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Austrian federal, state, municipal gov'ts agree on tax distribution

Xinhua, November 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

The federal, state and municipal governments of Austria on Monday agreed on how tax money should be distributed over the next five years.

All parties appeared happy with the outcome of the revenue-sharing negotiations that had been going on for one and a half years.

The parties involved spoke of a "huge step," and even a "miracle," though the end result did not represent a great reform as had initially been announced, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) reported.

Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said what had been achieved however were "first steps toward change."

Under the newly-signed agreement, state governments will receive an additional 300 million euros (331 million U.S. dollars) of funding each year until 2021 with no stipulation on how it is to be spent.

Municipal governments will see a total of 106 million euros (116 million dollars) of these funds, 60 million euros (65.9 million dollars) of which will go toward a fund for structurally weak municipalities.

The states will receive a further one-off sum of 125 million euros (137 million dollars) for tackling the migrant crisis, of which 37 million euros will go to municipalities who have taken care of refugees. Endi