Worldwide VAT, GST and Sales Tax Guide
Slovak Republic
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Bratislava GMT +1
EY
Žižkova 9
811 02 Bratislava 1 Slovak Republic
Indirect tax contacts
Juraj Ontko
+421 (2) 3333-9110 juraj.ontko@sk.ey.com
Jana Ontkovičová +421 (2) 3333-9113 jana.ontkovicova@sk.ey.com
Stanislava Kocková
+421 (2) 3333-9150
stanislava.kockova@sk.ey.com
Lydia Jakubek +421 (2) 3333-9121 lydia.jakubek@sk.ey.com
A. At a glance
Name of the tax
Local name
Value-added tax (VAT)
Daň z pridanej hodnoty (DPH)
Date introduced 1 January 1993
Trading bloc membership
European Union (EU)
Administered by Ministry of Finance (www.finance.gov.sk)
VAT rates
Standard
Financial Directorate (www.financnasprava.sk)
23%
Reduced 5%, 19%
Other
VAT number format
VAT return periods
Thresholds
Registration
Established
Zero-rated and exempt
SK0123456789 (digits can be from 0-9)
Monthly/Quarterly (requested by certain taxpayers with turnover below EUR100,000, except for the initial 12 months of registration)
EUR50,000 or EUR62,500 during calendar year (change effective 1 January 2025)
Non-established None
Distance sales
Intra-Community acquisitions
Electronically supplied services
Recovery of VAT by non-established businesses
EUR10,000
EUR14,000
EUR10,000
Yes, subject to certain conditions
The persons with a special relationship to the supplier are as follows: statutory body of the company, members of supervisory board, direct or indirect owners of the customer and its statutory bodies, employees, relatives, etc.
C. Who is liable
A taxable person is any business entity or individual that independently performs any economic activity regardless of the purpose and results of such activity.
Effective from 1 January 2025, two turnover thresholds were introduced for taxable persons that have their seat, place of business or a fixed establishment in the Slovak Republic (Slovak taxable persons):
• If the turnover threshold of EUR50,000 per calendar year is exceeded, a taxable person will become a VAT payer from the first day of the year following the calendar year in which the turnover was exceeded.
• If the turnover threshold of EUR62,500 per calendar year is exceeded, a taxable person will become a VAT payer on the day on which the turnover was exceeded.
The deadline for filing a VAT registration application is five working days from the day when the threshold was exceeded.
For the above purposes, turnover includes the value of supplies of goods and services, made in the Slovak Republic (excluding tax). The value of supplies that are exempt from VAT without input deduction (see Section D) is generally excluded from turnover for the above purposes. However, the value of insurance and financial services is included if these services are not provided as ancillary to the main taxable supply. The value of the occasional sale of tangible property (except inventory) and intangible property is excluded from the definition of taxable turnover.
Exemption from registration. Foreign businesses are not obliged to be registered for VAT purposes in the Slovak Republic if they are represented by an import VAT representative or an intraCommunity acquisition VAT representative and if they do not perform any other transactions subject to VAT reporting in the Slovak Republic than the listed ones.
From 1 January 2025, Slovak established persons (i.e., persons having their seat, place of business or a fixed establishment in the Slovak Republic) for whom turnover in the preceding calendar year did not exceed EUR50,000 or in current calendar year did not exceed EUR62,500, are not obliged to register for VAT in the Slovak Republic.
A taxable person that plans to supply an immovable property becomes a VAT payer on the date of the supply of the immovable property (or the date of receipt of the payment pertaining to such a supply) by which it would exceed the mandatory registration threshold.
A taxable person who acquires tangible and intangible assets as a legal successor of a dissolved company by means of a spin-off or cross-border spin-off in the Slovak Republic becomes a VAT payer on the effective date of the spin-off. A taxable person who acquires tangible and intangible assets as part of TOGC becomes a VAT payer as of the effective date of the TOGC. A taxable person not registered for VAT or nontaxable legal person acquiring goods from another EU Member State is not obliged to register for VAT purposes in the Slovak Republic if the value of intraCommunity acquisitions (excluding VAT) does not exceed EUR14,000 in a calendar year. On the other hand, if a taxable person not registered for VAT in the Slovak Republic purchases services from other EU Member State subject to the reverse-charge mechanism, with a place of supply in the Slovak Republic, while being considered as a person liable to VAT, it is obliged to register for VAT purposes in the Slovak Republic before the actual purchase of the services. Similarly, the Slovak established person not registered for VAT purposes in the Slovak Republic is obliged to register for VAT before it supplies services to another EU Member State if these have the place
a taxable person may become a member of a VAT group. The assessment if a holding company fulfills the required criteria qualifying for taxable person requires a detailed validation of activities performed by the holding company. The Slovak tax authorities did not issue any methodological guidance on this matter.
