAO.
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