Frequently Asked Questions

No, as of 2025, the Klimabonus has been abolished. The Klimabonus was limited to the years 2022 to 2024 by an amendment to the Klimabonus Act. This is part of the federal government's restructuring measures as part of the 2025/2026 double budget.

Please directly contact our hotline at 0800 8000 80. The service is available Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Our service team will be happy to assist you with any questions.

You do not need to take any action to receive the payment. The eligibility criteria simply require you to have a registered primary residence in Austria for at least 183 days of the claim year, regardless of your age and citizenship. Non-Austrian citizens must hold legal resident status.

There are two options for receiving the Klimabonus:

Option 1: Direct transfer to your bank account

If your bank account details are up to date and registered (details below), the money will be transferred directly to this account.

This option applies in the following cases:

If your current bank details are registered with FinanzOnline*. The relevant information in this case is the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) for your account. You can find the IBAN on your debit or credit card or by inquiring with your bank. Please ensure your details are updated on FinanzOnline by July 10, 2024.

If you receive family allowance (“Familienbeihilfe”) for your child or children and it is deposited to your bank account, the Klimabonus for your child or children will also be deposited into the same account.

If you are retired and you receive your pension via bank transfer, you will receive the Klimabonus in the same account.

You can verify and update your bank account information on FinanzOnline at any time. If your information is registered and correct, future Klimabonus payments will be automatically transferred to your account.

* FinanzOnline is an online platform for submitting applications and forms to the tax office, particularly those related to tax matters. To register for FinanzOnline, you will need your ID Austria, your FinanzOnline user name or participant identification. You can either register on the website www.finanzonline.at or through the tax office.

Option 2: The Klimabonus is sent by mail as a registered letter (“RSa-Brief” or “RSb-Brief”)

Individuals whose bank account information is not up to date or registered with FinanzOnline (see Option 1) will receive a registered letter containing the Klimabonus in the form of vouchers. This letter must be handed to the recipient in person. If you are not present at your home address when the postal worker attempts delivery, the letter will be securely held at the post office or an affiliated location or store. To collect the letter, please bring a valid photo ID along with the missed delivery notice.

Your Klimabonus will be calculated based on the primary residence (‘Hauptwohnsitz’) where you lived the longest within the relevant calendar year. For individuals who moved within Austria in the first six months of the year, this will be assessed at the second cut-off date (December 31, 2024 of the relevant year). This ensures that we can accurately determine where you lived the longest, which forms the basis for calculating the regional compensation you are entitled to.

Individuals whose primary residence is not registered in Austria for a sufficient number of days by the first cut-off date will be assessed using the second cut-off date and will therefore receive the Klimabonus in spring of the following year.

The Klimabonus was a bonus payment and direct refund for CO₂ pricing. All inhabitants of Austria in the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 were eligible for the Klimabonus. It was paid out to everybody automatically once a year. This measure was introduced in conjunction with the CO₂ pricing system within the Eco-social Tax Reform in October 2022. This important initiative aims to combat climate change by increasing the costs associated with emitting harmful CO₂. The goal is to incentivize individuals to reduce their CO₂ emissions.

The Klimabonus redistributes the funds generated through CO₂ pricing directly to the residents of Austria. Its primary objective is to encourage the adoption of environmentally friendly practices in transportation, heating, and consumption. Individuals who effectively reduce their CO₂ emissions will therefore keep a larger share of the Klimabonus. Furthermore, it serves as a form of social compensation for those facing challenges in transitioning to climate-friendly alternatives.

CO₂, or carbon dioxide, is a potent greenhouse gas that has a detrimental impact on the Earth’s climate. It is produced during the generation of heat and electricity, by car traffic, in most industries, but also in private households—in short, in all contexts where oil and gas serve as the main energy sources. The increase in CO₂ in the Earth’s atmosphere is one of the main drivers of the human-made climate crisis. A tax on CO₂ renders climate-damaging behavior more expensive.

Anyone who has had their primary residence registered in Austria for at least 183 days in the year for which the Klimabonus can be claimed is eligible for the payment, regardless of age, origin, or citizenship. Non-Austrian citizens must hold legal resident status. The Klimabonus is also paid to individuals who are registered as unemployed. The Klimabonus is not offset against other state benefits such as needs-based minimum income. The Klimabonus in no way affects your eligibility for any state benefit.

• You can redeem the vouchers at over 10,000 acceptance points throughout Austria. Find them here.

• You can exchange the vouchers for cash at our banking partner, bank99. You can find a list with its branches at bank99.at/standorte.

In 2022, the Klimabonus of €250 was paid out together with the Anti-Inflation Bonus, which also amounted to €250. All eligible persons therefore received a transfer of €500, children received €250.

In 2023 and 2024 the amount of the Klimabonus depended on the local infrastructure in your place of residence.

The Klimabonus consists of two components:

• The base amount. This is a fixed minimum amount paid to all eligible recipients, which compensates for increased housing and general consumption costs.

• An optional regional adjustment, which compensates for increased transportation costs. Since the modes of transport available depend on where you live, the regional adjustment is based on the local infrastructure at your place of residence.

