Set up Austrian taxes in your Shopify store

If your business is VAT-registered and you want to sell to both consumers (B2C) and business customers (B2B) in different EU countries, you'll need to set up your tax settings and tax rates properly.

In this article, you'll learn how to set up taxes for your Shopify store if it's based in Austria.

Last updated on July 28, 2026.

In this article, we will discuss

• Tax settings
• Tax rates in Austria and the EU
• Selling physical goods to customers in Austria
• Selling physical goods to customers in other EU countries
• Selling within the micro-business threshold
• Surpassing the micro-business threshold
• Country-specific registration
• Selling digital goods

If you want to charge VAT to some customers in your Shopify store but not others, you have two options, depending on how you would like to display product prices.

If you sell mainly to consumers (B2C), you may want to display product prices with VAT included.

To display your product prices with VAT included while still letting business customers have VAT deducted at checkout:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Global settings section, check the Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
3. Click Save to apply the changes.

Optionally, you can enable dynamic tax inclusion. This Shopify feature automatically includes or excludes tax based on the customer's region and adjusts the tax rate accordingly.

To activate dynamic tax inclusion:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Markets and click the market you want to set up tax collection for.
2. Click Duties and taxes, and in the Storefront and checkout pricing field, click Edit.
3. In the Domestic taxes field, select Dynamic taxes. Click Done.
4. Click Save to apply the changes.

If your customers are mostly businesses (B2B), you can choose to display your product prices as excluding VAT.

To display your product prices excluding VAT:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Global settings section, uncheck the Include sales tax in product price and shipping rate.
3. Click Save to apply the changes.

Optionally, disable the dynamic tax inclusion:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings → Markets and click the market you want to set up tax collection for.
2. Click Duties and taxes, and in the Storefront and checkout pricing field, click Edit.
3. In the Domestic taxes field, select Don't add taxes. Click Done.
4. Click Save to apply the changes.

As of 2026, the standard VAT rate in Austria is 20%.

Reduced VAT rates of 13% and 10% also apply to certain products, such as firewood, hotel stays, and passenger transport, with books and newspapers taxed at 10%.

From July 1, 2026, a new reduced rate of 4.9% applies to a defined list of selected food products, while other groceries remain taxed at 10% or 13% depending on the product.

Most digital services, such as streaming, software, and apps, are taxed at the standard 20% rate.

When you sell physical goods to customers in Austria, you should always charge Austrian VAT—regardless of whether the customer is VAT-registered.

When selling to non-VAT-registered customers outside of Austria but still within the EU, you do collect VAT.

The rate you charge depends on whether you exceed the micro-business threshold of €10,000 (excluding VAT).

If you're selling to VAT-registered businesses in other EU countries, you shouldn't charge VAT.

Shopify calculates VAT based on the tax registrations and tax settings you've configured.

Selling within the micro-business threshold

If your taxable turnover from cross-border B2C sales to customers in other EU countries remains below €10,000 (excluding VAT) during the current and previous year, you can generally continue charging Austrian VAT to non-VAT-registered customers throughout the European Union.

This €10,000 threshold is separate from the EU SME VAT exemption introduced in 2025.

If you're using the SME VAT exemption, additional eligibility requirements and registration rules apply. Check with your local tax authority to confirm whether your business qualifies.

To configure Shopify to charge Austrian VAT on eligible cross-border sales:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Regional Settings section, click on European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click on Collect VAT.
4. In the Collect across the EU window, select the Collect using your home country registration option.
5. Select the country of registration and enter your VAT number. If you've applied for a VAT number but haven't received it yet, leave this field blank. You can update it later.
6. Save your changes by clicking Collect VAT.

Surpassing the micro-business threshold

Once your cross-border B2C sales exceed the €10,000 threshold, you must charge VAT based on the customer's country.

Most businesses meet this obligation by registering for the One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme, although local VAT registrations may still be required in certain situations.

This means customers from different EU countries should be charged different VAT rates, ranging from 17% to 27%.

For example, if your business is located in Austria and you sell goods to consumers in Belgium and Germany, and your total sales to both countries are below the €10,000 threshold, you charge the Austrian VAT rate of 20%.

