In 2023 alone, over 20 kilometres of new and improved cycling infrastructure were created in Vienna. However, the shift towards sustainability does not only make itself felt in terms of infrastructure - more and more employers are also providing their employees with company bikes.
If company-owned vehicles are also made available for private use, this is a benefit from employment which would in principle be subject to taxation. However, the Austrian Ordinance on the Valuation of Benefits in Kind stipulates that company bicycles and electric cars with a CO2 emission value of 0 g/km are to be treated similarly and that they not to be assessed as benefits in kind for tax purposes (the amendment was published in Federal Law Gazette II No. 504/2022).
The employer may provide the company bicycle for business and private use either free of charge or by way of substituting a salary component. If the salary is reduced, care must be taken to ensure that the salary does not fall below the minimum stipulated in the collective agreement on the one hand, and that the reduction in gross salary is set forth in a written amendment to the employment contract on the other hand. Moreover, it is recommended for the employer and the employee to enter into an agreement governing the details of use, including any private use, as well as issues of liability.
KWR's Employment Law Team will be happy to answer any questions you may have about company bicycles and the agreements to be entered into.