Housing Subsidy Contribution (Wohnbauförderungsbeitrag): Employee Side
Definition
The Wohnbauförderungsbeitrag ("housing-fund contribution") is a Land-level levy shared 50/50 between employee and employer, earmarked for that Land's social- housing fund. Legal basis: § 1 Abs. 2 Wohnbauförderungsbeitragsgesetz 2018. Standard rate 1,00 % of the ongoing PAYE base (0,50 % employee + 0,50 % employer). Vienna lifted to 1,50 % (0,75 % / 0,75 %) effective 1 January 2026 per LGBl. Wien Nr. 73/2025 (state diet resolution 23 October 2025), the only Bundesland exercising the federal tariff autonomy that's been on the books since 2018. Does not apply to Sonderzahlungen (13th / 14th). Determined by place of work, not residence.
Employee share by Bundesland and year
Employee share (what gets deducted from gross). The employer side runs symmetrically at the same rate, see the DG sibling page. Current-year values read directly from the calc engine; historic years fixed, future years not yet set (»—«).
Through end-2025 all nine Länder (Vienna included) sat at 0.50 % employee share. LGBl. Wien 73/2025 raised Vienna alone to 0.75 % effective 1 January 2026 (total then 1.50 %). Future years (»—«) are typically set in autumn of the preceding year.
Example: Gross €4,000 / month (employee side)
Employee deduction in Vienna: € 4.000,00 × 0,75 % = € 30,00/month. In every other Bundesland: € 4.000,00 × 0,50 % = € 20,00/month. Per year (12 × ongoing; 13th/14th are exempt): € 360,00 in Vienna, € 240,00 elsewhere. Effect: €-for-€ net reduction. For the employer-side view (what WBF costs the employer) see the sibling page under Dienstgeber.
See also
- WBF (employer side) (payroll add-on) , The other half of the levy: how WBF sits in the employer's payroll add-on costs alongside KommSt, DB, DZ, MVK.
- Sonderbezüge (13. & 14. Gehalt) , WBF only applies to ongoing pay, not to the 13th/14th special payments.
Sources: § 1 Wohnbauförderungsbeitragsgesetz 2018 (RIS), LGBl. Wien Nr. 73/2025, BGBl. II Nr. 263/2025 (SV-Werte 2026).