Combining the base amount and the applicable regional adjustment results in the following possible Klimabonus amounts for 2024:

• Category 1: €145 (base amount only)

• Category 2: €145 (base amount) + €50 € regional adjustment = €195

• Category 3: €145 (base amount) +€100 regional adjustment = €245

• Category 4: €145 (base amount) +€145 regional adjustment = €290

Find out the exact amount of your Klimabonus 2024 for your place of residence HERE.

Minors (individuals under 18 years of age) receive half the amount received by adults. Individuals with disabilities who are unable to use public transport receive the base amount plus the maximum regional adjustment, regardless of their region of residence. For verification, the relevant ID (“Behindertenpass”) must indicate that “use of public transport is unreasonable due to permanent mobility restrictions caused by a disability”.

The regional adjustment compensates for the increased cost of mobility. Therefore, individuals living in regions with poor infrastructure and limited public transport receive a higher regional adjustment. The reasoning behind this is the fact that inadequate public transportation options necessitate greater reliance on cars. Conversely, individuals living in more urban areas typically benefit from more accessible public transport and better, if not excellent infrastructure in the vicinity of their primary residence, resulting in lower or no regional adjustments for these groups.

Statistik Austria has assigned each municipality a regional category based on existing data for infrastructure and public transport. For more details, please visit the Statistik Austria website. The regional categories are defined as follows:

• Category 1: Urban centers with very good public transport.

• Category 2: Urban centers with good public transport.

• Category 3: Regional centers and communities in the vicinity of centers with sufficient basic public transport.

• Category 4: Rural communities and communities with basic public transport.

People with an annual taxable income exceeding €66,612, have to pay taxes on the Klimabonus, as their Klimabonus will be added to the assessment basis for income tax/employee assessment in 2024 and thus subject to taxation. The amount of €66,612 corresponds to the amount above which income is subject to the marginal tax rate of 48% in the 2024 assessment.

People with mobility limitations due to a disability will always receive the maximum amount, regardless of their age or place of residence. For verification, the relevant ID (“Behindertenpass”) must indicate that the “use of public transport is unreasonable due to permanent mobility restrictions caused by a disability”, pursuant to §§ 40 et seq. of the Federal Disability Act (BBG), or you must hold a parking permit pursuant to § 29b of the 1960 Road Traffic Act (StVO). This also applies to individuals under the age of 18. If your mobility restrictions were not considered in the Klimabonus payment you received, please fill out this contact form.

Yes, the Klimabonus is paid to all individuals who have maintained their primary residence in Austria for at least 183 days during the claim year. This means that newborns become eligible for the Klimabonus at 183 days of age, provided their primary residence was registered in Austria for 183 days by December 31 of that year.

If a child is born in the first six months of the year, they will not meet this requirement by the first cut-off date. Therefore, the Klimabonus for the child will be paid after the second cut-off date in the spring of the following year.

Minors (individuals under 18 years of age) receive half the amount received by adults in their respective regional category. The Klimabonus will be issued to the individual receiving the family allowance.

Once a person turns 18 years old, the Klimabonus is either deposited directly into their own bank account or mailed to their primary residence in the form of vouchers in a registered letter.

The following data is used for the payment of the Klimabonus:

• Surname and first name

• Date of birth

• Primary residence address of the recipient

• International bank account number (IBAN)

• Family allowance data, and

• Data of individuals with a disability indicating that the entry “use of public transport is not reasonable due to permanent mobility limitations caused by a disability” is present.

• Encrypted area-specific personal identifiers, which are generated by authorities for the secure data management. When other authorities need these identifiers for the purpose of data processing in e-government services, they are passed on in an encrypted form. E-government services are public administration services that citizens can access via the Internet, such as FinanzOnline, the e-government platform of Austria’s fiscal authorities. The encrypted area-specific personal identification codes (“vbPK”) of the following sectors are relevant for the Klimabonus: Society and Social Welfare (vbPK-GS), Taxes and Duties (vbPK-SA), Social Insurance (vbPK-SV), Transport and Technology (vbPK-VT), Personal Identity and Civil Rights (vbPK-ZP), Statistics Austria (vbPK-AS), and the Transparency Database (vbPK ZP-TD).

In accordance with the Klimabonus Act, the ministries and agencies administering the relevant data provide them to the Federal Ministry for Climate Action.

For example:

• The Federal Ministry of the Interior provides residence registration data, which establishes an individual’s primary residence.

• The Federal Ministry of Finance provides international bank account numbers (IBANs) and family allowance data.

• The Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection provides data concerning mobility restrictions of people with disabilities.

• The Austrian Federal Pension Fund provides bank account details where applicable.

Yes, all applicable data protection regulations are strictly followed. The Klimabonus Act authorizes the Federal Ministry for Climate Action to process all necessary data for Klimabonus payments. The data is processed and managed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act (Federal Law Gazette I. No. 165/1999) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.

Personal data is processed only when absolutely necessary, thus observing the GDPR’s principle of data minimization. This principle dictates that only the data that is absolutely necessary for the intended purpose shall be processed. The data security measures mandated by the General Data Protection Regulation are also strictly observed.