However, if your combined sales to customers in all other EU countries exceed the €10,000 threshold, you must charge VAT at the rate applicable in your customers' countries.

Most businesses meet this obligation by registering for the One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme.

You'd then charge Belgian VAT at 21% on goods sold in Belgium and German VAT at 19% on goods sold in Germany.

Registering for VAT in every EU country you sell to can quickly become time-consuming once you cross the threshold.

In this case, you can use the One-Stop Shop (OSS) Union scheme instead. It still lets you charge VAT at the rate of the country you're selling to, but you only need to file one OSS VAT return.

To charge your Belgian and German customers the correct VAT rate, you need to set your tax settings accordingly.

Shopify lets you select OSS as your VAT registration type so it can apply the correct VAT rates automatically.

To set VAT rates for the OSS scheme and charge your customers' shipping country VAT rate on all orders:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Regional settings section, click on European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT cross-border section, click on Collect VAT.
4. In the Collect across the EU window, select Collect using a One Stop Shop (OSS) registration.
5. Select the Country of OSS registration and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you've applied for a VAT number but don't have one yet—you can update it later once you receive it.
6. Save your changes by clicking Collect VAT.

Now your customers' shipping country VAT rate will automatically apply to all EU sales.

Selling with a country-specific registration

Some businesses maintain separate VAT registrations in each EU country where they sell.

If this applies to you, add the local VAT registration number for each country in Shopify.

Shopify will then use this information to apply the correct VAT rate based on your registered tax obligations.

To add a local VAT registration number:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Taxes and duties page.
2. In the Regional settings section, click on European Union.
3. In the Collect VAT in an EU country section, click on Collect in another location.
4. Select the Registration country and enter your VAT number. Leave this field blank if you've applied for a VAT number but don't have one yet—you can update it later once you receive it.
5. Save your changes by clicking Collect VAT.
6. To add a local VAT registration number for every country you're registered in, click Collect VAT in an EU country again and confirm by clicking Collect VAT.

If you can't select the additional country you're VAT-registered in, you may need to create a shipping zone first.

To create a shipping zone:

1. In your Shopify admin, go to the Settings → Shipping and delivery page.
2. In the Shipping section, click the shipping profile you want to add shipping zones to.
3. In the Shipping zones section, click Add shipping zone.
4. Enter a name for the shipping zone, add the country (or countries) you're VAT-registered in using the search bar, and click Done when finished.
5. Add shipping rates to make this zone available.
6. Click Save to apply the changes.

Selling digital goods from Austria to other EU countries and the UK comes with special rules, so it's worth understanding exactly what counts as a "digital service" first.

Digital goods or services include radio and television broadcasting services, telecommunication services, and electronically supplied services, such as online magazines, music, films, and games.

Just because a company uses the internet to facilitate trading doesn't mean it provides e-services.

For example, selling goods where the order and processing happen electronically (as through a Shopify store) isn't a supply of digital services. This counts as a regular sale of goods and follows the usual VAT rules described above.

The VAT rules when selling digital services

If you supply digital services from Austria to other EU countries, the same €10,000 threshold described above applies.

Your digital sales count toward the same EU-wide total as your physical goods sales, not on top of it.

This means that as long as your combined turnover from goods and digital services to non-VAT-registered customers elsewhere in the EU stays below €10,000, you can keep charging Austrian VAT.

Once that combined total exceeds €10,000, you must charge VAT at the rate of the customer's country for both goods and digital services going forward.

If you sell digital services to VAT-registered businesses, they're responsible for accounting for any VAT due in their own country.

Registering for VAT in multiple countries can take a lot of time and effort. Shopify store owners in Austria selling to other EU countries can register for the One Stop Shop (OSS) instead.

The OSS scheme lets you report the VAT due on your services in your own country through a single web portal.

Once you've set up your tax rates correctly in your store, Sufio automatically creates valid invoices with an exact breakdown of the VAT charged.

Invoices can be created in multiple languages and include all the details needed to comply with EU invoicing legislation.

Issuing invoices with the correct tax breakdown is crucial for your bookkeeping and tax purposes.

If you are selling to businesses (B2B), Sufio invoices include all the required information, as well as the VAT registration number (USt-IdNr. or Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer) of your online store and your business customers.