A host of changes to the VAT rules in the Slovak Republic are in various stages of the legislative process and, if enacted, will apply as from 2026, 2027 or 2030. The most important measures are set out below.
Invoicing practices will change substantially as e-invoicing will become mandatory for all VAT-registered taxpayers (i.e., B2B/B2G transactions) and hard copy invoices (e.g., via email in PDF format, etc.) will generally be eliminated. A recently approved draft bill amending the VAT Act would introduce mandatory e-invoicing and real-time reporting of data to the tax authorities starting on 1 January 2027.
E-invoicing will apply to VAT-registered taxpayers with respect to domestic transactions starting on that date, extending to foreign VAT-registered taxpayers for EU cross-border transactions on 1 July 2030. The measures—which will implement the EU VAT in the Digital Age into Slovak law—will be accompanied by mandatory data collection by the tax authorities and the exchange of information. While the issuance of e-invoices will be mandatory for all companies starting in 2030, domestic companies will need to ensure they can receive and send e-invoices by 2027. The bill still must be approved by parliament and be signed into law by the president.
E-invoices will be required to be in a structured format and contain specific information. They will also have to meet standardised parameters for sending compact data within the EU member states through Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line), the European network for secure electronic exchange of business documents between companies and public institutions, which has been selected for the Slovak Republic. Access to the network will be ensured by “digital postmen” accredited/certified for this purpose to prevent fraudulent invoices from entering the system. The issuance and receipt of invoices will have to be carried out through a “delivery service” arranged by a certified provider and customers will be required to receive the invoice through that service. These requirements will make the system more efficient and secure than is currently the case using email.
Exceptions to e-invoicing are proposed, in particular, where a taxpayer issues a simplified invoice or an invoice in another format. A different format may be used where the payer is issuing an invoice for supplies to a taxable person in a third country, in some cases of distance sales and in some supplies of a new means of transport. The law also specifies situations in which it will not be possible to issue a simplified invoice.
As e-invoicing will be mandatory and buyers will be required to accept the delivery service, they will no longer have to consent to e-invoicing.
Deadline for issuing invoices
The deadline for issuing VAT invoices will be shortened from 15 days to 10 days (following pressure from the business community, this likely will apply as from 2030). In this context, the rules for the date of tax liability for EU supplies/purchases will also be adjusted from the 15th day of the following month to the 10th day of that month.
The explanatory memorandum to the proposed legislation states that the days will be calendar days, not working days, and thus without the possibility of postponement if the last day of the period falls on a non-working day.
Reporting obligations
Another major change planned for 2030 will be a requirement that both the supplier and the customer report detailed (statutory) data on supplies/purchases. Data from issued and received e-invoices will need to be reported electronically to the authorities in real-time. Reporting will generally replace the control statement (from 1 July 2030), but unlike that statement, “real time” reporting will be required rather than reporting after the end of the period. Real time for these purposes will be the time an e-invoice is issued (or by the deadline for issuing an invoice (see below)) or within five days of receiving an e-invoice. The data will be deemed to be reported once the e-invoice is transmitted to the delivery service.
Exemptions will apply for reporting domestic supplies, such as when certain supplies are exempt and supplies for which a simplified document, an e-cash register document or a document other than an e-invoice has been issued in situations specified by law.
Penalties will be imposed for failure to report or late reporting. The fines will be up to EUR 10,000 and up to EUR 100,000 for repeat violations.
The introduction of mandatory e-invoicing and the reporting requirements will include most of the data that is normally reported in the control statement. As a result, the obligation to submit control statements will be abolished. Data that is not subject to reporting will be proposed to be added directly to the tax return (data on supplies recorded through an e-cash register, data on supplies for which a simplified invoice is issued, data related to corrective documents as a result of non-payment, etc.). Since data will also be reported for cross-border supplies within the EU, the submission of summary statements will be abolished.
In connection with the reporting of domestic transactions, taxpayers will not be allowed to deduct VAT unless they have complied with the e-invoicing requirements.
Finally, the rules governing fiscal representatives for imports will change starting in 2030. Such representatives will also have reporting obligations (replacing the submission of summary statements). However, the rules that apply to fiscal representatives with respect to the acquisition of goods from another EU member state for purposes of subsequent supplies to another member state will be abolished.
