With the planned abolition of the GIS fee from April 1, 2024, there is also movement in the question of the ORF state fee. On Sunday morning, Lower Austria announced that it would no longer collect state taxes from this point on. That brings annual savings of 69.90 euros for the individual, according to Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP).
The state tax, which is the responsibility of the individual federal states, currently amounts to EUR 5.80 per month in Lower Austria. Upper Austria and Vorarlberg have already waived this, and Salzburg is considering waiving the surcharge in the future. In total, the Lower Austrians would be relieved of almost 41 million euros, it said. That was “a noticeable relief for the compatriots,” Mikl-Leitner was quoted as saying in a broadcast. LH deputy Udo Landbauer (FPÖ) said that this would abolish the “ORF compulsory levy at state level”. The abolition of the ORF state levy is after the care check announced on Saturday – krone.at reported – the second project under black and blue in Lower Austria within three days. In Upper Austria and Vorarlberg no state tax has been added to the ORF fee. There, the ORF contribution will be around EUR 15.20 from 2024 instead of the current EUR 22.45. This is already the case in Vorarlberg and Upper Austria. Salzburg’s governor Wilfried Haslauer (ÖVP) only emphasized on Friday that he would find it most sympathetic to waive the state tax. Currently, 70 percent of the state tax in Lower Austria is used for culture and 30 percent for sport. After the abolition of the state tax, the subsidies for culture and sport are financed entirely from the general state budget.
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