Best Savings Accounts (Tagesgeld) in Austria (2026)

How Austrian savings tax (KESt) works

Austria taxes interest income at a flat 25% Kapitalertragsteuer (KESt) under § 27a Abs. 1 Z 1 EStG. There is no saver's allowance like the German Sparerpauschbetrag, so every euro of interest is taxed. The after-tax return is what lands in your account and is the number every tile above shows in the "Net year 1" box. Note the different rate on the Bundesschatz: because it is a security rather than a deposit, it is taxed at 27.5% under § 27a Abs. 1 Z 2 EStG.

• Steuereinfach accounts: the bank withholds and remits KESt for you, so nothing reaches your tax return. Every Austrian licence on this page qualifies, including DenizBank, DADAT, Santander, Addiko, Anadi and bank99. So does Renault Bank direkt, which holds a French licence but remits Austrian KESt as a service.
• Self-declare accounts: Scalable Capital pays gross interest, so you file it on the E1kv annex and pay the 25% via FinanzOnline. Trade Republic is the trap: it has been steuereinfach for securities income since 24 April 2025 and says so in the app, but it still does not withhold the 25% on cash interest. That part is yours to declare.
• Worked example: €10,000 at 2.60% p.a. earns €260 gross. After 25% KESt (€65), you keep €195 net. Against Austrian inflation of 2.8% (July 2026, Statistik Austria) that is still a real loss, which is the honest headline of the whole category.

Austria has no saver's allowance, so KESt is due from the first euro of interest, and a forgotten E1kv line on a foreign account is an underpayment of tax, not a paperwork slip. The relief runs the other way: under § 27a Abs. 5 EStG you can opt for standard taxation in your annual return, and the withheld KESt is credited against your progressive rate. That only helps when your average tax rate sits below 25%, for example as a student, and the option applies to all of your capital income at once.

Which country's deposit guarantee covers your savings?

The €100,000 ceiling is the same across the EU, but it applies per bank licence, and the payout comes from the fund in the licence country, not from Austria. A balance at Trade Republic is covered by the German scheme, one at Revolut by the Lithuanian one. Through Raisin, each deposit sits with a partner bank, and that bank's country decides.

Wise is the exception that matters. It is an e-money institution, not a bank, so your balance is safeguarded, held apart from Wise's own money, but has no deposit guarantee. Use it for transfers and spending, not for savings.

In Austria the scheme is run by Einlagensicherung AUSTRIA. It covers €100,000 per person per institution and pays out within 7 working days. After a life event such as a property sale, the cover rises to €500,000 for 12 months. The Sparkassen, Raiffeisen and Volksbank groups also run their own institutional protection schemes, which support a member bank before it gets into trouble; they do not raise your personal ceiling.

Which savings product fits your situation?

The no-paperwork saver stays inside Austrian licences, because only they withhold the 25% KESt for you. On €10,000, three months at 2.70% with Santander BestFlex earns about €68 gross before the rate drops. Moving the money to the next Austrian promo keeps the return up without a single line on the E1kv. Trade Republic does not fit this profile on our reading, since its cash interest still has to be declared.

For a fixed two-year sum, the gap between Festgeld offers is wider than between Tagesgeld promos. Kommunalkredit Invest pays 3.00% from €10,000 on an Austrian licence; BAWAG SparBox Fix pays 1.90% over the same term, which on €25,000 is €275 a year less. The rate hopper can go further abroad, but Renault Bank direkt's 4.10% Tagesgeld is still unconfirmed for Austria, so we point to its Festgeld instead.

What other Festgeld and foreign savings offers are there?

The foreign offers pay more at the top, and every one of them hands you the tax. Urbo Bankas via Raisin pays 3.21% over 12 months and Advanzia 3.97% for 3 months, but both pay gross, so the 25% goes on your E1kv. Raisin payouts also run through the partner bank and Raisin before they reach your reference account, which adds days at maturity.

Among Austrian licences, Kommunalkredit Invest leads Festgeld at 3.00%, and BAWAG SparBox Fix trails at 1.80 to 2.05%. The Bundesschatz reaches 3.20% only if you lock in for 10 years, and it is taxed at 27.5% as a security, which leaves about 2.32% net.

Which is better: Bundesschatz or Festgeld, Sparbuch or Tagesgeld?

The tax rate is the hidden difference. At the same gross rate a Festgeld nets more, because a deposit pays 25% KESt and the Bundesschatz, a security, 27.5%: 3.00% gross leaves 2.25% on a Festgeld and 2.175% on the Bundesschatz. The Bundesschatz earns its place above €100,000 and on long terms, where 3.20% over 10 years still leaves about 2.32% net.

A Sparbuch is not safer than Tagesgeld: both sit under the same €100,000 guarantee of Einlagensicherung AUSTRIA. The difference is access and interest. On €10,000, the OeNB average of 0.41% earns €41 a year gross; three months at 2.70% earn about €68 before the promo ends. Keep a Sparbuch for the two jobs only it does: the rent deposit and Mündelgeld.

The licence country moves the tax job, not the safety. Both accounts are guaranteed to €100,000. At DenizBank the bank withholds the 25% KESt; at Bigbank you owe it yourself, and forgetting the E1kv line is an underpayment of tax. On €10,000 for 3 months, Bigbank's promo earns about €58 net against €43 at DenizBank.

Raisin is a broker, not the bank that holds your money, so the guarantee is the partner bank's country's scheme. It pays 0.31 points more than the best Austrian 12-month offer in our research, DenizBank at 2.90%, which on €10,000 is about €31 a year gross. That gap is real but small, and it comes with an E1kv line and a slower payout.

What changed in Austrian savings rates this quarter?

Three rates moved up in September 2026 and one ownership change is pending. Renault Bank direkt launched a 4.10% Tagesgeld for 4 months on 3 September 2026, capped at €250,000, and lifted its whole Festgeld ladder by 0.25 percentage points on the same day, to 3.00% over one year and 3.25% over five. Scalable Capital went to 2.60% on 1 September 2026, and Trade Republic to 2.50% on 16 September 2026, which is the first time in 2026 that either has paid above the ECB deposit rate of 2.25%.

The ownership change is at Addiko Bank. Raiffeisen Bank International cleared its minimum acceptance threshold of 56.16% and closing is pending, with a long-stop of May 2027. Nothing changes for depositors today, but if the deal completes, an Addiko balance and a Raiffeisen balance would eventually share one €100,000 guarantee ceiling instead of having one each. Two figures on this page are worth treating with care: Santander BestFlex's follow-on rate is reported at 2.00% from September 2026 but that figure is portal-sourced, and Austrian Anadi Bank's current rate could not be confirmed on anadibank.com. Verify both with the provider before you move money.

Tagesgeld vs Festgeld vs Sparbuch

The Festgeld band is where the real money sits. Kommunalkredit Invest pays 3.00% over 24 to 36 months from €10,000, on an Austrian licence with KESt withheld, which nets 2.25% after tax. Renault Bank direkt raised its ladder on 3 September 2026 to 3.00% over one year, 3.10% over two, 3.15% over three, 3.20% over four and 3.25% over five. Austrian Festgeld normally cannot be broken early, so treat the term as a lock.

The Sparbuch column is not a rounding error, it is the reason this page exists. Erste's s Komfort Sparen Basis pays 0.02% on a daily-access balance and many Raiffeisen passbooks pay 0.01%. On €10,000 that is €1.50 net for the year against roughly €195 at Scalable Capital. The AK Bankenrechner is the advertising-free comparison the VZKG itself mandates, and it is the right place to check any rate on this page against your own balance.