How to Apply for Familienbeihilfe in Austria: the Antrag Step by Step

How to Apply for Familienbeihilfe in Austria: the Antrag Step by Step How to apply for Familienbeihilfe (family allowance) in Austria: FinanzOnline or Beih100 form, documents, deadlines, back pay and how to appeal a refusal. Topics: Daily Life, Economy.

Familienbeihilfe is Austria’s monthly child allowance, paid by the Finanzamt (tax office). For many families the bureaucratic complexity starts with the Antrag auf Familienbeihilfe — the application you have to file yourself when moving here from abroad, when your child is born outside Austria, or when you extend payments past the age of 18. So, how do you actually apply for Familienbeihilfe? You complete the standard form Beih100 and submit it through FinanzOnline, by post, or in person at your local tax office; the Finanzamt then issues a written decision, usually within a few weeks. This guide covers the whole process step by step: when an application is genuinely mandatory, how to choose between FinanzOnline, mail and a personal visit, how to fill in Beih100 field by field, which documents you need in each situation, and what to do if the Finanzamt refuses your application or sits on the decision. Benefit amounts and eligibility rules we cover in our separate overview of Familienbeihilfe in Austria; here the focus is purely on the mechanics of applying.

When You Must Apply for Familienbeihilfe — and When It Is Automatic

Since 1 May 2019 Austria has operated automatic awards: if the child was born in Austria, no separate Antrag is needed — the Finanzamt receives data from the civil registry office (Standesamt) and assigns the payment itself. This applies to every birth on Austrian territory, regardless of the parents’ nationality. As oesterreich.gv.at confirms, the benefit goes to families whose centre of life is in Austria.

You must file the application yourself in six typical situations:

• the child was born abroad while the family lives in Austria;
• you moved to Austria with children from another country — the automatic route fails because the Austrian register holds no record of the birth;
• payments need extending past 18 — for adult children in education an annual Leistungsnachweis (proof of enrolment) is required;
• you are claiming the Mehrkindzuschlag (multiple-child supplement, starting with the third child) — it is filed every year as a separate application;
• increased Familienbeihilfe is needed because the child has a disability — form Beih3;
• the claimant is not a parent — an adoptive parent, guardian, grandmother or grandfather.

A quick eligibility check: you live with the child in the same household (gemeinsamer Haushalt — shared household), your Lebensmittelpunkt (centre of everyday life) is Austria, and the child is resident in Austria. Citizens of the EU/EEA and Switzerland qualify on the same terms; citizens of non-EU countries qualify with a valid Aufenthaltstitel (residence permit). If you are unsure whether to file at all, file: missed months are paid back up to 5 years, while an application that was never filed returns nothing. Incidentally, the same benefit exists under the German name Kindergeld, and we have a step-by-step application guide for it — the procedure is identical, only the terminology differs when you deal with banks and employers.

Three Ways to Submit Your Antrag: FinanzOnline, Post or in Person

You can file an Antrag auf Familienbeihilfe in three ways — the law is the same for everyone; speed and convenience are what differ. According to the Bundeskanzleramt, the forms can be obtained in FinanzOnline or downloaded from the BMF Formulare section.

Method	Advantages	Drawbacks	Choose it when
FinanzOnline	Usually the fastest decision; status visible online; data prefilled automatically	Requires ID Austria or a FinanzOnline password	Most applications — the first and best choice
Post	No electronic ID needed; paper Beih100 with copies of documents	Slowest of the three; risk of loss or an incomplete package	You have no ID Austria or are not comfortable using a computer
In person at the Wohnsitzfinanzamt	Ask questions and have your documents checked on the spot	Requires a visit and often an appointment; queues	Complex cases: disability, relocation, disputed situations

FinanzOnline is the Austrian tax service’s portal, through which the overwhelming majority of applications pass. To log in you need ID Austria (formerly Handy-Signatur) or a separate FinanzOnline password. In the system, select “Familienbeihilfe” → “Antrag stellen”, fill in the form online and sign it electronically. The application immediately reaches the right department, and its status — “in Bearbeitung”, “bewilligt” or “abgelehnt” — appears under current applications. If you have never used FinanzOnline, set up access before you start collecting documents: registering with ID Austria takes a few minutes, and it is the same credential you will use for most other government services in Austria.

Post. The completed Beih100 with copies of documents is sent to Finanzamt Österreich for your place of residence. Copies of documents in foreign languages must be accompanied by a translation, and birth certificates issued outside the EU must carry an apostille. Send the letter with tracking: the posting date determines the month from which retroactive payments start.

