This video deals with two special topics. On the one hand about the size classes and on the other hand
about the tax more-less calculation. Let's start with the size classes. We heard in the first video
that corporations are subject to bookkeeping in Austria. However, how this accounting obligation is structured depends on the size class in which
the corporation is to be classified. § 221 UGB distinguishes
between four size classes. Between the micro-corporation, the small, the medium-sized and
ultimately the large corporation. There are three features to look at here. On the one hand the turnover, on the other hand the balance sheet total and on the other hand the number of employees. If two of the three characteristics are
exceeded or fallen below in two consecutive years, the legal consequences of the next higher or the
next lower size class occur.
Depending on which one you
move in or which one you fall into. The quantitative limits for these three
characteristics can be read from the overview. The question of size class
has numerous consequences. Especially in the publicity
and disclosure requirements. For example, medium-sized
limited liability companies must for the first time prepare a management report in addition to the
annual financial statements, and the financial statements must also
be audited by an auditor. On the other hand, there are numerous simplifications for
micro-capital companies, i.e. all those who have a balance sheet total of less than 350,000 euros
or sales of less than 700,000 euros and employees under 10, i.e. two of these three
characteristics. Probably the greatest simplification is that no appendix has to be prepared
for these corporations.
This means that the reporting obligation
for the "Appendix" component is completely eliminated if certain requirements are met. Despite all this, there are differences for
all corporations that have to create an appendix, i.e.
from the small corporation, for both GmbH and AG,
due to the size class. For the appendix, this means, for example,
that the larger a corporation becomes, the more information is required in the appendix
and yet the more information from the appendix has to be published in the company register. A
final note on the size classes. If a company is a
company of public interest , it is always a large
corporation within the meaning of Section 221 UGB with all the consequences, with
all the additional requirements. The second part of this video deals
with the tax more-less calculation. That means with the reconciliation of the
corporate result according to the annual financial statements to the tax base to
the so-called income from commercial operations. In principle,
tax law is based on corporate law. This means that the financial statement according to the UGB forms the
basis for the tax calculation and possible mandatory different provisions
in tax law then lead to a reconciliation of the UGB result to
a tax result.
This is also referred to as authoritativeness. Even though repeated attempts have been made in recent years to
slowly align company law and tax law, there
are still numerous differences. A classic example of this is the car. From a tax point of view, a car is considered appropriate
if it has acquisition costs of up to 40,000 euros and
tax law also assumes, for example, that a car lasts for eight years and therefore has a
useful life of eight years. In corporate law, this can be done according to
business principles. There are also
numerous other differences. For example, when it comes to
the topic of "donations". These are
to be recognized as an expense in the corporate financial statements. For the tax assessment
, you have to consider whether the
recipient of the donation is a beneficiary or whether the donation provided a consideration
for the company.
The list between corporate
law and tax law is relatively long, which would go beyond the scope of this video. Finally, however, the following must be noted: There is the result before taxes with
the more-less calculation and the reconciliations that ultimately
lead to the income from commercial operations, which is the assessment basis for
corporate tax in Austria, which is currently 25 percent of
income from commercial operations is.
This calculated corporation tax is deducted from the earnings before taxes and ultimately leads to the earnings after taxes. Taking into account the movements in reserves and the profit or loss carried forward , this subsequently leads to the balance sheet profit , which then forms the basis for the distribution..