Note that a pure/passive holding company does not typically perform economic activities and therefore should not be considered as a taxable person. Therefore, a pure/holding company cannot be member of a VAT group.
Cost-sharing exemption. The VAT cost-sharing exemption (in accordance with VAT Directive 2006/112/EEC Article 132(1)(f)) has not been implemented in the Slovak Republic to the broad extent stipulated by the Directive.
Fixed establishment. A fixed establishment (FE) for the purpose of the Slovak VAT law is defined as a permanent place of business that has the human and material equipment necessary for the performance of business activities in the Slovak Republic. The Slovak tax authorities follow the interpretation of an FE as stipulated by Council Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011. The registration of a branch in the Slovak Commercial Register does not automatically make the branch meet the fixed establishment criteria.
Non-established businesses. A “non-established business” is a foreign business that has no seat, place of business, fixed establishment, residence or habitual abode in the Slovak Republic.
Effective from 1 January 2025, a foreign person becomes a VAT payer by carrying out a taxable transaction subject to VAT. Performance of only the following supplies of goods or services in the country does not trigger the status of Slovak VAT payer for non-established businesses:
• Certain zero-rated transport services and zero-rated services ancillary to transport services
• Goods and services subject to the reverse charge by the recipient
• Goods transported to other EU Member States if the goods have previously been imported from a non-EU country and the foreign person has appointed an import VAT representative in the Slovak Republic
• Goods transported to other EU Member States or to non-EU countries if the goods have previously been supplied to the Slovak Republic from another EU Member State and the foreign person has appointed an intra-Community acquisition VAT representative in the Slovak Republic
• Goods supplied within a triangular transaction if the non-established business acts as middle party to the transaction (see the EU chapter)
• Gas and electricity supplies if the recipient of the goods is required to pay VAT
• Goods and services subject to a VAT exemption without the right for input tax deduction
• Certain types of goods supplied in certain types of custom warehouses defined by the VAT Act
• Supply of goods and provision of services with the place of supply (consumption) in the Slovak Republic applying the OSS simplification scheme
A foreign taxable person is obliged to submit a VAT registration application within five working days from the day when it became a VAT payer, unless it benefits from the special scheme for small enterprises. The Slovak tax authorities are obliged to register the non-established person as a VAT payer, allocate the tax identification number and issue a decision on tax registration no later than 10 days from the date of receipt of VAT registration application.
VAT registration is carried out at the following designated office:
Tax Authority Bratislava (Daňový úrad Bratislava)
Ševčenkova 32
P.O. Box 154
850 00 Bratislava Slovak Republic
establishment). In such circumstances, the reverse charge applies regardless of whether the nonestablished service provider is registered for VAT in the Slovak Republic. If these services are provided to persons in their nonbusiness capacity or to private individuals, the country where the supplier is established is the place of supply for the services.
The person liable to VAT with respect to goods (except in the case of distance selling) and services supplied by non-established businesses (from EU and non-EU countries) to taxable persons established in the Slovak Republic is the recipient of the goods and services, regardless of whether the supplier (foreign person) is registered for VAT in the Slovak Republic.
From 1 July 2025, the reverse-charge mechanism should also apply on the import of goods from third countries into the Slovak Republic. The main principle of applying the reverse charge when importing goods is that VAT is not levied by the customs authority, but the taxpayer calculates the VAT due itself, reports it in the VAT return for the VAT period in which the VAT liability arose and at the same time deducts the import VAT in the same VAT return. In practice, this mechanism will eliminate the obligation to pay import VAT for selected entities.
Conditions for applying the reverse charge on import are:
• The entrepreneur (or declarant acting as an indirect representative) must be a registered VAT payer.
• The entrepreneur must have a valid status of an Approved Economic Operator in the Slovak Republic according to customs regulations (AEO license).
With effect from 1 July 2025, a taxable person established in the Slovak Republic, on whose account a customs declaration is made and who meets the stipulated conditions, will be able to apply a reverse-charge mechanism on imports of goods. Accordingly, the taxable person will be able to apply the reverse-charge mechanism for the first time to imports of goods for which a tax liability arises after 30 June 2025. For taxpayers on whose account a customs declaration is made under the centralized customs procedure, the reverse-charge mechanism possibility will come into effect after 1 January 2026.
