Special Payments (Sonderbezüge): 13th & 14th Salary
Definition
Sonderbezüge (special payments) are payments made in addition to the regular monthly salary, in Austria mainly the 13th (Urlaubsgeld, holiday pay) and the 14th (Weihnachtsgeld, Christmas pay). Under § 67 EStG they get their own staffel instead of the progressive tariff, starting at 6.00 %, and a yearly allowance of €620. Social insurance is only 17.07 % (KV + PV + AV, no AK, no WBF) and is capped at 2 × HBG/month = €13,860 a year (2026), across both payments together.
§ 67 staffel by year
The limits apply to the base after SI and the allowance; above them the tariff applies. 2027: as currently known.
Example: gross €6,980/month (Vienna, 2026)
The gross here sits €50 above the Höchstbeitragsgrundlage on purpose, so the SI cap shows; the median full-time salary 2026 (€4,230, forecast) is well below it. SI is deducted first from each special payment. The 13th carries full SI on €6,980, so €1,191.49. For the 14th the yearly cap binds: €13,860 − €6,980 = €6,880 remain liable to SI, the last €100 are SI-free. Then the €620 allowance applies once a year (here to the 13th), and the staffel at 6.00 % up to €24,380. Wage tax: €310.11 on the 13th and €348.34 on the 14th; net €5,478.40 and €5,457.24.
See also
- Höchstbeitragsgrundlage (HBG), the SI cap that can bite the 14th payment.
- Regular and special payments, what counts as a regular and what as a special payment.
- Income tax tariff (§ 33), the tariff for everything above the staffel.
- •§ 67 Abs 1 und 2 EStG 1988 (RIS)
- •§ 45 und § 54 ASVG (RIS)