Registering Property in Austria

This topic examines the steps, time, and cost involved in registering property in Austria.

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Standardized property

Property Value: EUR 1,682,406
City: Vienna

Registration Requirements Summary:


  Procedure Time to complete: Cost to complete:
1 Obtain a land registry extract from either the competent District Court, a notary public or an attorney-at-law 1 day (immediately to a few minutes wait) EUR 10
2 Authenticate signatures and authorization of representatives, and property acquisition tax clearance from the notary 1 - 3 days EUR 111.30 per signature + 3.5% of property value (transfer tax) + 1% of property value (Registration fee)
3 File the application at the competent District Court (Land Registry) 15-30 days EUR 43

Registration Requirement Details

Procedure 1.
Obtain a land registry extract from either the competent District Court, a notary public or an attorney-at-law
Time to complete:
1 day (immediately to a few minutes wait)
Cost to complete:
EUR 10
Name of Agency:
District Court, Notary public or Attorney-at-law
Comment:
Obtain an extract showing the intended piece of land from either the competent District Court or a notary public or attorney-at-law.
As of March 2006, it is now possible to query the documents archive of the land registry electronically. With this information accessible online, the submission procedure has become even more simplified. It is worth noting that neither all district courts offer the online option to request documents of land registry nor are all (in particular older) documents of the land registry of those district courts, which have already switched to the new electronic land registry database available. However, the number of documents available and the number of district courts offering this additional service are steadily increasing.
Procedure 2.
Authenticate signatures and authorization of representatives, and property acquisition tax clearance from the notary
Time to complete:
1 - 3 days
Cost to complete:
EUR 111.30 per signature + 3.5% of property value (transfer tax) + 1% of property value (Registration fee)
Name of Agency:
Comment:
At the notaries office the parties can combine three steps:
• The signatures of seller and buyer have to be authenticated on the contract. That can be done by notary or by court (time to complete: can be done within 30 minutes, if required, normally 1 day; cost: 111.30 EUR per person; the fee of the court may differ slightly to the notary’s).
• In case of a corporation as seller or buyer the authorization of the signing representatives has to be proven. At the notaries office that is done uno actu with the authentication of the signatures; otherwise a certified excerpt out of the business register produced by the High Court (Landesgericht) has to be presented to the Land Book (time to complete: can be done within 30 minutes, normally 1 day; cost: 8 - EUR per corporation).
• The parties have to pay Property Acquisition Tax or Transfer Tax (Grunderwerbssteuer) which, in this case, amounts to 3.5 % of the purchase price. They have to present to the Land Book 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 (1.0% of the purchase price) have been paid. 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 publics, 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 on July 1, 2007.
Procedure 3.
File the application at the competent District Court (Land Registry)
Time to complete:
15-30 days
Cost to complete:
EUR 43
Name of Agency:
District Court (Land Registry) - Ministry of Justice
Comment:
The notary (or a lawyer) usually files the application at the competent District Court (Land Registry).
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 notary in Procedure 2) 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
Confirmation 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 citizens.