Domestic reverse charge. A Slovak VAT payer that purchases the following goods from another Slovak taxable person must apply the domestic reverse charge to the following supplies:
• Gold in the form of raw material, semi-finished product or investment gold
• Metal waste and scrap metal
• Greenhouse gas emission allowances
• Immovable property where the option to tax was elected by the supplier
• Supply of goods following the cession of a reservation of ownership to an assignee and the exercising of this right by the assignee
• Supply of immovable property within enforcement or bankruptcy proceedings
• Supply of construction services, supply of construction under a contract of work (or similar type of contract) if it falls under Section F (Constructions or construction works) of the Statistical Classification of Products, and the supply of goods with installation or assembly, if the assembly or installation falls under Section F of the Statistical Classification of Products; in cases when it is not clear whether the construction service falls under Section F, but the supplier reasonably concludes that this service should be subject to the local reverse charge and includes the sentence on the invoice that the “application of reverse charge” applies, the customer is liable to pay the VAT due
• Supply of goods in Chapters 10 (cereals) and 12 (oil seeds and oleaginous fruits, miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit, industrial or medicinal plants, straw and fodder) of the Common Customs Tariff, which are not commonly intended for final consumption in an unchanged state; it does not apply to the sales of goods where a simplified tax invoice (cash register bill) is issued
• Supply of goods falling within Chapter 72 (iron and steel) and Items 7301 (sheet piling of iron or steel, whether or not drilled, punched or made from assembled elements, welded angles, shapes and sections of iron or steel), 7308 (structures and parts of structures of iron or steel,
supply to the facilitating platform is VAT exempt and the supplies made by that platform follow the e-commerce VAT rules as described above. In addition, the provision also covers sales within the EU, if the supplier is not established within the EU. This applies to both local shipments within one Member State, as well as to intra-Community shipments. For both, the final customer must be a nontaxable person.
In the Slovak Republic there are no additional specific local rules that apply.
For more details about the rules for online marketplaces, see the EU chapter.
Vouchers. The Slovak Republic has adopted the Council Directive (EU) 2016/1065, for the application of VAT on vouchers. A voucher is defined as an instrument in physical or electronic form and is associated with the entitlement of the holder to receive specific goods or services and the commitment of the supplier to accept such voucher as consideration for the delivered goods or services.
For the VAT purposes, it is necessary to distinguish between so-called “single purpose” VAT (SPV) and “multipurpose” VAT (MPV) vouchers. For SPV, the place of supply of goods or services and the VAT rate are known already at the time of issuance. For MPV, at least one of these facts is unknown.
The sale of a SPV by a taxpayer acting in their own name is regarded as a supply of goods or services against consideration. The supplier charges VAT upon sale of the SPV, while the VAT will not be charged upon the actual supply of goods/services when SPV is redeemed. The sale of MPV will not be subject to VAT. Only the provision of goods or service itself in return for an MPV will be subject to taxation.
Registration procedures. The following documents should be submitted to Slovak tax authorities by the non-established person for the purposes of VAT registration:
• A completed application form for VAT registration
• An original extract from the Commercial Register or a notarized copy thereof
• An official translation of the extract from the Commercial Register into the Slovak language (not required for the Czech language)
• If the person has appointed a representative, a power of attorney does not need to be notarized, but if the power of attorney is executed in any language other than the Slovak or Czech languages, it must be accompanied by official translation thereof
The VAT application form, together with the required documents, must be filed electronically to the tax authorities.
Deregistration. Taxable persons that cease to conduct economic activities (i.e., activities subject to VAT in the Slovak Republic, as well as in another EU Member State) are obliged to file an application to deregister. The Slovak tax authorities may deregister a VAT-registered person in response to an application or at their own discretion if the VAT-registered person repeatedly fails to comply with administrative duties (e.g., filing of VAT returns, VAT ledgers, payment of VAT or tax audit-related duties).
From 1 January 2025, a non-established VAT payer can apply to cancel its VAT registration no earlier than one calendar year after the date it became a VAT payer. The same applies for established Slovak VAT payers, with the additional condition of not exceeding the threshold of EUR50,000 for the preceding year.
In the last VAT period, the taxpayer should calculate and return to the state budget VAT assets for which the VAT was fully or partially deducted. Special rules for the calculation of the VAT applies.
Changes to VAT registration details. The taxable person is obliged to notify the tax administration electronically of any changes regarding its tax registration details (e.g., a change of business name, address, organization’s number, name of the managing director). The deadline for filing the announcement of changes is 30 days from the day the changes occurred.
Late VAT registration. If the taxpayer has not fulfilled its VAT registration obligations according to Article 4 (registration as Slovak-established VAT payer) or Article 5 (registration of a foreign VAT payer) of the VAT Act or has submitted this application late, it is obliged to submit delayed VAT returns and VAT ledgers. All these documents need to be submitted in chronological order, beginning with the first period for which the VAT payer did not submit the relevant VAT reports, due to failure to fulfill VAT registration obligations within the statutory deadline. The late submission of a VAT registration application and the late submission of VAT reports are subject to penalties.
