Particularly important in the acquisition of a company are the idea of transparency, the safeguarding of the creditworthiness of the contractual partners and the optimal handling of the transaction in terms of tax law. Austrian law offers many pitfalls when buying a company. Therefore, buyers should ideally seek advice from a tax expert (legal due diligence and tax due diligence), who can suggest potentials for a legal tax-optimal structuring of the group of companies. A distinction is made between two forms of company acquisition (asset deal and share deal).
Asset-Deal
Direct company purchase (assets, liabilities, rights, obligations, customer base, ...) are concluded with company purchase agreement. Depending on the asset, the respective transfer act must be observed.
Share-Deal
The shares in a company are transferred. Only the company carrier is acquired, but not the company itself. For example, the acquisition of shares in a limited liability company.
From the point of view of tax law, it is important in which form the acquisition of the company takes place, and the persons involved (buyer and seller). We deal with the following three cases:
The seller is a natural person and sells by asset deal. The profit (gross method: comparison of assets and purchase price + liabilities, or net method: comparison of equity and purchase price) of the seller is subject to income tax. Assets subject to special taxation (securities, company shares, real estate) are exempt from income tax. Seller: During the sale, hidden reserves are most likely to be disclosed, which can be favored with an allowance of 7,300 Euros. In case of a forced sale of the business (retirement, disability, death), a progression reduction (half rate tax allowance) can be used as an option or a distribution tax allowance (divide the capital gain over three years). Buyer: Capitalization of acquired assets and hidden reserves can make an asset deal attractive compared to a share deal.
The seller is a natural person and sells by share deal. Seller: The capital gain (difference between acquisition costs and sales proceeds) of shares in a corporation is subject to a tax rate of 27.5%. Consultancy fees and other costs in connection with the sale cannot be offset against the gain. Buyer: A tax advisor can help you with regard to the utilization of loss carryforwards of the purchased company. If the shell company purchase is fulfilled, these loss carryforwards cannot be used.
Seller is a legal entity (corporation) Seller: The corporation is subject to corporate income tax of 25%. If this profit is distributed to a natural person as a shareholder, an additional capital gains tax of 27.5% is due. (Total tax burden of 45.625%). If a domestic corporation sells a foreign company, the resulting profit is exempt from corporate income tax (if covered by the nesting exemption). Your tax advisor can inform you about the requirements.
In addition to the taxation of profits, the consequences of the Value Added Tax Act, the Fees Act and the Real Estate Transfer Tax Act (transfer of real estate) must also be taken into account when purchasing a company.
Quelle: Gewinn
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