Category: Austrian News

The new year 2024 will improve the health sector for those with health insurance. Examinations such as prostate MRI and coronary CT will be covered by health insurance throughout Austria, and there will be a subsidy for psychological treatment. Reimbursement of costs following visits to elective doctors will be faster starting July 1 because they will have to send their fee notes digitally to the health insurance fund. Implementation of the recently adopted healthcare reform is also set to begin. Changes to health insurance benefits for those with health insurance…

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The public sector and the metalworkers will be scratching at the 10 percent mark. Pensioners are also in this range. In the retail sector, salary increases are still being debated. According to WIFO, inflation could fall to 3.2 percent in 2024. This is how salaries will look in 2024Salaries in the public sector will rise by 9.15 percent on January 1, at least by 192 euros. For the lowest salaries, this means an increase of 9.71 percent. Bonuses and allowances will also be increased by 9.15 percent. Directly affected are…

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The CO2 tax will be raised at the turn of the year, with 45 euros to be paid for one ton of carbon dioxide in the future. This will also affect refuelling, so ARBÖ recommends filling up your car before January 1st. Driving will be more expensive in 2024 due to climate protection measuresFrom January 1, 2024, a liter of diesel will be 3.7 cents more expensive, and a liter of petrol will cost 3.4 cents more, ARBÖ President Peter Rezar calculated today. However, he is concerned that there could…

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The premiums for home loan savings and state-subsidized retirement provision (“Zukunftsvorsorge”) will remain unchanged in 2024. The home loan and savings premium will again be 1.5 percent, while the premium for future provisions will remain 4.25 percent. In the coming year, a maximum deposit of 1,200 euros per year will also be subsidized for building society savings, with a maximum premium of 18 euros. The maximum possible subsidy for future provisions, on the other hand, will increase slightly. The upper limit for subsidized payments is linked to the ASVG maximum…

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On Christmas Day, the friendly and sunny weather character will predominate in the west and south, and there will often only be high clouds in the sky; any early morning fog will soon dissipate. In the north and partly also in the east, there will still be some denser patches of cloud, but short showers will remain the exception here, too. The snow line will mostly be above 2000m above sea level. The wind will blow weakly to moderately from predominantly westerly directions, brisk in the country’s northern parts, sometimes…

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On December 25 and 26, special opening hours apply for food retailers on public holidays. Food markets at major train stations and airports can open, but this is not everywhere. (The exact times of the locations can be found here: Sonderöffnungszeiten | BILLA). Another option on Sundays and public holidays is petrol station stores and unmanned vending machines. A third of Austrians buy presents in the last week before Christmas, some just before the festive season. Petrol stations and pharmaciesPetrol stations are open just as long as on other public…

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Energy grid fees will be increased at the start of 2024. We already pay a lot for electricity and gas, but from January on, you will have to prepare for even higher costs. This is because the grid fees will be increased at the start of 2024. For electricity, the average increase across Austria will be around 11.25 percent, while gas network charges will rise by an average of three percent, the regulatory authority E-Control announced on Monday. For an average household with an annual consumption of 3,500 kilowatt hours…

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The new vignette year started on December 1, 2023; this also marked the start of the validity period for the new adhesive vignette in sunny yellow and the 2024 digital vignette. This year, however, there are a number of innovations in addition to the color of the vignette, and these are also important if you either give the vignette as a gift or receive it as a present. “New to the offer for the first time is the 1-day vignette. Like the 10-day vignette, it is now valid immediately after…

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The increase in the retirement age for women will take effect for the first time in 2024. Female insured persons born between January 1 and June 30, 1964, can only retire at the age of 60.5. For those born between July 1 and December 31, 1964, the standard retirement age increases to 61. This pattern continues in further half-yearly steps up to the 1968 birth cohort. For women born after June 30, 1968, the standard retirement age of 65 will apply, as for men. Substantial pension increasesAnd what else? Austria’s…

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