Main-Residence Exemption: When Selling Your Apartment or House in Austria Is Tax-Free

When you sell your apartment or house in Austria, you normally pay 30% real estate income tax (ImmoESt) on the profit. But if you lived there yourself, the sale can be completely tax-free. This is called the main-residence exemption. Here's when it applies, which deadlines count and where the pitfalls are.

Two routes to a tax-free sale

The law has two routes. It's enough if one of them applies. For both, you have to give up the main residence – in other words, move out.

What counts as a main residence and a home

Condos and owner-occupied homes, including their land, are exempt. The rules:

• Main residence: the center of your life. Your residence registration is an indication, but what matters is where you actually live.
• Condo: qualifies – even in a large apartment building – if condominium ownership has been established.
• Owner-occupied home: a house with no more than two apartments, at least two-thirds of which is used for living.
• Rental or office use: if you don't live in part of it yourself, the exemption may not apply to that part, or at all. That depends on the individual case.
• Lived there yourself: you, as the seller, must have had your own main residence there.

Moving-out deadlines

No moving out, no exemption. When you have to move out depends on the route:

• Under the 2-year rule: within 1 year before or after the sale. If you still live there after the sale, that time doesn't count toward the 2 years.
• Under the 5-out-of-10 rule: earlier – no more than 5 years before the sale – or up to 1 year after.
• Longer deadlines: the 1 year comes from the income tax guidelines, not the law itself. In one case, the Federal Finance Court also accepted a sale 15 months after moving out, because the agent had been hired earlier and the delay wasn't the seller's fault. Don't count on it, though.

Large plots: the 1,000 m² limit

The law itself sets no size limit. But according to the income tax guidelines (para. 6634), the tax authorities only exempt land up to 1,000 m², as that's usually enough for a building plot. Austria's Supreme Administrative Court confirmed this limit in 2024, and it applies the same way throughout Austria. The house and 1,000 m² stay tax-free; tax is due pro rata on the area above that.

Inherited or received as a gift

The 2-year rule doesn't apply here, because it requires a purchase. The 5-out-of-10 rule can, however. Years you lived there before the inheritance also count – for example, in your parents' house. The deceased's exemption doesn't pass to you: if you never lived there yourself, the sale is taxable.

Real-life examples

Simplified and without guarantee. Every case should be checked before selling.

Without the exemption: how much tax is due

If the exemption doesn't apply, you pay 30% real estate income tax on the profit – not on the sale price. For property bought before April 1, 2002 (old property), a flat rate applies: effectively 4.2% of the sale price through the end of 2026, and effectively 6% for sales from January 1, 2027. Higher rates apply to rezoned land.

What does this mean for you as a seller?

The exemption can save you a lot of money. But it can also quietly lapse if you wait too long to sell after moving out. And with large plots, which are common in Lower Austria, tax is still due on the part above 1,000 m².

The real estate income tax is usually calculated and paid by the notary or lawyer who handles the purchase contract. Have proof of your main residence ready: residence registration, bills and anything showing you lived there. If you'll stay in the apartment for a while after the sale, put that in the purchase contract.