In addition to the employment-related measures presented to you in our October’s news, the National Council of the Slovak Republic (parliament) approved several tax-related measures to reduce the public finance deficit under Act No. 261/2025 Coll., Amending and Supplementing Certain Acts in Connection with Consolidation of Public Finances.

In the area of taxation, this mainly concerns amendments to the Income Tax Act, Value Added Tax Act, Act on Protection and Use of Mineral Resources (Mining Act), Gambling Act, and Act on Special Levy on Business in Regulated Sectors.

The adopted austerity measures introduce the following changes in particular:

• introduction of a new tax license (i.e., minimum tax) band for legal entities with a taxable income exceeding EUR 5 million, which imposes a tax license of EUR 11,520, whereas previously these entities were subject to a tax license of EUR 3,840;

• introduction of a new levy on newly extracted primary raw materials (gravel, sand, building stone) at a rate of EUR 1.35 per tonne;

• introduction of a 54% tax on revenues (income) of banks, or branches of foreign banks, from fees for processing payment transactions made by a payment card to a player’s account;

• adjustment to the existing progressive taxation of personal income, including introducing new tax bands with rates of 30% and 35%;

• increase in taxation of gambling;

• increase in both the tax rate on non-life insurance and the levy imposed on compulsory contractual insurance for liability for damage caused by operation of a motor vehicle from 8% to 10% (payable by insurance companies);

• increase in the VAT rate on selected foods with high sugar and salt content from 19% to 23% (note: not applicable to sugar and salt themselves and other exemptions);

• the option to deduct 100% of VAT when using a company car owned by a business entity exclusively for business purposes while keeping detailed records (such as a logbook) remains unchanged. However, if the vehicle is also used for non-business purposes, the VAT deduction is limited to 50%. The VAT deduction limitation also applies to goods and services related to the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles (servicing, tires, fuel, etc.).

The majority of the aforementioned measures are proposed to enter into effect on January 1, 2026.

For the sake of completeness, a general tax pardon was introduced with effect from October 1, 2025 by Regulation of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 243/2025 Coll., on Cancellation of Tax Arrears Corresponding to Unpaid Penalties related to Paid Tax and on Waiver of Fines and Interest on Late Payments. The aforementioned tax amnesty is aimed at taxpayers who between January 1, 2026 and June 30, 2026 will pay or additionally declare in their tax returns the tax (such as income tax, VAT, excise duty, motor vehicle tax, insurance tax recorded as of September 30, 2025. This will result in the waiver of penalties and/or penalty interest on unpaid and/or unreported taxes owed to tax and customs authorities.