This study (carried out on behalf of the Wirtschaftskammer Österreich ) examines the bureaucratic burden in Austrian trade and crafts. The aim was to record the time and financial burden caused by bureaucratic obligations. The study is based on 1,535 company responses from all federal states. In Lower Austria, a survey has already been carried out by KMU Forschung Austria for the entire commercial economy. Additional questions for other provinces were asked as part of the economic monitoring of trade and crafts.

Time spent on bureaucracy
Each year, companies invest around 70 million working hours in bureaucratic activities, which corresponds to around 42,190 full-time equivalents and ties up 6.6% of total personnel capacity. The manufacturing sector (about 21 million hours) and construction (about 17 million hours) are particularly burdened.

Financial costs of bureaucracy
The financial burden of red tape amounts to about €4.3 billion per year. Of this, €2.6 billion are internal costs and €1.7 billion are external costs such as tax advice. In total, these costs amount to about 3.3% of a company's turnover. There are differences between industries: In the food industry, 68% of costs are internal, compared to 55% in the construction industry.

Consequences of growing bureaucracy
Some 71% of companies report an increase in red tape over the last three years. 86% of companies report that the bureaucratic burden has had a negative impact (increased costs for legal advice, delayed decision-making processes or more difficult customer relations). The high level of red tape therefore remains a major challenge for the craft sector.