New business relief

Definition

New business relief under the Neugründungs-Förderungsgesetz (NeuFöG, §§ 1 to 6) supports people setting up a new business: certain fees, charges and payroll levies fall away. Usually meant along with it is a second rule from the GSVG: in the first two calendar years, SVS health insurance is fixed at the minimum contribution base (§ 25a (4) GSVG), in 2026 that is €449.76 a year. This applies only to persons insured under § 2 (1) Z 1 to 3 GSVG (chamber members, partners of an OG or KG, GmbH shareholder-managing directors), not to Neue Selbständige (Z 4), and only if there was no GSVG insurance in the last 120 calendar months.

Effect on SVS contributions

In the first two calendar years the minimum contribution base counts as the provisional and final base for health insurance; it is not reassessed, even if profit turns out higher. Condition: no GSVG pension or health insurance in the preceding 120 calendar months. Self-employed provision likewise follows the minimum base, in 2026 €101.16 a year.

Pension and accident insurance are unaffected. Pension contributions are still reassessed against actual profit. That is the most common misunderstanding: the relief does not cap every contribution.

Other exemptions

NeuFöG also waives stamp duties and federal administrative charges for documents and official acts around the founding, court fees for company register entries, and real estate transfer tax on contributed property up to an allowance. If you employ staff in the first year, certain employer levies, among them the Dienstgeberbeitrag, fall away for twelve months.

Requirements and application

Only a genuine new business qualifies: a business structure that did not exist before must be created, and the person controlling it must not have run a comparable business in the past five years. Taking over an existing business or merely restructuring one does not count.

The declaration is made on form NeuFö 1, usually at the economic chamber, and must be in place before the official act concerned. The reference period covers the month of founding plus the following 35 calendar months.

• In the calculator: In the SVS and tax calculator you set the founding year under "Edit". Health and self-employed provision contributions are then fixed for years 1 and 2, while pension and accident insurance continue normally.

See also

• SVS contribution base, minimum base, provisional contributions and reassessment.
• Neue Selbstständige, who is insured with the SVS without a trade licence.
• Dienstgeberbeitrag, one of the payroll levies that can fall away in the first year.