Split payment. In the Slovak Republic, a split-payment mechanism has been introduced with the aim to mitigate the risk of several and joint liability for unpaid VAT by the supplier. The customer can remit the amount of VAT from the invoice directly to the individual bank account of the supplier held by the tax authorities. By paying the VAT directly to the individual bank account of the supplier, the risk of being held liable for VAT unpaid by the supplier to the tax authorities should be mitigated. The payment order should be made in the same way as if placed by the suppliers themselves.
D. Rates
The term “taxable supplies” refers to supplies of goods and services that are liable to a rate of VAT, including the zero-rate.
The VAT rates are:
• Standard rate: 23%
• Reduced rate: 5%, 19%
• Zero-rate: 0%
The standard rate of VAT applies to all supplies of goods or services unless a specific measure provides for a reduced rate, the zero-rate or an exemption.
Examples of goods and services taxable at 0%
• Exported goods
• Intra-Community supplies of goods (only if the supplier is a VAT payer)
• Services related to the export of goods
• International transport of persons
• Financial and insurance services provided to a customer that is not established in the EU
Examples of goods and services taxable at 5%
• Supply of building or its parts (including building plots) in relation to state-supported rental housing – not applicable for nonresidential premises
• Reconstruction and restoration of a building or a part of it (including construction and assembly works on the building) in relation to state-supported rental housing – not applicable for nonresidential premises
• Different basic kinds of meat, fish, milk and milk products, fruit and vegetables, bread, and other bakery products
• Selected pharmaceutical products and medical aids
• Specific newspapers, periodicals, books, brochures and leaflets, and books for children, electronic books, online books
• Catering services consisting of meal preparation
• Accommodation services
• Entrance fees to fitness centers and sports events
• Goods and services provided by registered social entity in regards of social economy activities
The date is the supply of the goods or the date of the receipt of the payment, whichever is earlier. The date of supply of goods is the date of acquisition of the right to dispose of the goods as the owner.
For the taxable persons who facilitate the supply of goods within the territory of the EU, the tax point will arise on the day when the payment is received.
Immovable property. The tax point for a transfer of real estate is the date on which the transfer of the property is registered in the Real Estate Cadaster or the date on which the property is made available for use to the purchaser, whichever is earlier. The tax point for the supply of a newly constructed building is the date of the handing over of the building.
F. Recovery of VAT by taxable persons
A taxpayer may recover input tax, which is the VAT charged on goods and services received if it is directly attributable to the taxable person’s own supplies for which a deduction entitlement exists (mostly taxable and zero-rated supplies).
Input tax may generally be recovered by deducting it from output tax, which is VAT due on the supplies made. A taxpayer is entitled to deduct input tax if the tax point for the supply in question has arisen with respect to the output tax, and the taxpayer holds a valid VAT invoice or import document.
The time limit for a taxable person to reclaim input tax in the Slovak Republic is five years. However, the taxpayer may deduct input tax in any VAT period after the VAT period in which the right to deduct arose up to the end of the calendar year (or the financial year, if applicable). The taxpayer must possess the required documents (e.g., invoice, import declaration and other documents) by the deadline for submission of the VAT return for that period. If the documents are not available until the end of the calendar (or financial) year, the deduction must be made for the period in which the documents are received. If the taxpayer finds out later that there is an invoice with VAT that was not claimed by the last VAT return in the respective calendar (or financial) year, it is still possible to claim this input tax via filing the supplementary VAT return. Taxpayers can go back and submit supplementary VAT returns up to five years (see Correcting errors in previous returns subsection below).
Taxpayers submitting a supplementary VAT return due to belated receipts of invoices for intraCommunity acquisitions of goods are entitled to deduct the respective VAT in this supplementary return if they have the related invoice (or other document proving the acquisition of goods) at their disposal as of the filing date.
Taxpayers are required to correct the amount of deducted VAT within 30 days from the date the tax base was to be corrected by the supplier, even if the corrective invoice is absent.
Taxpayers acting as customers are obliged to correct the amount of deducted VAT if they have not paid for the supply of goods or services, where the supplier was a person liable for VAT and more than 100 days have passed since the liability due date. The correction shall be made to the extent of the amount that taxpayers have not paid for the supply in the tax period in which the101st day occurred.
A taxpayer is entitled to interest on excess VAT if the payment of excess VAT was later than six months after the deadline for its usual refund. The interest is calculated as a percentage of the final amount of excess VAT (as confirmed by the tax inspectors), for the period starting six months after the deadline for its usual refund, until its actual refund. The interest rate applicable should be equal to twice the European Central Bank rate, valid on the first day of the calendar year for which the interest is calculated, with a minimum applicable annual rate of 1.5%.