In person. The competent authority is the Wohnsitzfinanzamt — the tax office of your residence, not just any branch. The officer will check your package on the spot and tell you what is missing. Note that applications sent by ordinary email are not accepted by the Finanzamt — this is a data-protection rule, and there is no workaround via email.

Whichever method you choose, save the confirmation immediately after sending: the Bestätigung (the electronic FinanzOnline receipt) or the postal tracking number with the date of posting. Do not file a second time before the Bescheid (official decision) arrives — the Finanzamt merges duplicates more slowly than it issues the first decision. If your IBAN, address or family composition changes in the meantime, notify the Finanzamt straight away rather than waiting for the decision.

Beih100: How to Complete the Form Field by Field

Beih100 is the standard Antrag auf Familienbeihilfe (application to assign the benefit). The blank form is downloaded from the BMF website’s Formulare section; in FinanzOnline it is filled in online. Companion forms: Beih3 — the increased payment for a disability, Beih20 — Direktauszahlung (payment made directly to the adult child), Beih99 — Verzichtserklärung (a parent’s formal waiver of the benefit in favour of the child).

What to look at when filling it in:

• 1.1 Angaben zum Antragsteller — your name, date of birth, address, Steuernummer (tax number) and SV-Nummer (social security number, found on your e-card);
• 1.1.3 Staatsbürgerschaft — citizenship. Crucial for non-EU citizens: you must tick the field “gültiger Aufenthaltstitel” (valid residence permit) and enter the number and validity period of the permit;
• 1.2 Angaben zum Kind — the child’s name, date of birth, citizenship and document type (Geburtsurkunde — birth certificate, Reisepass — passport);
• 1.2.6 Ausbildung — completed for children over 18: type of educational institution and the period of study;
• 1.3 Bankverbindung — IBAN in the Austrian format, AT followed by 20 digits. A single typo here delays payments by weeks;
• Unterschrift — the applicant’s signature is mandatory: an unsigned application is returned without being considered.

When you apply through FinanzOnline, some fields are prefilled from your data — one more argument for submitting online. A practical approach is to open the form and fill it in one sitting with your documents in front of you; most sections take under a minute once everything is at hand.

Documents for Every Situation: from the EU to Disability

The core document package is the same for every Familienbeihilfe application:

• the child’s Geburtsurkunde (birth certificate) — for births in Austria it arrives from the registry office automatically; for births abroad it must be the original with an apostille and a translation into German;
• Reisepass or Personalausweis (passport or ID card) of the applicant and the child;
• SV-Nummer of the applicant and, where available, the child;
• IBAN of an Austrian account in the SEPA format;
• Meldebestätigung — confirmation of registration at your residence;
• Aufenthaltstitel — for citizens of non-EU countries: the permit must be valid for at least six months.

After that, the list depends on your situation. Moving from the EU/EEA/Switzerland: first close the child benefit in your previous country and obtain a confirmation that you have renounced those payments — double payments between EU countries are tracked, and any overpayment will later be clawed back. If the family lives in a different EU member state from the one where the parent works, the Austrian Ausgleichszahlung (top-up payment to the Austrian level) is claimed with form Beih38 at the Finanzamt — this is how the Bundeskanzleramt regulates cross-border cases.

The law determines in advance who exactly files: if the parents live together, the application is made by the person who runs the household (by default the mother, who may renounce it in favour of the father). If the parents live apart, the application is filed by the person who primarily provides for the child, and “parents” is understood to include stepfathers, stepmothers, adoptive parents, guardians, grandmothers and grandfathers.

Students over 18: the annual Leistungsnachweis — a Schulbestätigung (school confirmation), a Studienbestätigung (confirmation of enrolment) from the university, or a Lehrvertrag (apprenticeship contract). The certificate must be current at the time of filing; an expired certificate stops the payment. Related to this is compulsory schooling in Austria: while the child is of school age, confirming that they are in education is a simpler, annual routine.

Child with a disability: the application for Erhöhte Familienbeihilfe (increased family allowance) is form Beih3 plus an assessment by the Sozialministeriumservice; if a valid Behindertenpass (disability pass) exists, no repeat assessment is needed. From 1 January 2026 the supplement is 189.20 euro per month.

Temporary protection for Ukraine: a separate regime applies to Vertriebene (displaced persons) — the conditions and the confirmations required are covered in our piece on the new Familienbeihilfe rules for Ukrainians.

