Government Redistribution Day Analysis of the net fiscal contributions of net contributors in Austria
In a recent study commissioned by the Salzburg Chamber of Commerce, EcoAustria shows that net contributor households in Austria work exclusively for the state every year until June 28 and only then for their own pockets. Unlike previous studies, this new study reveals the full dimension of state redistribution for the first time.
Specifically, Austria has one of the highest tax ratios within the EU at around 43%, putting it behind only France and Belgium. In terms of per capita social expenditure, Austria ranks fourth in the EU behind Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands.
In order to finance the annual public expenditure of EUR 236.9 billion (2022), 49% of gross income must be contributed to state redistribution. The results of the study show that the Austrian welfare state is not supported by a large solidarity community, but by a minority. Of the total of 4.1 million households, only 1.7 million households are net contributors (42.3%). Conversely, almost 60 percent of households are net recipients of social transfers, benefits in kind or other income from social insurance, for example.
It also shows that entrepreneurs contribute a significantly higher proportion of the total population to the maintenance of state tasks. A comparison of the groups of employees with those of the self-employed and shareholders in corporations shows that the latter two groups contain a disproportionately high number of net contributors and high performers. In simple terms, while the 30 percent of households with the highest incomes of employees contribute more to the system than they receive back from the system, in the group of self-employed persons it is already every second household. There are practically no net recipient households in the group of shareholders in corporations.
Against this backdrop, the question arises as to when the tipping point for service providers is reached and their willingness to contribute decreases. The Day of State Redistribution should therefore be an opportunity to appeal to all population groups to make a fair contribution to maintaining state structures within their means.
