Filing a payment-order claim (Mahnklage) in Austria: form, required details and checklist

What must be settled before filing?

This article is the practical guide: form, details, court. When a payment-order claim is worthwhile and how the procedure runs through to enforcement is covered in the guide Payment-order claim in Austria: process and costs.

Before you open the form, check five points:

• Money only: you are claiming exclusively payment of a sum of money, at most 75,000 euros. The payment order procedure does not exist for handover of goods or eviction.
• Due and not dependent on a counter-performance: your work is done, the payment date has passed.
• Debtor in Austria: if the defendant’s residence, habitual abode or seat is abroad or their whereabouts are unknown, the payment order procedure is excluded.
• Conclusive: your details must show why the amount is owed. The court does not examine evidence, but it does check conclusiveness.
• Representation: up to an amount in dispute of 5,000 euros you can file yourself. Above that, the claim must be filed by a lawyer, except in matters that go to the district court regardless of value, such as rent claims.

The law does not require a reminder before the claim. It still helps: it shows the court and the debtor that you tried to settle the matter out of court first.

Which form applies, and how do you file it?

The official form is called “Mahnklage” and is available on JustizOnline, the portal of the Austrian judiciary. There are three routes:

Lawyers file claims via the Electronic Legal Communication system (ERV); for them this is mandatory. If anything is unclear when completing the form, you can obtain legal information without charge on an advice day (Amtstag) at the district court.

How to proceed: if you have ID Austria, use the web form with electronic submission. Your entries are checked and the claim reaches the court without the postal route.

Which court is competent?

In principle, the competent court is the one in whose district the defendant has their residence, habitual abode or seat. Whether it is the district court or the regional court depends on the amount in dispute, calculated without interest, reminder fees and collection costs:

In Vienna, claims against registered businesses arising from business transactions go to the District Court for Commercial Matters Vienna up to 15,000 euros and to the Commercial Court Vienna above that. If you have agreed a place of jurisdiction or a place of performance with your customer, or if your customer accepted without objection an invoice bearing the note “payable and suable” at your location, that location can also be considered. You enter this special jurisdiction separately on the form.

Which details does the form require? The checklist

The form is divided into field groups. Have the invoice, order confirmation, payment history and reminders ready and go through this list:

• Court: the competent district or regional court.
• Parties: you as claimant with your exact company name and address, your customer as defendant with full name or registered company name, legal form and an address for service.
• Fee collection: IBAN and BIC of the account from which the court fee is debited.
• Amount in dispute: the claim without ancillary claims such as capitalised interest, reminder fees and collection costs.
• Bank details for payment: if you state your IBAN, the court encloses a payment slip with the payment order.
• Principal claim: the amount owed without interest and costs; any ancillary claims it contains, such as agreed reminder fees or the 40-euro flat fee, are also shown separately.
• Interest: rate, amount and start date. Between businesses you enter “B” for interest under the Austrian Commercial Code and state the date the contract was concluded. The late-payment interest calculator works out interest already accrued.
• Costs: the court fee and documented cash outlays such as postage or a registration enquiry.
• Claim: a claim code, for example 01 for delivery and purchase price or 02 for contractor’s fee and professional fees, plus invoice number, date and amount. The total must equal the principal claim.
• Evidence: documents such as invoice, order confirmation and delivery note, and witnesses if applicable.
• Signature or electronic submission.

One point deserves particular care: anyone who folds ancillary claims into the main claim without stating them separately risks a fine for abuse of process of at least 100 euros. So always list the flat fee and reminder fees separately.

What does filing cost?

The court fee depends on the amount in dispute. It arises when the claim is filed and is debited from the account you state. These amounts have applied since 1 August 2026:

If the fee is not paid with the claim or the debit fails, a surcharge of currently 30 euros is added. So always state the account details. You include the court fee as costs in the claim; once the payment order becomes final, the debtor must reimburse it. The court fee calculator shows your amount.

Example: A plumbing business has invoiced a bakery company (GmbH) 4,200 euros for work, due on 30 June 2026. Despite a reminder, the company does not pay. On 15 October 2026 the owner files the payment-order claim at the district court where the company has its seat, himself and electronically, because the amount in dispute is under 5,000 euros. He enters: amount in dispute 4,200 euros, principal claim 4,240 euros, of which 40 euros ancillary claim for the flat fee, claim code 02 with invoice number, interest of 9.2 percentage points above the base rate from 1 July 2026 with “B”, costs 436 euros court fee. By the filing date, 107 days of default and 132.11 euros of interest have accrued (4,200 × 10.73 % × 107 ÷ 365). If the payment order becomes final, the company owes 4,676 euros plus this and further interest.

What happens after filing?

The court examines the claim without an oral hearing and without hearing the defendant. If it is complete and conclusive, it issues a conditional payment order (bedingter Zahlungsbefehl) and serves it. From service your customer has 14 days to pay or four weeks to lodge an objection (Einspruch). There is no appeal against the payment order itself, only against the decision on costs.

• No objection: the payment order becomes final and enforceable. You already applied for the enforceable copy on the form. With it you can enforce (Exekution).
• Objection: the payment order ceases to have effect, and ordinary proceedings begin with a summons to an oral hearing. At the district court the objection needs neither a lawyer nor reasons. If the amount in dispute exceeds 5,000 euros, you need a lawyer for the further proceedings.
• Payment: if your customer pays after service, the matter is settled. Record any partial payments before applying for enforcement.

Note the date of service as soon as you know it and count the four weeks. Only then is it clear whether you enforce or move into ordinary proceedings.

Typical mistakes on the form

• The brand or branch name is entered as defendant instead of the registered company.
• Interest, reminder fees or collection costs are included in the amount in dispute.
• The higher interest under the Commercial Code is claimed against private customers instead of 4 percent.
• The account details for fee collection are missing.
• A claim over 5,000 euros is filed without a lawyer.
• The debtor is based abroad; for EU cases the European order for payment is then the option, not the payment-order claim.
• The claim is already disputed; an objection will then lead to ordinary proceedings anyway.

Go through this list once before submitting. Each of these mistakes costs time or money.

When is it worth handing over to a collection agency?

In most cases, out-of-court collection comes before the payment-order claim. If the debtor pays at that stage, you save yourself the form and the court fee. Disputed claims, however, do not belong in collection; they need to be resolved.

At incaseof.law you hand the claim over online in the client portal: register, enter debtor, amount and due date, upload the invoice and documents. We accept due, undisputed claims with documented payment default. The case team decides on the reminder stages and recommends when the court step makes sense. A payment-order claim is only initiated once you approve it; there are no automatic court filings. You receive 100 percent of the principal claim. In regular out-of-court collection there are no costs from incaseof.law, even if the debtor does not pay, and no success fee on your principal claim. Court fees and, in Austria, MANZ transmission fees only arise once you approve court proceedings. Recovery and duration are not guaranteed. How the route to a payment-order claim works is described on the page Payment-order claim in Austria.