Nondeductible input tax. A taxpayer may not recover the following input tax:
• VAT that relates to activities that are not business activities
• VAT that relates to transactions regarded as exempt supplies
• VAT incurred on items of expenditure for which recovery is specifically excluded (for example, input tax related to meals and entertainment)
Input tax on goods that are used for both business and for nonbusiness purposes is generally deductible. However, output tax must be paid on the nonbusiness use.
For fixed tangible assets intended to be used for both business and nonbusiness purposes, the taxpayer may opt not to deduct a portion of the input tax that reflects the nonbusiness use of these assets. As a result, the use of these assets for nonbusiness purposes is not subject to VAT.
The above option applies only to movable tangible assets with an acquisition price exceeding EUR1,700 (without VAT) and intangible assets with tan acquisition price exceeding EUR2,400 with a useful life of over one year. For immovable assets, the taxpayer needs to determine the proportion of use of the immovable asset for its business and nonbusiness purposes and deduct the input tax only to the extent of the business use (for further details, see the subsection on Capital goods below).
For services received by a taxable person that are intended to be used for both business and nonbusiness purposes, the taxpayer may not deduct VAT relating to nonbusiness use. However, if the taxpayer does not expect to use the services for nonbusiness purposes, it may deduct input tax relating to the entire consideration for the services. If the services are subsequently used for nonbusiness purposes, the taxpayer must account for output tax (VAT on sales) on the portion of the consideration that is attributable to the nonbusiness use of the services.
The following lists provide some examples of items of expenditure for which input tax is not deductible and examples of items for which input tax is deductible if the expenditure is related to a taxable business use.
Examples of items for which input tax is nondeductible
• Business entertainment
• The part of input tax on the acquisition of goods and services that represents its nonbusiness use, if the taxpayer elects not to apply output tax on this nonbusiness use
Examples of items for which input tax is deductible (if related to a taxable business use)
• Purchase, lease or hire of vans and trucks
• Taxis
• Hotel accommodation
• Fuel used for business purposes
• Business use of mobile telephones
• Business gifts that are worth less than EUR17 each (not taxed on output)
• Commercial samples of goods for advertising purposes (not taxed on output)
• Parking
Partial exemption. For goods and services that are partially used for the provision of exempt supplies, only the portion of VAT related to taxable supplies may be deducted. For these purposes, taxable supplies include zero-rated supplies and supplies that are specifically excluded from the application of VAT and that are entitled to input tax deduction.
The deductible proportion is calculated based on the total revenue (or income) generated from taxable supplies made (those for which the input tax is deductible), divided by the total revenue (or income) from all supplies made. All values are exclusive of VAT. Because the terms “reve-
The options when a bad debt relief (refund of the VAT) may be claimed are exhaustively defined in the law:
• More than 150 days have passed since the due date of an unpaid receivable amounting to less than EUR1,000 (including VAT) and the taxpayer is able to prove it has performed any action to obtain receivable reimbursement
• More than 150 days have passed since the due date of an unpaid receivable amounting to more than EUR1,000 (including VAT) and the taxpayer is able to prove that the receivable has been claimed through enforcement or court proceedings
• Customer is in the bankruptcy procedure (certain conditions apply)
• Customer is in the debt relief procedure (certain conditions apply)
• The customer ceased to exist without a successor
• The customer died (certain conditions apply)
• The resolution on the end of the restructuring was published and the receivable was not registered in such proceeding
The bad debt relief should not be applied in cases where the taxpayer performs supply of goods or services to the customer with a specific relationship (i.e., statutory or subsidiary persons), or in cases where the supply took place after the customer applied for bankruptcy procedure or the supplier knew or could/should have known that the customer will not pay for the supply.
The right to claim the bad debt relief by the VAT payer lapses after three years from filing the VAT return for the period in which the supply of goods or services took place, unless a court proceeding, bankruptcy proceeding, etc., are being held.
In cases where VAT bad debt relief applies, a corrective document must be issued by the supplier and provided to the customer. The customer is obliged to make a correction of the deducted VAT in its VAT return. If a supplier corrected the tax base and subsequently any payment from the customer is received, the supplier is obliged to adjust the tax base and VAT liability accordingly.
Noneconomic activities. Input tax incurred on purchases that are used for noneconomic activities is not recoverable in the Slovak Republic.
G. Recovery of VAT by non-established businesses
Input tax incurred by non-established businesses that are not registered for VAT in the Slovak Republic is recoverable. The Slovak Republic refunds VAT incurred by businesses that are not established nor registered for VAT in the Slovak Republic.
EU businesses. For businesses established in the EU, refunds are made under the terms of the EU Directive 2008/9/EC. The VAT refund procedure under the EU Directive 2008/9 may be used only if the business did not perform any taxable supplies in the Slovak Republic during the refund period (excluding supplies covered by the reverse charge where the customer is liable to pay VAT; some other minor exceptions apply). For full details, see the EU chapter.
