Financial Transaction Tax

Dear clients and partners,

In this edition of the LeitnerLeitner mailing, we continue to present changes from the consolidation package. The new financial transaction tax will affect all entrepreneurs! What impact will the transation tax have on your company? Will it „only“ be a significant cost or will there also be an obligation to pay this tax?

We would be happy to assist if you need more information.

We for you,

Anna Fábryová & Miroslava Čevanová

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Financial Transaction Tax 

The transaction tax will be introduced from 1 April 2025 and will affect all legal entities and natural persons – entrepreneurs.

The following transactions will be charged:

• Bank transactions/transfers (transaction where funds are debited from the account) – 0.4 % of each transaction, up to a maximum of EUR 40.00;
• Cash withdrawals (at ATMs and at bank branches)- 0.8 %, no limit;
• Amount of overcharged expenses – in the amount of 0.4 %, no limitations;
• Use of a payment card – one-off fixed annual fee of EUR 2.00 in case of use of a payment card.

Payments made by credit card are not subject to tax, but are subject to a fixed annual fee. The obligation for businesses to allow non-cash payments has been deleted from the final approved bill.

Multiple transactions, such as the payment of taxes and levies to the Treasury, erroneous payments or intra-bank transfers between accounts within the same bank, are not subject to tax.

Who will incur what obligations?

For most companies and entrepreneurs, the new transaction tax will be a significant cost item that will be charged to them by their bank, similar to a bank levy. The company itself will not be a taxpayer, i.e. it will have no administrative / levy obligations to state institutions. The tax payer will generally be the bank.

However, companies that have accounts in foreign banks or are overcharged for the costs of another person who made payments for them in connection with their activities in the Slovak Republic should be particularly careful. In this case, the company will be obliged to calculate the tax itself and pay it to the tax office. In addition, it must keep detailed records and submit financial transaction tax notices to the tax authority.

Individual entrepreneurs who do not have a separate business account will be required to set up such a transaction account by 31 March 2025 at the latest.

The tax period will be the calendar month and the relevant notification must always be made by the end of the following month. An exception has been made for the first three tax periods from the entry into force of the law, i.e. for the periods April, May and June 2025, which may be settled by a single notification until 31 July 2025. The payment card fee will be payable annually.

We are happy to analyse your obligations for you, prepare a tax calculation, assess the possibilities of optimisation at company level or handle your obligations towards the tax office. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!