Fristen and Rückwirkung: Deadlines and Back Pay for Five Years

There is no strict filing deadline: you can apply for Familienbeihilfe at any moment. The restriction concerns only the depth of back pay: the benefit is awarded retroactively for a maximum of five years counted back from the month of the application — the official Austrian services portal, oesterreich.gv.at, confirms this. The wording is simple: the later the Antrag, the more money stays in the Finanzamt’s budget instead of landing in your account.

The practical consequences of this rule:

• the application month itself is paid — if the decision arrives in December, the money for the months already past comes as a single lump sum;
• the conditions must hold for the whole period — over the five years you have to prove that the child lived in Austria and the family was entitled to the benefit;
• the date that counts is the posting, not the receipt: keep the proof of posting or the Bestätigung number from FinanzOnline;
• Verjährung (the statute of limitations) on payments is the same five years, so you cannot stockpile an application covering ten years.

An example: the Antrag is filed in November 2026 — back pay can reach November 2021 at the earliest, and every month you do not postpone the filing turns into real money. That is why documents for the retroactive period (enrolment confirmations, registration proofs) are worth gathering in advance: without them the Finanzamt suspends payments even for months it has already approved.

Adult children have their own Fristen: payments continue until 24 (in some cases 25) while education is confirmed, but the Leistungsnachweis is needed every year. The child’s own income is counted from the age of 19; in 2026 the limit is 17 212 euro per year, and exceeding it only claws back the excess portion of the benefit. The calculation details are in our overview of conditions and amounts.

What Happens After You Apply: the Bescheid, Timelines and Status Checks

Once the application is sent, the Finanzamt issues a Bescheid — a written decision to award, change or refuse the benefit. Until then the status in FinanzOnline shows as “in Bearbeitung” (under review). Applications through FinanzOnline are generally processed faster than paper ones; in peak season — September, when student payments are extended — the timelines stretch noticeably. Plan your budget so that the first payment is not critical: the decision usually takes a few weeks, not a few days.

You can check what is happening with your case in three ways:

1. FinanzOnline → Familienbeihilfe section → current applications: the status shows “bewilligt” (approved) or “abgelehnt” (refused);
2. By phone — the Finanzamt’s Familienbeihilfe support line answers during office hours; have your Steuernummer and case number ready;
3. In writing to your Wohnsitzfinanzamt, if more than a month has passed without an answer.

An approved application becomes active from the month of application (within the five-year window) and is then paid out automatically every month. Separately, check that the Bescheid states the correct IBAN and the correct period: fixing a bank detail is the most painless correction of all, as long as the money has not yet gone to someone else’s account.

If the Finanzamt Refuses or Delays: How to File a Beschwerde

The first thing to do after a refusal is to read the Bescheid carefully: it states the reason. The most common cause of a refusal or suspension is missing Nachweise (proofs): an enrolment confirmation is absent, a birth certificate translation is missing, or the Aufenthaltstitel is not current. In many cases it is enough to send the missing document and the matter closes without any appeal.

If the reason cannot be removed, you have the right to a Beschwerde (a formal appeal against the decision):

• the deadline is one month from the day the Bescheid is served (§ 245 Abs 1 BAO), as stated on the BMF page on Beschwerde; a separate Antrag can be filed to extend the deadline;
• the appeal goes to the same Finanzamt that issued the decision;
• the Finanzamt usually issues a Beschwerdevorentscheidung first — an interim decision; if you do not accept it, a Vorlageantrag (application for revision) goes to the Bundesfinanzgericht — within the same one-month deadline.

You can apply for Familienbeihilfe at any time, but it is only awarded retroactively for five years from the month your application is filed. Every month you miss is money lost: the back-pay window does not extend.

— Guide “Familienbeihilfe — Beantragung”, oesterreich.gv.at (Austria’s official public services portal)

A separate case is Verzug (a delay in paying out after approval). The money must arrive no later than the 8th of each month. If the payment has not come: check the IBAN in the Bescheid, make sure the account is active, and contact the Finanzamt; the most common cause remains a typo in the account number. Still nothing, and you are beginning to think the benefit is over? Do not rush: a payment can still arrive later as one sum covering several months at once.

After Approval: Your First Payment, Payout Dates and What to Keep Updated

After the “bewilligt” check three things. The first payment arrives backdated to the month of application (within the five-year window) as a single sum, and from then on it comes monthly. The credit date is no later than the 8th of each month into a SEPA account; the exact Auszahlungstermine (payout dates) for 2026 are published by the Bundeskanzleramt: for example 8 January, 6 February and 6 March 2026 — when the 8th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the payment goes out earlier. In practice, a decision arriving in late autumn can therefore come with several months of payments attached, which is genuinely useful for costs you have already covered — school supplies, childcare deposits or furniture for a child’s room.

