Public finance, taxes

The statistics on “public finance” initially provide information on the expenditure and revenue, personnel numbers and balance sheet data (assets and liabilities) of public bodies (federal government, Länder, municipalities, etc.) – “public accounts”.

This data is primarily important for forming a basis of information for Austrian financial policy. It supplies a review of the financial situation of individual public entities and provides guidance for the targeted use of financial resources. In the tax sharing system, it forms the starting point for new negotiations. In the context of National Accounts, accounts are created via the general government sector based on public accounts. Various key figures such as the fiscal “Maastricht indicators” (government deficit, government debt) and the tax ratio can be derived from this data. Other Maastricht indicators include the harmonised index of consumer prices and the long-term interest rate.

In addition to the global presentation of all types of tax revenue in the “public finance” sector, detailed statistics are provided for the following tax types: turnover tax, corporation tax, income tax and wage tax. Integrated wage and income tax statistics combine data on income tax and wage tax with transfer payment data (such as unemployment benefit, family allowance and child care benefit) to provide a comprehensive picture of income.