As from 1 January 2026, the deduction of VAT on passenger vehicles will be limited. A taxpayer who acquires a personal motor vehicle (M1, L1e, L3e) between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2028 will only be able to deduct 50% of the VAT at the time of the purchase (regardless of the actual proportion of business use to personal use), and the subsequent use of the vehicle for a purpose other than business will not be considered a supply for consideration. The same rule will apply to the use of the vehicle under a rental contract other than a short-term or similar contract and to services or goods received in connection with such a vehicle.
The new rules will not apply to vehicles acquired and used exclusively for the business of renting cars, providing passenger transport or the operation of a driving school, or if the vehicle is used exclusively as a test or demonstration car or as a replacement passenger car during repairs.
Taxpayers will be able to avoid the reduced 50% deduction if the vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes and detailed records are maintained demonstrating the extent of use (detailed requirements will apply to these records); it will also be necessary to keep records for goods and services acquired in connection with the vehicle. The records must be retained electronically so they can be made available to the tax office. In any case, the records will have to retained until the end of the year in which 10 years have passed since the year the right to the deduction arose.
Taxpayers will be required to report any exemptions from the limited deduction to the tax office on a designated form.
Lucie Bellanova
BDO in Slovak Republic
Electronic Invoicing
Invoicing practices will change substantially as e-invoicing will become mandatory for all VAT-registered taxpayers (i.e., B2B/B2G transactions) and hard copy invoices (e.g., via email in PDF format, etc.) will generally be eliminated. A recently approved draft bill amending the VAT Act would introduce mandatory e-invoicing and real-time reporting of data to the tax authorities starting on 1 January 2027.E-invoicing will apply to VAT-registered taxpayers with respect to domestic transactions starting on that date, extending to foreign VAT-registered taxpayers for EU cross-border transactions on 1 July 2030. The measures—which will implement the EU VAT in the Digital Age into Slovak law—will be accompanied by mandatory data collection by the tax authorities and the exchange of information. While the issuance of e-invoices will be mandatory for all companies starting in 2030, domestic companies will need to ensure they can receive and send e-invoices by 2027. The bill still must be approved by parliament and be signed into law by the president.
E-invoices will be required to be in a structured format and contain specific information. They will also have to meet standardised parameters for sending compact data within the EU member states through Peppol (Pan-European Public Procurement On-Line), the European network for secure electronic exchange of business documents between companies and public institutions, which has been selected for the Slovak Republic. Access to the network will be ensured by “digital postmen” accredited/certified for this purpose to prevent fraudulent invoices from entering the system. The issuance and receipt of invoices will have to be carried out through a “delivery service” arranged by a certified provider and customers will be required to receive the invoice through that service. These requirements will make the system more efficient and secure than is currently the case using email.
Exceptions to e-invoicing are proposed, in particular, where a taxpayer issues a simplified invoice or an invoice in another format. A different format may be used where the payer is issuing an invoice for supplies to a taxable person in a third country, in some cases of distance sales and in some supplies of a new means of transport. The law also specifies situations in which it will not be possible to issue a simplified invoice.
As e-invoicing will be mandatory and buyers will be required to accept the delivery service, they will no longer have to consent to e-invoicing.
Deadline for issuing invoices
The deadline for issuing VAT invoices will be shortened from 15 days to 10 days (following pressure from the business community, this likely will apply as from 2030). In this context, the rules for the date of tax liability for EU supplies/purchases will also be adjusted from the 15th day of the following month to the 10th day of that month.
The explanatory memorandum to the proposed legislation states that the days will be calendar days, not working days, and thus without the possibility of postponement if the last day of the period falls on a non-working day.
Reporting obligations
Another major change planned for 2030 will be a requirement that both the supplier and the customer report detailed (statutory) data on supplies/purchases. Data from issued and received e-invoices will need to be reported electronically to the authorities in real-time. Reporting will generally replace the control statement (from 1 July 2030), but unlike that statement, “real time” reporting will be required rather than reporting after the end of the period. Real time for these purposes will be the time an e-invoice is issued (or by the deadline for issuing an invoice (see below)) or within five days of receiving an e-invoice. The data will be deemed to be reported once the e-invoice is transmitted to the delivery service.
Exemptions will apply for reporting domestic supplies, such as when certain supplies are exempt and supplies for which a simplified document, an e-cash register document or a document other than an e-invoice has been issued in situations specified by law.
