Family Bonus Plus for Cross-Border Commuters: Review of an Austrian Employee Tax Assessment
A client living in Slovakia commutes daily to his workplace in Austria. After the birth of his daughter, he wanted to know whether he could claim the Austrian Family Bonus Plus retroactively through his Austrian employee tax assessment. He had already prepared a draft in FinanzOnline and wanted to make sure that the entries were correct.
The client’s question
The client received an Austrian differential family allowance payment for his child. However, the Family Bonus Plus had not yet been considered through payroll for the relevant year. The main question was therefore whether this tax benefit could still be claimed retroactively in the Austrian tax return.
Since the client lives in Slovakia and works in Austria, the cross-border elements also had to be reviewed. This included the E9 certificates and the information entered for the spouse.
Our advice
Kobleder TAX Advisors reviewed the client’s FinanzOnline draft and the supporting documents provided. These included the Austrian family allowance confirmation, the child’s birth certificate and the family’s E9 certificates.
Our main recommendations were:
- The Family Bonus Plus can generally be claimed retroactively for the relevant year, provided that the requirements are met and the other parent does not also claim it in Austria.
- The FinanzOnline draft should be checked carefully to ensure that the correct person is shown as receiving the Austrian family allowance or differential payment.
- The spouse’s income should be entered exactly as shown in the official E9 certificate.
- The sole earner tax credit can generally remain in the draft if the personal requirements are met.
- In cross-border commuter cases, the application to be treated as subject to unrestricted tax liability in Austria is often important so that personal tax benefits can be taken into account.
We also prepared a graphical review document for the client. In this document, the relevant sections of the FinanzOnline draft were highlighted and explained in simple terms, showing what should be corrected or checked before filing.
Benefits for the client
The client received a clear assessment of which Austrian tax benefits were likely available and which entries should be corrected before submission.
This helped him to:
- avoid errors in the FinanzOnline draft,
- better understand his Austrian tax return,
- claim the Family Bonus Plus retroactively,
- reduce the risk of follow-up questions from the Austrian tax office,
- and ensure that the cross-border information matched the official supporting documents.
For cross-border commuters, it is particularly important that family benefits, foreign income certificates and Austrian tax reliefs are handled consistently. A focused tax review before filing can create a noticeable financial benefit and help avoid later corrections.