12,000 euros in costs

ORF fee horror: companies need patience

The GIS is dead, the OBS is now tapping into all households and not just those with televisions. But the real bill is paid by businesses.

(Bild: Gerhard Bartel, APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH, krone.at-Grafik)

In the case of horrendous ORF fees for companies, the ministry emphasizes that multiple charges were not intended. Companies should exercise patience.

The obligation to pay contributions for companies is regulated in the ORF Act 2024: All companies that paid municipal tax in the previous year are liable to pay contributions. The law also stipulates that "every business in each municipality in which at least one permanent establishment is located must pay the ORF contribution for each calendar month in accordance with the scale".

Affected sectors known to the ministry
The assessment basis for this is the total wages paid to employees of the business premises located in the municipality. In plain language: The number of ORF contributions varies depending on the total amount of wages, but is capped at a maximum of 100 contributions per month or EUR 18,360 per year (excluding the provincial levy).

At the same time, patience is requested in order to be able to initiate timely relief over the summer of 2024.

Stellungnahme BMF

Affected sectors
The rumblings among businesses are not new to the ministry: "The ORF-Beitrags Service GmbH (OBS) as the collecting body and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) as the responsible supervisory authority have been informed that, due to this legal link, cases of double or multiple charges of the ORF contribution to businesses are occurring in certain constellations. This applies in particular to construction work lasting longer than six months or expected to last longer than six months, temporary employment, cleaning companies and security companies," according to official sources.

Talks with business representatives
As reported, the OBS and BMF are of the opinion that such double or multiple burdens are not intended by law. "That is why joint talks are being held with representatives of the business community to ensure an appropriate solution."

Automated recording planned
The first step will be to correct the advance notifications of contributions and refund paid amounts. "At the same time, patience is requested in order to be able to initiate timely relief over the summer of 2024," the OBS website states: "In the future, automated recording of cases of this kind should be made possible and thus an adjusted contribution estimate should be made."