Penalties will be imposed for failure to report or late reporting. The fines will be up to EUR 10,000 and up to EUR 100,000 for repeat violations.
The introduction of mandatory e-invoicing and the reporting requirements will include most of the data that is normally reported in the control statement. As a result, the obligation to submit control statements will be abolished. Data that is not subject to reporting will be proposed to be added directly to the tax return (data on supplies recorded through an e-cash register, data on supplies for which a simplified invoice is issued, data related to corrective documents as a result of non-payment, etc.). Since data will also be reported for cross-border supplies within the EU, the submission of summary statements will be abolished.
In connection with the reporting of domestic transactions, taxpayers will not be allowed to deduct VAT unless they have complied with the e-invoicing requirements.
Finally, the rules governing fiscal representatives for imports will change starting in 2030. Such representatives will also have reporting obligations (replacing the submission of summary statements). However, the rules that apply to fiscal representatives with respect to the acquisition of goods from another EU member state for purposes of subsequent supplies to another member state will be abolished.
VAT Deduction Limitation for Passenger Vehicles
As from 1 January 2026, the deduction of VAT on passenger vehicles will be limited. A taxpayer who acquires a personal motor vehicle (M1, L1e, L3e) between 1 January 2026 and 30 June 2028 will only be able to deduct 50% of the VAT at the time of the purchase (regardless of the actual proportion of business use to personal use), and the subsequent use of the vehicle for a purpose other than business will not be considered a supply for consideration. The same rule will apply to the use of the vehicle under a rental contract other than a short-term or similar contract and to services or goods received in connection with such a vehicle.The new rules will not apply to vehicles acquired and used exclusively for the business of renting cars, providing passenger transport or the operation of a driving school, or if the vehicle is used exclusively as a test or demonstration car or as a replacement passenger car during repairs.
Taxpayers will be able to avoid the reduced 50% deduction if the vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes and detailed records are maintained demonstrating the extent of use (detailed requirements will apply to these records); it will also be necessary to keep records for goods and services acquired in connection with the vehicle. The records must be retained electronically so they can be made available to the tax office. In any case, the records will have to retained until the end of the year in which 10 years have passed since the year the right to the deduction arose.
Taxpayers will be required to report any exemptions from the limited deduction to the tax office on a designated form.
Other Changes:
- Voluntary VAT registration: Starting in 2027, taxpayers will have the option to register voluntarily for VAT purposes. This change is justified by the introduction of e-invoicing, which will require registration by a non-VAT-registered person who enters into a business relationship with a VAT payer.
- Designation as a VAT group: Draft legislation that would apply as from 2026 would allow the tax authorities—on their own initiative—to register two or more independent enterprises as a VAT group (i.e., as a single taxpayer and under which transactions between group members are not subject to VAT). This option will also be able where the authorities determine that the entities’ formal independence operates to avoid the payment of VAT or to derive advantages from not accounting for VAT on business activities. Currently, a request for group status must be initiated by the group members.
- Split payment method: Changes will be made to the split payment method, which allows a customer to pay the invoice amount in two parts: the net amount is paid directly to the supplier and the VAT portion is transferred directly to the supplier's VAT account held with the Slovak tax authorities. The split payment option gives buyers certainty that the VAT has been paid to the authorities. The split payment method will be expanded in 2027 in cases where there is a reasonable doubt that the supplier will not pay the VAT due. In this case, the tax authorities will be able to require the customer to pay the VAT from the invoice directly to the relevant account held for the supplier by the tax authorities rather than pay the entire invoice amount to the supplier.
- Reduced VAT rate: Changes have been approved to the VAT treatment of various food products with high sugar or salt content. Currently, confectionary products, cocoa, food products, water and products made from water are subject to the reduced VAT rate of 19%, but as from 2026, such products will be subject to the 23% standard VAT rate. Affected companies will need to determine whether their products fall into the higher rate category.
BDO Insight
A series of significant VAT reforms are in the pipeline in Slovakia, aiming to modernise tax administration and align with the EU’s VAT in the Digital Age initiative. The most notable measures will take effect gradually from 2026 through 2030, and businesses should start preparing in advance to ensure compliance and smooth implementation.Lucie Bellanova
BDO in Slovak Republic