Getting started as a short-term rental host in Austria: tourist tax and guest registration

Every short-term rental host in Austria has two separate legal obligations: paying the local tourist tax and registering every guest. The tourist tax, called Ortstaxe, Kurtaxe, or Nächtigungsabgabe depending on the region, is set by each province and municipality, so the rate depends on where your property is. Guest registration is federal law under the Meldegesetz 1991 and applies everywhere in the country, including private holiday apartments. Both obligations stay with you as the host, even when a booking platform collects the tax on your behalf.

Do you have to pay tourist tax as a host in Austria?

Yes. Austria has no single national tourist tax. Each of the nine provinces sets its own rules, and individual municipalities set the details. The tax goes by different names depending on the region, most commonly Ortstaxe, Kurtaxe, or Nächtigungsabgabe. It applies to overnight guests in every type of accommodation, from hotels to private apartments booked through Airbnb.

Two rate structures exist. Some regions charge a percentage of the accommodation price. Vienna is the clearest example: its Ortstaxe rose to 5% of the net accommodation cost, excluding VAT and breakfast, on 1 July 2026, and the city has confirmed a further increase to 8% from 1 July 2027. Other regions, including many alpine municipalities in Tyrol and Salzburg, charge a flat fee per person per night instead.

Because rates and rules vary by municipality and change often, the amount you must charge your guests depends on your property's location. You can check the current rules for Austrian municipalities on the Trippz Austria tourist tax guide.

Do you have to register your guests in Austria?

Yes, and this obligation is separate from tourist tax. Under the Meldegesetz 1991, anyone running accommodation in Austria must keep a guest register (Gästeverzeichnis) and record every guest on a registration form (Gästeblatt or Meldeschein). This is federal law, so it applies in every province, and it covers private holiday rentals as well as hotels.

Each guest record includes the guest's full name, date of birth, nationality, home address, identity document details, and the dates of arrival and departure. Guests must be entered without delay after they arrive. In many municipalities the same guest data also forms the basis for calculating the tourist tax, so the two obligations are closely linked in practice.

Does Airbnb or Booking.com handle this for you?

Not completely. In some cities, including Vienna, booking platforms collect and pass on the tourist tax for reservations made through them. That covers one part of one obligation. It does not cover guest registration, which remains your responsibility under the Meldegesetz. It also does not cover direct bookings or bookings through channels that do not collect the tax. Relying on a platform for everything can leave you with unregistered guests and unpaid tax on part of your bookings.

How do you automate tourist tax and guest registration in Austria?

Trippz handles both obligations for hosts in Austria in one system. For tourist tax, Trippz calculates the correct rate for your municipality, collects it from the guest as part of check-in, and pays it out to you each month. You then forward it to your municipality or Tourismusverband. When a municipality changes its rate, Trippz updates it automatically, so the July 2026 Vienna increase is already applied and you never collect an outdated amount. For guest registration, Trippz collects the required guest details and submits them to the Austrian systems it connects to, including Feratel and AVS, so your Gästeblatt data reaches the right authority automatically. Trippz connects directly to Austria's guest registration systems, including Feratel and AVS. See the full list of Trippz integrations for details on each connection.

Pricing is simple: a free base account, then €4 per month per property for each service you switch on, with the first month free and no transaction fees on tourist tax collection.

Getting started: a quick checklist

To stay compliant as a short-term rental host in Austria:

• Confirm your municipality's tourist tax name, rate, and structure, since these vary by province and change often.
• Keep a guest register and record every guest on a Gästeblatt, as required by the Meldegesetz 1991.
• Remember that platform tax collection does not replace your guest registration duty and does not cover direct bookings.
• Connect your properties to Trippz so tax collection and guest registration run automatically for every booking, without manual portal entry.

Start your free trial on the Trippz hosts page and set up tourist tax and guest registration for your Austrian properties in minutes.