Find below specific rules for the Slovak Republic:
• The EU business shall claim a refund by submitting the refund application in electronic form via the electronic portal in the Member State in which it has its registered office, place of business, establishment, residence or habitual abode.
• The application for a refund shall be submitted no later than 30 September of the calendar year following the period for which the refund is claimed when the value of VAT exceeds the amount of EUR50.
• If the value of VAT exceeds the amount of EUR400, the application may be filed for any period of at least three calendar months.
• The Bratislava Tax Office shall immediately notify the applicant by electronic means of the date of receipt of the application for a tax refund. If the tax base on the invoice or import document is EUR1,000 or more or in the fuel purchase invoice EUR250 or more, the applicant shall submit a copy of the invoice or import document by electronic means together with the application for a refund.
Non-EU businesses. For businesses established outside the EU, refunds are made under the terms of the EU 13th Directive. For full details, see the EU chapter.
The Slovak Republic applies the principle of reciprocity; that means the country where the claimant is established must also provide VAT refunds to Slovak businesses. There is no list of countries made publicly available by the Slovak tax authorities to which Slovak tax authorities will refund the VAT. However, the foreign business may request the information from the Slovak tax authorities whether non-EU business is eligible for VAT refund in the Slovak Republic (whether the reciprocity exists between the Slovak Republic and the country of its establishment).
Find below specific rules for the Slovak Republic:
• Non-EU businesses are entitled to apply for refund of VAT incurred on:
– Movable property and services purchased from a Slovak VAT payer
– Imported goods
If all conditions set out by the Slovak VAT legislation are met, applicants must file the refund request using the form issued by the Slovak tax authorities (Žiadosť o vrátenie dane z pridanej hodnoty zahraničnej osobe podľa § 56 až 58 zákona č. 222/2004 Z. z).
• The refund application must be submitted in the Slovak or English language. The application form is submitted in paper form to:
Daňový úrad Bratislava
Ševčenkova 32
850 00 Bratislava
• Requests must be filed with Tax Authorities Bratislava by 30 June of the year following the year in which the VAT was incurred, or the import VAT was paid.
The request must be filed together with the following documents:
• The original invoices or import documents (for imports, documents evidencing payment of the tax must also be included).
• A certificate of status issued by the applicant’s local tax authorities confirming that the applicant is registered for VAT in the country where it is established or has its permanent address.
• An annual claim may be filed if the total VAT incurred exceeds EUR50 for the calendar year. A foreign person from a third country may also file a VAT refund application for half a calendar year if the total VAT requested exceeds EUR1,000. If such a request was filed for the first half-year, the amount of VAT requested in the second half should exceed EUR50. The tax authorities must decide on the application for the refund within six months after the date the request is filed.
Late payment interest. If the tax authorities do not refund the VAT within the deadline, the VAT refund applicant (established in another EU Member State) is entitled to a late payment interest. The interest is calculated as three times the basic interest rate of the European Central Bank valid on the last day of the period from which the VAT amount should be refunded. If this interest rate does not reach 10%, the annual interest rate of 10% will be applied. Interest is calculated for each day of delay.
This is applicable only for VAT refund applicants established in another EU Member State. In the Slovak Republic, interest is not paid on late refunds to non-established businesses outside of the EU.
H. Invoicing
VAT invoices. A registered taxpayer must issue a VAT invoice for:
• Supply of goods or services having a place of supply in the Slovak Republic rendered to a taxable person or to a nontaxable legal person
• Supply of goods or services with a place of supply in another EU Member State (if a person liable to VAT is the recipient), even if the supply is exempt from VAT
• Supply of goods or services to a taxable person with a place of supply in a non-EU country
• Supply of goods in the form of distance selling with a place of supply in the Slovak Republic (if an OSS scheme is not applied)
• Intra-Community supply of goods
• Advance payments for goods and services
• Supply of radio, television broadcasting and electronic services with a place of supply in another Member State to a nontaxable legal person under certain conditions
Taxable persons providing services with a place of supply outside the Slovak Republic are obliged to issue VAT invoices at the time the service is being completed or a down payment for that service being received.
The obligation to issue a VAT invoice does not apply to supplies of goods and services with a place of supply in the Slovak Republic that are exempt from VAT with no right of VAT deduction and to supplies of insurance and financial services with a place of supply in EU countries other than the Slovak Republic or in non-EU countries.
The invoice must be drawn no later than 15 days after the date the tax was chargeable, usually (1) the date of supply of goods or services or (2) the date that the advance payment is received, or no later than 15 days from the end of the calendar month in which the payment was received if it concerns the provision of reverse-charge service.
For intra-Community supplies and services supplied with a place of supply outside the Slovak Republic, the invoice must be drawn no later than 15 days from the end of the month in which the supply of goods or services took place. For corrective invoices, the deadline of 15 days counts from the end of the calendar month in which the facts prompting the correction occurred.
