KeSt · Loss Netting · E1kv · 8 min read
How to Calculate KeSt with Non-Tax-Simple Brokers
Interactive Brokers, Scalable Capital, DEGIRO — these brokers do not pay Austrian tax on your behalf. You must calculate the 27.5% KeSt yourself, net your losses across all accounts, and report the result in the E1kv. Here is how it works.
Why do you have to do this yourself?
Austrian banks and tax-simple brokers (Erste, Raiffeisen, Flatex Austria, and Trade Republic from April 2025 onwards) withhold KeSt automatically and remit it directly to the tax authority. You do not need to report anything — it is handled for you.
Non-tax-simple brokers — all foreign brokers without an Austrian banking licence — do not do this. They provide you with an annual statement listing all your transactions. It is your responsibility to calculate what you owe and report it in the E1kv supplementary schedule of your income tax return.
What counts as taxable capital income?
Dividends
All distributions from equities and distributing ETFs. Tax rate 27.5%.
Realised capital gains
Profit from selling securities — sale price minus cost basis (weighted average price). Tax rate 27.5%.
Interest income
Interest from bonds or cash balances. Tax rate 27.5% (25% for some savings deposits).
Deemed distributions
Internally reinvested income of reporting funds/ETFs, reported annually via ÖEKB. Tax rate 27.5%.
Foreign currency gains
Exchange gains on securities denominated in foreign currencies. The transaction rate at the time of purchase is used.
Not taxable here: income you already hold in a tax-simple account — that has already been taxed at source.
Loss netting: how it works
Losses from selling securities can be offset against gains. Crucially, loss netting applies across all non-tax-simple brokers — you add up all gains and losses from every account and report the net result in the E1kv.
Example
Losses from equities can be offset against gains from ETFs and vice versa. Losses cannot be carried forward to future tax years — the loss pool resets on 1 January.
Crediting US withholding tax
When you receive US dividends, the US deducts a withholding tax of 15% at source (under the double taxation agreement between Austria and the US). You can credit this 15% against your Austrian KeSt of 27.5%, so you effectively pay only the difference: 27.5% − 15% = 12.5%.
The creditable withholding tax goes in field KZ 998 of the E1kv. The exact amount is shown in your broker's annual report, usually labelled "Tax withheld" or "WHT".
Cost basis: weighted average price method
When you have bought the same equity or ETF multiple times, Austria uses the weighted average price method (gleitender Durchschnittspreis): each new purchase updates the average cost of all units held in that position.
Example
Documents you need
Interactive Brokers
Annual Activity Statement (PDF or CSV, available in the Client Portal under Reports → Tax)
Scalable Capital
Jahressteuerbescheinigung — annual tax certificate (PDF, under Steuern & Dokumente in the Scalable portal)
DEGIRO
Annual Report (PDF, under Inbox in the DEGIRO dashboard)
Trade Republic
Tax report (PDF, in the Trade Republic app under Account → Documents)
Filing deadline and consequences
The income tax return including the E1kv must be submitted by 30 April (paper) or 30 June (electronically via FinanzOnline) of the following year. Taxpayers who engage a tax advisor typically receive an extension. Missing the deadline risks late-filing surcharges.
The tax authority generally has no visibility into what you hold at foreign brokers. You are nonetheless legally required to report all taxable income — without being asked.
Source: BMF — Filing Deadlines
KestKlar handles all of this
Upload your PDFs, let KestKlar fetch ÖEKB data automatically, calculate weighted average prices, net losses across brokers, and credit withholding tax — then get the ready-to-use E1kv fields in under 10 minutes.