Consumption Structure and Tax Burden of Pension Households in Austria

The 2015-16 consumption survey shows that pension households account for 27 percent of total private household consumption expenditure in Austria. In the categories of health and other goods and services (personal care, social services), the expenditure of pension households is higher than that of younger households. Pension households spend less on education, clothing, accommodation, and alcoholic beverages. The tax and contribution burden of pension households is 30 percent on average. The tax ratio of the 10 percent of households with the lowest incomes is 19.7 percent, that of the highest incomes 36.4 percent. In the lower income third, consumption and excise taxes form the main tax burden of pension households; these indirect taxes have a regressive effect. In the upper income groups, progressive income tax is the main tax paid by pension households.