FinanzOnline — the BMF tax portal

FinanzOnline is the Austrian BMF tax portal, operational since 1 February 2003. The first brick of the BMF e-administration ecosystem, it is today the mandatory channel for all tax returns (VAT, CIT, IIT, payroll, OSS) and one of the modules under the USP envelope.

History — 22 years of tax portal

2003. Initial launch for monthly VAT returns (UVA). First European administration to digitalise at scale for businesses.
2008. Extension to all taxes (CIT, IIT, payroll). Online VAT return mandatory for all businesses.
2011. Payroll module (annual L16, L1) and withholding tax. Integration with ELDA (social security).
2014. Direct USP link, business account mutualisation with the e-Rechnung ecosystem.
2017. RKSV module — certified cash register registration + Belegcheck validation.
2019. REST API opened alongside historical SOAP. Gradual UX modernisation.
2021. OSS / IOSS module for cross-border EU e-commerce.
2024-2025. UVA prefill from USP B2G e-invoices + ViDA preparation.

Modules — VAT, payroll, RKSV, OSS

Module	Use	Frequency
UVA — Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung	Intra-annual VAT return (advance)	Monthly (turnover > €100K) or quarterly
U30 — Annual VAT return	Annual VAT regularisation	Annual, before 30 June N+1
ZM — Zusammenfassende Meldung	Intra-EU recap statement	Monthly or quarterly
K1 / K2 — Körperschaftsteuer	Corporate tax	Annual
E1 / E1a — Einkommensteuer	Income tax (entrepreneurs)	Annual
L16 / L17 — Lohnzettel	Annual payroll declaration	Annual, before 28 February N+1
RKSV — Registrierkassen	Sign-up / Belegcheck validation	Continuous, Jahresbeleg before 15 February
OSS / IOSS	B2C EU e-commerce	Quarterly (OSS) / monthly (IOSS)
FATCA / CRS	Automatic financial account exchange EU / OECD	Annual
KESt — Kapitalertragsteuer	Dividend / interest withholding	Quarterly or per transaction

SOAP and REST APIs

FinanzOnline offers two APIs in parallel:

SOAP API (historical). In place since 2003. Public WSDL on finanzonline.bmf.gv.at/wsdl/. Typical methods: uvaSubmit, zmSubmit, l16Submit, statusQuery. Authentication via X.509 client certificate + user TID.
REST API (since 2019). Same functions in HTTPS+JSON. Endpoints under api.finanzonline.bmf.gv.at/v1/. Authentication OAuth 2.0 + client certificate. Easier to integrate for modern cloud ERPs.
Payload format. XML conformant to BMF schemas published under www.bmf.gv.at/schemas/. Versioned by fiscal year (U1 2024-01-01, U1 2026-01-01, etc.).
Rate limit. ~1,000 requests/minute per client certificate in prod. Test: fonline-test.bmf.gv.at with no strict limit but no persistence.
Integrated software: all major Austrian ERPs (BMD NTCS, RZL, ELO Steuerberater, DPW Schöllerbank, DATEV Austria) integrate FinanzOnline natively.

xml uva-202604-payload.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Erklaerung xmlns="http://www.bmf.gv.at/erklaerung/U1/20210101"
            type="U1" wartung="false">
  <Steuernummer>0123456789</Steuernummer>
  <Steuerpflichtiger>
    <Bezeichnung>Beispiel GmbH</Bezeichnung>
    <UID>ATU12345678</UID>
  </Steuerpflichtiger>
  <Zeitraum>
    <Jahr>2026</Jahr>
    <Monat>04</Monat>
  </Zeitraum>
  <Umsatzsteuer>
    <Bemessung20Prozent>125000.00</Bemessung20Prozent>
    <Umsatzsteuer20Prozent>25000.00</Umsatzsteuer20Prozent>
    <Bemessung10Prozent>32000.00</Bemessung10Prozent>
    <Umsatzsteuer10Prozent>3200.00</Umsatzsteuer10Prozent>
    <Bemessung13Prozent>5000.00</Bemessung13Prozent>
    <Umsatzsteuer13Prozent>650.00</Umsatzsteuer13Prozent>
    <InnergemeinschaftlicheLieferung>42000.00</InnergemeinschaftlicheLieferung>
  </Umsatzsteuer>
  <Vorsteuer>
    <AbziehbareVorsteuer>18200.00</AbziehbareVorsteuer>
    <EinfuhrUmsatzsteuer>1200.00</EinfuhrUmsatzsteuer>
  </Vorsteuer>
  <Zahllast>10650.00</Zahllast>
</Erklaerung>

Bridge with USP

Shared authentication. A FinanzOnline account grants access to USP (and vice versa, to some extent). The SSO bridge is operated by BRZ.
Shared data. UID-Nummer, address, executive identity and bank coordinates are synchronised between FinanzOnline and USP.
USP e-Rechnung → FinanzOnline UVA. Since 2024, prefill pilot: B2G invoices received via USP feed a "real activity" view usable to validate the consistency of a monthly UVA. No automatic prefill mandatory yet.
ViDA timing. If ViDA 2030 Digital Reporting Requirements impose invoice data push to BMF, FinanzOnline will be the natural channel (UVA extension / new DRR module).

Authentication and accountant delegation

Login / password / TID. Historical mode (2003), still used. TID = random token generated by BMF, to be kept offline.
Bürgerkarte / Handy-Signatur / ID Austria. Modern, safer modes. Recommended for sensitive businesses or for accountant delegation.
Steuerberater delegation. The company explicitly delegates one or more rights to its tax advisor: reading, UVA submission, OSS submission, etc. Fine-grained per module.
Internal delegation. Inside the company, possible to create sub-accounts (e.g. "controller", "accounting assistant") with restricted rights.

Common pitfalls

Wrong schema version. Submitting a UVA with the 2024 schema while reporting 04/2026 — immediate rejection. Always reference the schema of the fiscal year.
Expired TID. The TID expires if unused for 12 months. Renewal via physical Finanzamt or post — 2-week lead times.
UVA rounding error. Amounts must be in whole cents, format ####.##. A UVA with 3-decimal amounts is rejected.
Confusing Steuernummer and UID-Nummer. FinanzOnline expects the internal Steuernummer (9 digits), not the UID-Nummer (ATU + 8 digits) for authentication.
Underestimating OSS deadlines. The OSS module is independent of UVA, with its own quarterly calendar. Many e-commerce companies miss the 20th of the month following the quarter.

Foundations

Standards

Flagship messages

Tools