With effect from 1 January 2025, if a VAT payer does not have a VAT number assigned by the deadline for issuing the invoice, an additional five-day period applies to fulfill this obligation to issue an invoice.
An invoice issued by a member of a VAT group must mention identification details of the group members from the date when the official VAT registration decision is delivered to the VAT payer and the VAT number of the group.
It is necessary to hold a VAT invoice to support a claim for input tax deduction (except reversecharge services received from abroad and purchases from abroad of reverse-charge goods supplied with installation or assembly).
Credit notes. If the tax base is corrected because of a decrease or increase in the price, the cancellation of all or part of a supply or the return of the goods, the taxpayer must issue a corrective invoice, credit note or debit note. Each document or notification correcting the original invoice should contain a reference to the serial number of the original invoice and the data subject to change. The corrective document (credit note/debit note) must contain the sequential number of the original invoice and all the other data that are being changed. A credit note can, for example, refer to invoice no. 100–130, but it cannot refer to a time period (e.g., invoices issued in October). There must be a specific reference to the invoice number(s), so global credit notes are not allowed to be issued. If the amount of VAT is subject to change on the credit note, there does not have to be any specific comment that the customer should repay it back to the treasury.
Distance selling. For intra-Community distance sales of goods made B2C, a full VAT invoice must be issued. However, if the supplier operates the OSS regime, then no full VAT invoice is required unless requested.
Records. In the Slovak Republic, examples of what records must be held for VAT purposes include detailed records for each tax period on the supplied goods and services and received goods and services; separate records should be kept on delivery of goods and services to another Member State, on acquisition of goods from another Member State and on import of goods.
The records shall contain the information essential for correct computation of the tax.
For tax deduction, the taxpayer shall keep the records separately for the goods and services with the input tax deduction and for the goods and services with no input tax deduction and with partial input tax deduction. The taxpayer shall keep records also on any payments received prior to the delivery of goods and services and any payments provided prior to the delivery of goods and services. A member of a VAT group must keep records on the delivery of the goods and provision of the services to another member of the group. For records related to capital goods, it is essential that the taxpayer maintains detailed documentation of the purpose of using these goods. This includes specifying whether the goods are used for business activities with the possibility of tax deduction, business activities exempt from tax without the possibility of tax deduction, or business activities with the possibility of proportional tax deduction. Additionally, the records should indicate the extent of the use of these goods for business purposes vs. nonbusiness purposes.
Separate records must be kept on the following:
• Supply of goods free of charge
• Temporary transfer of goods to another Member State
• Provision of services free of charge, private use of services
• Provision of services to the EU and outside of the EU, including those that are tax exempt
• Supply of goods with installation and assembly in the EU
• Goods transferred and received within call-off stock arrangements (including records on return of goods, replacement of the designated customer)
• Other records according to Section 70 of the Slovak VAT Act
In the Slovak Republic, VAT books and records can be held outside of the country. In general, the documents relating to VAT must be kept in the Slovak Republic. However, a taxable person may ask the Ministry for Interior Affairs to allow the export of the records abroad for a certain period. A separate request must be filed on regular/annual basis.
Record retention period. Generally, an invoice should be archived for 10 years for VAT purposes. However, if the invoice pertains to certain capital goods, it should be archived until the end of the period for the adjustment of VAT deductions (e.g., 20 years for the adjustment of deducted input tax relating to immovable property).
Taxable persons are required, when retaining invoices, to guarantee the authenticity of the origin, the integrity of the content and the legibility of invoices throughout the retention period. These documents must be retained for 10 years following the year in which the sale or purchase took place. From a VAT perspective, taxpayers must retain copies of invoices for 10 years following the year they relate to. On the other hand, the Accounting Act stipulates a five-year retention period following the year to which the documents relate.
Electronic archiving. Electronic archiving is allowed in the Slovak Republic. Following the EU Invoicing Directive, the Slovak VAT Act provides that tax documents in paper form and in electronic form have equal status. The documents obtained in paper form can be kept and archived electronically under the presumption that the taxable person can ensure (by technical means) the
The invoice issued by a taxpayer who has opted for the scheme should include the legible statement “cash accounting scheme.” If this information is not stated on the invoice, the VAT liability arises in accordance with standard rules for the determination of the tax point under the Slovak VAT Act. A customer of a taxpayer running the scheme has the right to deduct input tax on the day of payment for the supply (up to the amount paid).
The list of taxpayers who have opted for the cash accounting scheme will be maintained and published on the webpage of the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic.
