Slovakia’s VAT Law Amendments Effective April 2026
The Slovak Ministry of Finance is implementing significant amendments to its VAT Act introducing targeted measures against high-risk taxpayers with the aim to combat tax evasion and enhance the efficiency of tax administration. These measures are to be introduced gradually, with proposed effective dates of 1st April 2026 and 1st January 2027.
Key Measures from 1st April 2026
From 1st April 2026, amendments grant the tax authority increased power to manage non-compliant entities, including extending voluntary VAT registration decision deadlines up to 60 days in certain situations. The tax administrator may also impose on a high-risk entities a specific record-keeping obligation for example request to submit documents such as invoice copies and payment records and has expanded grounds for cancelling their VAT registration. There is also a presumption of cessation of economic activity under specific conditions.
Key Measures from 1st January 2027
Reintroduction of a VAT guarantee mechanism allowing the tax authority to require customers to pay VAT directly to a special tax account for suppliers suspected of non-payment. The tax authority will be entitled to impose the VAT guarantee in the range of EUR 5,000 to EUR 500,000 for potential future VAT arrears if the same risk criteria are met as for the record-keeping obligation.
Criteria for “High-Risk” Designation
An entity is typically flagged as high-risk if it meets several of the following “red flag” criteria defined in the Slovak Financial Administration’s guidelines:
- Non-Cooperation: Repeated failure to respond to tax office inquiries or being unreachable at the registered address.
- Fictitious Transactions: Issuing or claiming deductions on invoices for goods or services that were never actually delivered.
- Chronic Non-Compliance: Long-term failure to file tax returns or pay assessed liabilities.
- Suspicious Business Structure: Deliberately splitting business activities among multiple formally independent entities (with the same scope) to stay below registration thresholds.
Broader 2026 VAT Reforms
These measures are part of a wider set of reforms effective from January 2026, which include changes to VAT rates and deduction rules.