Legal notice and mandatory details for tax advisers in Austria

What every tax firm website needs

For tax advisers, the ECG applies just as it does to any business with a website. As a regulated profession, however, you have to give additional details that an ordinary trade business does not. On top of that come the Mediengesetz information, the privacy policy and, depending on how the site is built, cookie consent and accessibility. The list below is the starting point; the details follow in the sections after it.

§ 5 ECG for tax advisers, point by point

§ 5 (1) ECG requires the information to be permanently, easily and directly accessible. A clearly visible “Legal notice” link in the footer of every page meets that requirement. For a tax firm, the individual lines look like this:

On the professional title, § 73 WTBG 2017 (Public Accountants and Tax Advisers Act) stipulates that you call yourself “Steuerberater” or, in the female form, “Steuerberaterin” when practising. You may also use “Wirtschaftstreuhänder:in” (the umbrella term for chartered accountancy professions). Add academic degrees as usual, for example “Mag. Lena Berger, StB”. If you are also a registered mediator or are authorised to carry out another activity, you may point this out (§ 73 (4)).

Naming your chamber, supervision and professional rules correctly

Your chamber is the Kammer der Steuerberater:innen und Wirtschaftsprüfer:innen (KSW, the Chamber of Tax Advisers and Auditors), based in Vienna. There are no independent regional chambers, but there are nine regional offices (Landesstellen). Many firms therefore name the KSW together with the regional office of their federal state, for example “KSW, Landesstelle Steiermark”, and link to ksw.or.at. If you want your authorisation to be easy to verify, also link your own entry in the KSW's member directory.

The supervisory authority (no. 5) is less clear-cut. The WTBG 2017 places the chamber under the supervision of the competent federal minister, but individual practitioners are appointed by the KSW and monitored by it on matters such as liability insurance and continuing education. In practice, the KSW is often named as the competent body. If you are unsure how to word the line, ask your regional office.

For the reference to the professional rules and how to access them, a link is enough: the WTBG 2017 in the RIS (the federal legal information system) and the Allgemeine Richtlinie über die Ausübung der Wirtschaftstreuhandberufe (WT-AARL 2017-KSW, the general guideline on practising the profession), which the KSW provides on its professional rules page. Optional but sensible is a reference to the Allgemeine Auftragsbedingungen für Wirtschaftstreuhandberufe (AAB 2018, the standard terms of engagement) if you use them in your engagements.

Tax advisory GmbH, OG and KG

If you run the firm as a Wirtschaftstreuhandgesellschaft (professional services company), further details are added: the company name with the legal form suffix, the company register number and the register court. It is not only the ECG that requires these details, but also § 14 UGB (Commercial Code) for business letters and websites of registered businesses. For a GmbH, also name the managing directors; the shareholders belong in the disclosure.

Make sure the professional title stays tied to the person: the company is a “Steuerberatungsgesellschaft” (tax advisory company), the managing director is a “Steuerberaterin”. If auditors or bookkeepers also work in the company, attach each title to the right person. What the mandatory details look like for bookkeepers, who report to a different authority, is shown in the article Legal notice for accountants and bookkeepers in Austria.

Disclosure and editorial line for client news

Every website is a medium within the meaning of the Mediengesetz. For a site that only presents the firm, without content that shapes opinion, the short disclosure under § 25 (5) MedienG is enough: name or company name, the business purpose if applicable, and registered office. But many firms go further: they write about the new budget, comment on tax reforms or send out a client newsletter. Then the full disclosure applies, with ownership and shareholdings and the basic editorial direction, known as the Blattlinie.

The editorial line can be short, for example: “Information for clients and interested readers on tax, levies and business topics.” The legal notice and the disclosure may share one page, and the heading “Impressum und Offenlegung” (legal notice and disclosure) makes that clear.

Sample: legal notice of a tax advisory GmbH

The following example is fictitious and shows how the details fit together. Replace the placeholders with your own data and delete anything that does not apply. The wording stays in German, as it appears on the site.

• Impressum und Offenlegung gemäß § 5 ECG und § 25 MedienG
• Berger Steuerberatung GmbH, Hauptplatz 7, 8010 Graz, Österreich
• Telefon +43 316 000000, E-Mail kanzlei@berger-steuerberatung.example
• Unternehmensgegenstand: Steuerberatung (Wirtschaftstreuhandberuf Steuerberater)
• Firmenbuchnummer FN 000000x, Firmenbuchgericht: Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen Graz; UID-Nummer ATU00000000
• Geschäftsführung: Mag. Lena Berger, Steuerberaterin
• Berufsbezeichnung: Steuerberater:in, verliehen in Österreich
• Kammer: Kammer der Steuerberater:innen und Wirtschaftsprüfer:innen (KSW), Landesstelle Steiermark, ksw.or.at
• Berufsrecht: WTBG 2017 (ris.bka.gv.at) und WT-AARL 2017-KSW (ksw.or.at/berufsrecht)
• Berufshaftpflichtversicherung: [Versicherer], [Kontaktdaten], Geltungsbereich: Österreich bzw. EU
• Gesellschafterin: Mag. Lena Berger (100 %); Blattlinie: Information über Steuer- und Wirtschaftsthemen

Data protection, confidentiality and document uploads

Under Art. 13 GDPR, the privacy policy explains which data the website processes, for what purpose and with whom: hosting, contact form, online booking, newsletter. For tax advisers there is an extra layer: the duty of confidentiality under § 80 WTBG 2017 covers everything clients entrust to you, and that often starts with the very first enquiry through the form. So choose your service providers carefully and sign data processing agreements under Art. 28 GDPR.

Cookies, maps and embedded services

Under § 165 (3) TKG 2021 (Telecommunications Act), information may only be stored on or read from a device with consent, unless this is strictly necessary for the service the user expressly requested. Analytics tools with cookies, embedded videos, third-party maps or social media plugins therefore need active consent before they load. Simpler still is a website that does not load these elements at all or only after a click: visitor statistics without cookies, a map that only appears after consent, fonts served locally.

Dispute resolution, prices and accessibility

If you act for consumers, for example on an employee tax assessment (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung) or on rental income, § 19 AStG (Alternative Dispute Resolution Act) applies: if you have committed to or are obliged to take part in proceedings before a consumer dispute resolution body, name that body and its website address on your website. If a dispute cannot be settled by agreement, inform the client on paper or another durable medium of the competent body and state whether you will take part. You no longer need a link to the EU online dispute resolution platform: it was shut down in 2025, and you should remove old references to it.

If you state prices, for example for an initial meeting or a package for cash-basis accounts (Einnahmen-Ausgaben-Rechnung), they must be easy to read and show whether VAT is included (§ 5 (2) ECG). The Barrierefreiheitsgesetz (BaFG, Accessibility Act) concerns e-commerce services for consumers, such as booking paid consultations online. Microenterprises with fewer than ten employees and no more than 2 million euros in turnover or balance sheet total are exempt. A readable website with strong contrast is worth having regardless. Which other content belongs on a firm website is shown in the article Website content for firms.

How to present your services on the website without breaching professional rules or the UWG (Unfair Competition Act) is described in the article Advertising for tax advisers in Austria. If you are just setting up, the article Setting up a tax firm in Austria takes you all the way to your appointment by the chamber.