Taxpayers may voluntarily quit the cash accounting scheme only at the end of the respective calendar year; however, if they exceed the turnover of EUR100,000, if they become a member of a VAT group, or if their business ceases to exist, they are required to quit the scheme as of the following VAT period.
Annual returns. Annual returns are not required in the Slovak Republic.
Supplementary filings. VAT ledger. Taxpayers are obliged to submit a detailed VAT ledger report as a separate filing along with the VAT return. The obligation arises for each VAT period, except when zero returns are filed or for re-exports of imported goods. The report should include the information for every invoice received or issued by the taxpayer, including corrective invoices and down-payment invoices, but excluding invoices for exports, zero-rated and exempt supplies. Simplified invoices are to be reported in aggregate values for the tax period. The exception applies only to simplified invoices received by the taxpayer if the total amount of deductible VAT from these invoices exceeds a threshold of EUR3,000 for a tax period. Such documents must be reported in the VAT ledger separately and not in an aggregate amount. Information will need to be compiled by the taxpayer electronically and filed by means of the electronic filing portal provided by the Slovak Financial Directorate.
The deadline for submission of the VAT ledger is 25 days after the end of the relevant tax period. The deadline is not tied to the date of the VAT return filing.
Bank account reporting. VAT payers are obliged to register each of their own bank accounts held in a domestic or foreign bank, which they use for business activities within the scope of the Slovak VAT, with the Financial Directorate. The bank accounts shall be registered immediately as of the VAT registration date or the date on which the bank account used for business purposes has been opened (even if more than one used). It is also necessary to disclose to the tax authorities any changes to bank accounts, for example, details of a new bank account should be notified before it is used for business purposes. In the event of not fulfilling the reporting obligation, the VAT payers can be imposed a penalty of up to EUR10,000.
The VAT payers, who, for example, use cash-pooling, may register a bank account owned by another person. However, it is also necessary to identify the actual owner who will be then jointly and severally liable for the VAT stated on the invoice. The bank account notification shall be submitted electronically via a special form, available on the Financial Administration’s web portal and already pre-filled for registered VAT payers.
The list of registered VAT payers’ accounts is published and updated on the website of the Finance Directorate. These registered bank accounts are further used to mitigate the risk of a VAT payer (as a customer) being held liable for the VAT unpaid by its supplier. If the consideration for the supply of goods/services, where the VAT payer claims the input tax deduction is paid on a bank account of the supplier, which is different from the one(s) announced to the Slovak tax authorities (and published on the official list of bank accounts), the VAT payer can be held liable for the unpaid VAT on a previous level in the transaction chain.
Intrastat. A Slovak taxable person that trades with other EU Member States must complete statistical reports, known as Intrastat, if the value of goods dispatched or received exceeds the
tax audit determination of the tax assessment to 7% per annum or twice the base interest rate of the European Central Bank per annum (whichever is higher).
If the difference is declared by the taxpayer in a supplementary VAT return, the penalty is calculated at 3% per annum or the basic interest rate of the European Central Bank per annum, whichever is higher.
The late notification or failure to notify the tax authorities of changes to a taxable person’s VAT registration details may result in a penalty for noncompliance, which ranges from EUR30 to EUR3,000. The actual amount of the penalty levied is at the tax administrator’s discretion. For further details, see the subsection Changes to VAT registration details above.
Penalties for fraud. Intentional tax evasion (including unlawfully applying for repayment of VAT) may be regarded as a criminal offense, resulting in fines or imprisonment for a term of up to 10 years, depending on the amount of tax evaded and the nature of conduct. Similarly, hindering the tax administration (e.g., submission to the tax authorities of documents that give false or misleading information, failure to comply with a statutory obligation or obligations imposed by the tax authority during a tax audit) may be regarded as a criminal offense, resulting in imprisonment for a term of up to six years.
The above conduct may result in criminal liability for natural persons (including company directors or other personnel) and of the company involved (as a legal entity). The Ministry of Finance publishes a list of taxpayers’ names on its website detailing amounts of unpaid tax. The list contains taxpayers’ tax identification numbers and the amount of tax due in descending order.
Personal liability for company officers. Tax criminal offenses under the Slovak Criminal Code require intentional conduct or omission. Under certain circumstances, company directors (or other personnel) can be held personally liable for including incorrect data in VAT declarations and reporting. Potential penalties include imprisonment (as outlined above), monetary penalties and other sanctions under the Slovak Criminal Code.
Statute of limitations. The statute of limitations in the Slovak Republic is five years. Tax authorities can open tax audits and impose penalties within five years from the end of the year in which the taxpayer was obliged to submit the VAT return, or in which the taxpayer was obliged to pay the tax. However, if there was any tax audit opened within the period of five years that resulted in paying additional tax, the period is calculated again from the end of the year from which the VAT payer obtained the decision about this act. The period can be extended to a maximum of 10 years.