Bitcoin as Salary in Austria: Which Taxes Arise?

Receiving Bitcoin as salary: how Austria taxes income and later price gainsWhere an Austrian employee is paid wholly or partly in Bitcoin, taxation is not simply deferred until the coins are sold later. The Bitcoin payment is first of all consideration for the work performed. Benefits in kind from an employment relationship count in principle among taxable income in Austria and have to be valued in money. Two separate tax stages can therefore arise: first the taxation of the wage, and later, where applicable, the taxation of a Bitcoin price gain.Bitcoin salary is recorded at its value on receiptIf an employee receives a corresponding amount of Bitcoin instead of €2,000, the euro value of the coins received is in principle to be recorded as employment income. This value feeds into the ordinary payroll accounting. On the employee side, wage tax and social security contributions in particular can therefore become relevant.The value on receipt becomes the tax cost basisAt the same time the employee acquires a Bitcoin holding.Simplified example:Bitcoin salary on receipt: €2,000the corresponding BTC amount is transferred to the employeeThe €2,000 is initially treated as wage income. For ...