Social insurance
Austrian social insurance covers health, pension, unemployment, the housing-promotion levy and the chamber-of-labour levy — capped at the maximum contribution base. The rates shown are those in force for 2026.
What comes out of an Austrian gross salary
Austria does not deduct one lumped “social contribution” — it deducts a set of separate lines, each with its own rules. Five of them you help carry as an employee (health, pension and unemployment insurance, the housing-promotion levy and the chamber-of-labour levy); three are paid by the employer alone — they are listed here for completeness but do not reduce your net. Every line runs only up to the maximum contribution base. Here is the whole picture, on the rates for the 01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026 period.
| Contribution | Who bears it | Employee (DN) | Employer (DG) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health insurance (KV)medical & benefits-in-kind | employer + employee | 3,87 % | 3,78 % |
| Pension insurance (PV)the state pension (1st pillar) | employer + employee | 10,25 % | 12,55 % |
| Unemployment insurance (ALV)insurance against unemployment | employee (tiered) | 0 % – 2,95 %¹ | 2,95 % |
| Housing-promotion levy (WBF)earmarked housing levy | employer + employee | 0,5 % | 0,5 % |
| Chamber-of-labour levy (AK)levy to the statutory worker representation | employee only | 0,5 % | — |
| Accident insurance (UV)work & commuting accidents | employer only | — | 1,1 % |
| IESG surchargeinsolvency wage guarantee | employer only | — | 0,1 % |
| Occupational provision (BV)“Abfertigung neu” severance fund | employer only | — | 1,53 % |
| Total employee share (top ALV tier) | 18,07 % | — | |
¹ Employee share, tiered by monthly gross (see the table below); the employer bears a further share.
The five lines that reduce your net
From your gross pay the employer withholds your share of five lines and remits it. The three big ones are health insurance (KV) at an employee share of 3,87 % (the employer bears a further 3,78 %), pension insurance (PV) at 10,25 % (employer 12,55 %) — by far the largest, because it funds your future state pension — and unemployment insurance (ALV), whose employee share is not fixed but tiered by your monthly gross (more on that in a moment).
Two smaller lines follow: the housing-promotion levy (WBF) at an employee 0,5 % (employer also 0,5 %), and the chamber-of-labour levy (AK) at 0,5 % — the contribution to your statutory worker representation, which you bear alone; the employer does not share it.
Together your five employee shares come to 18,07 % of your gross at the top ALV tier. The table lists the employee (DN) and employer (DG) share separately for each line — your payslip shows only the DN column, and the split per line is not symmetric (KV, for instance, is 3,87 % vs 3,78 %).
The ALV tiers — why lower earners pay less
Unemployment insurance is the only one of your lines whose employee share depends on gross pay. At a low monthly gross it is 0 % — you pay nothing in — and it rises in steps to the full 2,95 %. The tiering deliberately relieves lower earners; it is why the overview table shows a range for ALV rather than a single percentage.
The steps are set by monthly gross and run as follows:
| Monthly gross | Employee share |
|---|---|
| up to 2.225 € | 0 % |
| over 2.225 € up to 2.427 € | 1 % |
| over 2.427 € up to 2.630 € | 2 % |
| over 2.630 € | 2,95 % |
What the employer bears on top
Three lines in the table are not a payroll deduction: they never appear on a payslip as your deduction and do not reduce your net — the employer pays them on top of your gross. We list them so the picture is complete and you do not misread them as “your” contribution.
They are accident insurance (UV) at 1,1 %, covering work and commuting accidents; the IESG surcharge at 0,1 %, which secures your unpaid wages if the employer becomes insolvent; and occupational provision (BV) at 1,53 % — the “Abfertigung neu” the employer pays continuously into a portable severance fund.
The maximum contribution base — how far contributions apply at all
Social-insurance contributions do not apply to every euro. There is a ceiling, the maximum contribution base (Höchstbeitragsgrundlage): the calculation runs only up to it, and no further contributions fall on the part of pay above it. For the regular monthly salary it is 6.930 €. Earn more, and the excess stays contribution-free.
Downward, by contrast, there is no contribution floor: in regular employment the calculation starts from the first euro; there is no minimum contribution base as in some neighbouring systems. (Below a small marginal-earnings threshold, separate rules apply — that is a question of insurance coverage, not a contribution floor, and it is not carried here as a figure.)
The special payments (13th/14th salary, holiday and Christmas pay) have their own, annual maximum base — here 13.860 €. It runs separately from the monthly ceiling, because special payments are also treated separately for tax.
Ceiling, regular monthly salary
6.930 €
Ceiling, special payments (annual)
13.860 €
Period: 01.01.2026 - 31.12.2026
How this compares to the system you know
If you are used to the Serbian (or wider Balkan) payslip, where three contributions come out of pay — pension & disability (PIO), health and unemployment — you will recognise much of Austria, in a slightly different split.
- PIO → PV. Austria’s pension insurance is the closest match to the pension side of PIO. Unlike Switzerland, there is no separate compulsory second pillar in the payroll deduction — the state pension is the one big pillar, which is exactly why PV is the largest single line.
- Health → KV. Almost one to one: in Austria health insurance is a payroll deduction too, not a private policy — unlike Switzerland, where it is bought separately. Coming from the Balkans, this feels more familiar than the Swiss model.
- Unemployment → ALV. The nearest match. The difference is the tiering by income and the ceiling.
Two things are new: the chamber-of-labour levy, a small compulsory contribution to the statutory worker representation that a Balkan payslip does not have, and the occupational provision the employer carries. So “what is left for me” cannot be compared line by line — only through the final net figure.
Questions and answers
The content of this page is being extended over time; the rates shown are taken from named primary sources and are not an official statement.