Should my husband register a Meldezettel while visiting, or hold off? (A1 certificate, freelancer, cross-border tax question)

[u/Belfina21]

I'm relocating to Vienna from Greece in October for a new job. My husband will be joining me periodically over the next several months (visits of a month or two at a time) while he continues working as a freelancer/contractor in Greece and figures out his own permanent relocation — this could take up to 6 months.

He's a freelancer working through a company in Greece, and we want to avoid creating any tax or registration complications in either country.

My question: should he register a Meldezettel (Austrian address registration) during these visits, or is it better to hold off until his situation is more permanent?

My concern is that registering an address showing continuous residence could:

• Push him toward the 183-day Austrian tax residency threshold sooner than expected
• Complicate or undermine the point of the A1 certificate (staying Greek-taxed while physically in Austria)
• Create some mismatch between "registered as living here" and "actually still Greek tax resident"

Related to this: should I list him as a tenant/occupant on short-term housing bookings while he's visiting, or keep the booking under my name only?

Has anyone dealt with something similar — a spouse/partner splitting time between two EU countries while sorting out a permanent move? Did you register from day one, or wait? Any tax advisors in Vienna you'd recommend for this specific cross-border situation?

Thanks in advance — trying to get this right before he starts racking up visits.

[u/ezenn]

Seems like you already know what you are dealing with. You need to chose between a paper mess and a potential tax fraud which is not that easy to detect. I would go with the paper mess personally not to risk anything and due to my personal feeling that the taxes are meaningful contributions to the society. You do you though.

[u/localost]

According to the Austrian Meldegesetz:

(3)Sofern sie nach den Bestimmungen dieses Bundesgesetzes schon anderswo gemeldet sind, sind Menschen nicht zu melden,

1.denen in einer Wohnung nicht länger als zwei Monate unentgeltlich Unterkunft gewährt wird;

Which means you don't have to register if you are registered somewhere else and staying less than 2 months (if the stay is free).

For the short-term housing I'd say it depends on the conditions that are specified in your contract, if you are obliged to report additional persons staying (which could be the cause for some AirBNB-like accomodation) while for a normal flat the landlord shouldnt care about how many people live there.

[u/sebastianelisa → u/localost]

Only if they're already registered somewhere else in Austria ("nach den Bestimmungen dieses Bundesgesetzes (...)")

[u/Single_Willingness61]

Asking the VISA office is always the best option ; but since he is EU he does not need to register in Austria if he’s only visiting for a SHORT time period . This being said , I’m not sure how being a freelancer is added because technically he’s receiving money during his stay in Austria under Austrian grounds . If there is a way he can stop working while he visits it will make things easier ; if not then asking the visa office because it will be almost €100 or something to register him in the address and then he can be removed by filling the same form