Among a number of changes to various tax laws, the Annual Tax Act 2018 amended Section 240a of the Austrian Federal Fiscal Code covering the procedure to be followed by non-resident taxpayers applying for refund of withholding taxes that, according to EU law, the provisions of a tax treaty, or particular domestic regulations, should not have been levied. As of January 1^st, 2019, the reimbursement of such unduly withheld taxes has to follow a certain web-based procedure. In a first step, an “advance notification” must be submitted on prescribed forms (depending on the type of income) to the competent tax authorities followed by an application to be certified by the tax authorities of the foreign taxpayer’s residence state. The advance notification can be submitted only after the calendar year in which the withholding tax was deducted has elapsed. Stefan Bendlinger takes a critical look at the legal changes and doubts that the new regulation will simplify procedures for non-resident taxpayers as announced by the Ministry of Finance in its explanatory notes to this provision.