Indirect tax ebook - Slovakia

Registration 

Registration of domestic taxable person
Registration for VAT is obligatory for all businesses whose turnover exceeds EUR 49,790 for the previous consecutive 12 calendar months. This threshold will only apply to taxable person with their seat or permanent address, place of business, or VAT fixed establishment in Slovakia (further referred as 'domestic taxable person').

The domestic taxable person can also apply for the voluntary VAT registration. According to the last information domestic taxable person who applies for the voluntary VAT registration shall be obliged to prove their business activities carried out within the territory of Slovakia (e.g. by sending of business plan, issued invoices and etc.)

Also domestic taxable person (not Slovak VAT payer), who receives services from foreign taxable persons from another EU member states or supplies services with the place of supply in another EU member state where a recipient of that service is a person liable to pay VAT, is obliged to file a VAT registration application with the Tax Authorities prior to such supplies.

Registration of foreign taxable person
For foreign taxable person a single transaction which is subject to VAT in Slovakia, triggers the obligation to apply for VAT registration in Slovakia and to pay VAT under the Slovak VAT Act (in case, the tax duties are not delegated on recipient). Therefore the registration may be necessary for the taxable person without a registered seat or VAT fixed establishment in Slovakia as a result of transferring business assets to Slovakia, supplying goods or performing an acquisition of goods or an import of goods here.

Based on the above foreign taxable person may need to register with the tax authorities Bratislava for carrying out:

• domestic supplies to private individuals
• distance sales from and to Slovakia
• intra-community supplies of goods from Slovakia
• intra-community acquisitions of goods to Slovakia
• import of goods to Slovakia and export of goods outside of EU countries
  

Call-off stock VAT simplification
Slovak VAT Act allows a VAT simplification for foreign taxable entity, registered for VAT in another EU country (other than Slovakia) who transfers their own goods from another EU member state to a warehouse in Slovakia and these goods will be delivered to a single VAT payer.
If foreign VAT payer meets law requirements stated in Slovak VAT Act, he does not have to register for VAT purposes in Slovakia. VAT liability arisen from the acquisition of goods will be paid by a Slovak customer (single VAT payer).

Long-distance sales
A foreign taxable person that makes long-distance sales in Slovakia to any persons, not registered for Slovak VAT, is obliged to register for VAT purposes at tax authorities Bratislava upon reaching a turnover of EUR 35,000 in a calendar year.

There is also a possibility of voluntary registration before reaching of law determined turnover.

A foreign taxable person supplying goods into Slovakia via long-distance sales to a physical person and such goods is a subject of excise duty, must apply for VAT registration before commencing of such supplies.

Retroactive registration
Retroactive VAT registration is possible only for taxable person that should have registered for VAT after 1 April 2009.

In respect of deduction of input VAT taxable person which became VAT payer can under some conditions deduct input VAT but he should also pay output VAT from taxable supplies that occurred before official VAT registration with tax authorities.

Group registration
As of 1 April 2009 there exists a possibility to ask for VAT registration of group in Slovakia that enables taxable persons who have their seat, place of business or VAT fixed establishment within Slovakia and who are connected financially, economically or organizationally, to register for Slovak VAT as a single VAT payer.  As a result, transactions within the group are outside the scope of VAT.

The Slovak tax authorities will register a VAT group as of 1 January of the year following that in which the registration request is filed, provided this is done by 31 October of that year. If the request for registration is filed after 31 October, the Slovak tax authorities will register the group for VAT as of 1 January of the second year following that year in which the registration request is filed.

• Introduction
• Scope
• Registration
• Tax rates
• Reporting & filing
• General tax application/Time of supply
• Other local requirements