Structure
The Austrian Customs Administration consists of 9 customs offices. They are divided into specific teams such as Organisation, Customer Service Teams, Customs Audit Units, Customs Investigation, Revenue Assurance, Specialised Department.
Management:
- management of the tax office in organisational, personnel, economic and financial respects, including supervision by the head of the tax office
- support with performance management, particularly preparation, coordination and adjustment of short-term and long-term planning for the tax office
- direction and coordination of the competent division by the head of the department
Organisational Team:
- infrastructure , procurement
- inventory
- deficiency management
- administration of conference rooms
- access control
- support with information technology, including hardware and software
Main tasks of the Competence Division include
- Coordination, implementation and evaluation of quality assurance and support activities
- Knowledge management
- Prevention of fraud
- Ensuring of equal treatment and related equality in taxation
- Special support of audit units
- Execution of written requests
- Execution of appeals
- Representation of the administration at the Independent Financial Senate
- Handling of criminal cases
- Coordinating function as between the teams
- Training coordination and transaction
- Development of training materials
Main tasks of the Customer Service Teams include
- Customer service
- Inaugural visits
- Customer meetings
- Informational letters
- Customs clearance
- All types of customs procedures
- Customs Authorisations
- Issuing authorisations
- Modifications of authorisations
- Withdrawal of authorisation
- Post clearance
- Remissions and refunds
- Assessment notices
- Excise duties
- Risk management
- Administrative supervision
- Operational customs supervision
Main tasks of the Customs Audit Units include
- Audits pursuant to EU legislation
- Own resources
- OLAF
- Common agriculture
- Origin and preferences
- Prohibitions and restrictions
- E-customs
- Audits pursuant to international legislation
- Verifications
- Legal assistance
- Audits pursuant to national legislation
Main tasks of the Customs Investigation Unit include
- Combatting of infringement
- Fraud (cigarettes, drugs, piracy ,..)
- Investigations
- Criminal proceedings
Main tasks of the Collection and Enforcement Unit include
- Bookkeeping
- Budget management
- Chattels execution
- Storage
- Suspensions
- Payment facility
Certain customs offices have service units that perform special tasks pursuant to assignment. Some of these so-called “Competence Centres” are in the nature of internal helpdesks and also serve as a general point of information for the public.
Competence Centres:
“First level helpdesk” for technical information with regard to
- E-customs
- Export Control System
- Import Control System
- Electronic Transit System
- Excise Movement Control System
Matters with regard to customs procedures
- E-customs: specialist helpdesk primarily for economic entities
- National contact point for consultation and notification processes within in connection with single authorisations: for simplified procedures; for customs procedures of economic importance; for special end-use.
- National contact office for consultation and information procedures for authorised economic operators
- Data exchange and declaration obligations with regard to customs authorisations (Information System for Processing Procedures – ISPP)
- Review and approval of data processing procedures for software used at customs warehouses
Tariff matters:
- Tariff quotas and ceilings
- Post-clearance recovery and reimbursement of duties
- Approval of sureties
- Import and export surveillance measures
- Paperless foreign trade administration
Excise Liaison Office (ELO):
- Specialist helpdesk for the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS)
- Movement Verification System (MVS)
- Early Warning System for Excise (EWSE)
- VAT confirmation procedure for foreign VAT numbers
- Customer Administration
- Basic data management for customs and excise procedures
- Central issuing office for the E-customs code
- National EOS service desk
- Management and maintenance of the AEO and EORI database
- Industrial Property Protection, FinDok
- Industrial property protection, product piracy
- Office for matters with regard to the financial documentation system (FinDok)
- Central TARIC Administration
- Prohibitions and Restrictions
- Central Customs Information Office
- Information on general customs matters, prohibitions and restrictions
The Ministry
