May 2025 – On 2 May 2025, the
Austrian Ministry of Finance published a draft bill of the Budget
Accompanying Act proposing significant amendments to the Austrian
Real Estate Transfer Tax Act with potential far-reaching
implications for M&A transactions.
The proposed changes to the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act would
tighten the tax treatment of so-called "share
deals"—transactions where shares in corporations or
partnerships owning real estate are transferred instead of the real
estate itself. These changes, aligned with the Austrian
government's 2025–2029 program, aim to close any existing
loopholes that have enabled the avoidance of real estate transfer
tax in real estate transactions.