Schulstartgeld (the school-start allowance, 121.40 euro per child aged 6–15) arrives automatically together with one of the summer payments — no separate Antrag is needed, and the conditions are described in our piece on support at the start of the school year. Paid automatically alongside Familienbeihilfe is also the Kinderabsetzbetrag — 70.90 euro per month per child, even if you pay no income tax at all.

What to keep updated afterwards:

• change of bank or IBAN — tell the Finanzamt immediately, otherwise the payment will go to the old account;
• moving house — a new Meldebestätigung, especially when you change federal state (Bundesland): your Wohnsitzfinanzamt may change too;
• change of educational institution — a new Leistungsnachweis before the old one expires;
• the child leaves the country — notify the Finanzamt: if the child lives abroad for more than 6 months, payments stop.

It is also worth claiming the Familienbonus Plus — a tax deduction of up to 2 000 euro per child, arranged through your employer (form E30). How to combine it with the Kinderabsetzbetrag and the Mehrkindzuschlag is covered in our guide to tax benefits for families.

Typical Mistakes When Filing an Antrag

Mistakes in the application are the main cause of delays and refusals. Four recurring scenarios:

1. Wrong IBAN. The format is AT plus 20 digits — check every digit. One wrong character means the payment bounces back and weeks are lost.
2. Aufenthaltstitel not ticked. In section 1.1.3, for citizens of non-EU countries, the field “gültiger Aufenthaltstitel” is mandatory. Without it the application is returned or refused.
3. Expired Leistungsnachweis. The enrolment certificate must be fresh; for extensions after 18 file it before the previous one expires — otherwise the payment is suspended.
4. Forgot to close Kindergeld in another EU country. Receiving family benefits twice is a direct route to a Rückforderung (clawback of the overpayment). First get the confirmation of renunciation in the previous country, then file the Austrian Antrag.

A fifth mistake is a missing signature or an incomplete set of copies on a paper submission: an unsigned application is returned without consideration, and the posting month does not count in your favour.

Frequently Asked Questions About Applying for Familienbeihilfe

Can I apply for Familienbeihilfe retroactively?

Yes — retroactively for a maximum of five years counted back from the month the Antrag is filed, provided the eligibility conditions were met throughout that period. The back pay arrives as a single lump sum once the application is approved.

Which documents do I need first?

The child’s birth certificate, the applicant’s passport, SV-Nummer, IBAN and Meldebestätigung. Everything else follows the situation: an Aufenthaltstitel for non-EU citizens, a Leistungsnachweis for adult children, and an apostille plus translation for documents issued outside the EU.

What if my Familienbeihilfe application is refused?

Read the reason stated in the Bescheid. If documents are simply missing — send them. If the refusal is unfounded — file a Beschwerde at the Finanzamt within one month of the day the decision was served; if you disagree with the interim decision, the next step is a Vorlageantrag to the Bundesfinanzgericht.

Do I have to apply every year?

For children under 18 — no. After 18 — yes: the annual Leistungsnachweis confirms that the child is in education. The Mehrkindzuschlag is also reapplied for every year, and the Familienbonus Plus is claimed through your employer or in the annual tax return.

Where do I download the Beih100 form?

On the BMF website in the Formulare section, or directly in FinanzOnline — there the form is completed in the interface and signed with ID Austria. The paper blank can also be requested from your Wohnsitzfinanzamt.

Your Familienbeihilfe Application: a Checklist Before You Submit

Assemble the application in one pass:

• Decide whether an Antrag is needed — birth in Austria after May 2019 → automatic; relocation, birth abroad, extension after 18, Mehrkindzuschlag, Beih3 → you file yourself;
• Choose your channel — FinanzOnline (fastest of all), post, or a personal visit to the Wohnsitzfinanzamt;
• Prepare the package — Geburtsurkunde, passport, SV-Nummer, IBAN, Meldebestätigung, plus the documents for your situation;
• Check Beih100 — citizenship and Aufenthaltstitel, the child’s details, IBAN, signature;
• Record the posting date — retroactive payments start from it;
• Track the status — FinanzOnline, then the Bescheid: “bewilligt” → the first payment arrives backdated.

Do not postpone filing: the fifth year of back pay never becomes a sixth. If Familienbeihilfe does not cover your family’s expenses, look at the related support mechanisms in our family-benefit materials — and so that you never miss a change to Austria’s family payments, subscribe to our newsletter.