On July 9, 2020, the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved a government bill called the “lex corona” (in Slovak: lex korona), containing a package of measures to improve the business environment and reduce the administrative burden on entrepreneurs in the Slovak Republic. Several obligations of entrepreneurs have been abolished or reduced.

The measures include, for example:

• increased thresholds (value of assets, amount of turnover, number of employees) for entrepreneurs to be subject to the obligation to verify their financial statements by an auditor,

• reducing the obligations of large companies in relation to energy audits,

• the possibility of claiming expenditure on fuel consumed as tax expenditure according to consumption 20% higher than according to the technical certificate,

• the abolition of several obligations of employers under the Public Health Protection Act,

• the abolition of the obligation to appoint safety employee representatives for small and non-risk employers,

• the abolition of the obligation to regularly evaluate health and safety directives.

At the same time, several notification obligations of entrepreneurs have been abolished; various fines have been abolished or reduced; when increasing the registered capital of a limited liability company or a joint-stock company, the audited financial statements will not be required, subject to specified conditions, etc.

Amendments to the laws governing taxes or social security and health insurance contributions will always enter into force on January 1.

The Slovak Trade Inspection (STI) authority will now be allowed to decide at its discretion not to immediately impose a fine in the case of a minor breach of an obligation and will be able to call on the entrepreneur to refrain from the infringement and take measures to remedy the consequences of the infringement within a specified period. If the entrepreneur complies with the request and takes appropriate measures, the STI will not impose a fine on the entrepreneur.

The National Council has also approved an amendment enabling the Ministry of Economy to provide subsidies to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to compensate for damage caused as a result of measures taken to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic.