Which Slovak VAT registration a client actually needs, the 50 000 / 62 500 / 14 000 eur triggers, and why a §7a registrant pays VAT but cannot deduct it.
Source-cited draft.Written from sources but not reviewed by a licensed practitioner, so it may be incomplete or wrong. General reference only; don't file or take a position on it without professional review.
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| §4 VAT payer (platiteľ) | §7 / §7a registrant | |
|---|---|---|
| Charges Slovak VAT on own sales | Yes, 23 / 19 / 5% | No |
| Deducts input VAT | Yes | No |
| Self-assesses reverse-charge VAT | Yes | Yes |
| Files a VAT return | Every tax period | Only for months where a liability arose. No nil returns. |
| Has a VAT number (IČ DPH) | Yes | Yes, restricted to the registered purpose |
| Net cost of an EU service invoice | Neutral (declare and deduct) | VAT is a real, unrecoverable cost |
Slovakia has three different VAT registrations and only one of them makes you a VAT payer. §4 is the real thing (you charge VAT, you deduct input VAT). §7 and §7a are administrative registrations that give you a VAT number and an obligation to self-assess tax, with no right of deduction. Getting this wrong in either direction is expensive: register under §4 too early and you add 23% to prices your clients cannot reclaim; miss a §7a registration and you have been under-declaring reverse-charge VAT on every Google Ireland or Meta Ireland invoice since your first ad. The rules changed materially on 1 January 2025, so anything written before then is unsafe.
Non-established (foreign) businesses should read §5, not §4. This Guide covers §5 only where it interacts.
Two separate turnover triggers, and they do different things.
Trigger A, 50 000 eur. Exceed 50 000 eur of turnover in a calendar year and you become a VAT payer on 1 January of the following year. Not immediately.
Trigger B, 62 500 eur. Exceed 62 500 eur during the year and you become a VAT payer at the moment of the supply that breaches it, and you must charge VAT on that very supply.
The old threshold was 49 790 eur measured over up to 12 preceding consecutive calendar months. It is now 50 000 / 62 500 eur measured over the calendar year, resetting every 1 January. A transitional rule (§85kn) keeps the old regime alive for anyone who hit 49 790 eur by 31 December 2024.
Turnover means the net value of goods and services supplied in Slovakia, excluding supplies exempt under §28 to §36 and §40 to §42.
Excluded: advance payments (until the supply happens), supplies with a place of supply abroad, free-of-charge supplies, and supplies where the customer accounts for the tax under reverse charge.
Included, and people miss this: exempt insurance (§37), real estate (§38) and financial services (§39) do count, and if you cross the threshold purely on those you must still register and must say so on the form.
You do not have to wait for 50 000 eur. Four things to tell the client:
Separately, if you have crossed 50 000 but not 62 500 eur, you can elect to become a payer early, either on the application itself (§4 ods. 8 písm. a, effective from the supply that broke 50 000) or later by notification (§4 ods. 8 písm. b, effective the day after you notify).
The application goes in before the acquisition that reaches 14 000 eur, not after. Voluntary §7 registration below the threshold is allowed but commits you to taxing acquisitions for at least two calendar years. New means of transport and excise goods are excluded from the count. Non-taxable legal persons (a sports club, a foundation) are caught too.
Two limbs, both with an explicit "the price does not matter": before receiving a service from a foreign person in another member state where you are liable under §69(3), and before supplying a service to another member state where the place of supply is determined by §15(1) and the customer accounts for the tax.
You do not register under §7a if: the place of supply is determined by §15(2) or §16 rather than §15(1); you are already registered under §7; the service is exempt at its place of supply; the counterparty is in a third country (a US, UK or Swiss supplier or customer); or the counterparty is not a taxable person.
| §4 VAT payer (platiteľ) | §7 / §7a registrant | |
|---|---|---|
| Charges Slovak VAT on own sales | Yes, 23 / 19 / 5% | No |
| Deducts input VAT | Yes | No |
| Self-assesses reverse-charge VAT | Yes | Yes |
| Files a VAT return | Every tax period | Only for months where a liability arose. No nil returns. |
| Has a VAT number (IČ DPH) | Yes | Yes, restricted to the registered purpose |
| Net cost of an EU service invoice | Neutral (declare and deduct) | VAT is a real, unrecoverable cost |
A §7a-registered freelancer buying 1 000 eur of Meta Ireland advertising declares 230 eur of Slovak VAT and keeps none of it. Under §4 the same 230 eur would net to zero.
The §4 application is due within five working days of the day the turnover was exceeded, or the day payer status was acquired. Decision timing: 10 days for a compulsory §4 registration, 21 days for a voluntary one, 10 days for §7 and §7a. Note that §7(3) and §7a(3) were amended with effect from 1 January 2025 to replace seven days with ten. Several of the tax authority's own information sheets still say seven. The statute says ten.
Ongoing obligations for a §7 or §7a registrant: return and payment within 25 days of the end of the month in which the liability arose, no nil returns, quarterly EC Sales List by the 25th where services are supplied, invoices within 15 days marked "prenesenie daňovej povinnosti", records kept, invoices retained for ten years. No payment is required if the tax due is not more than 5 eur.
| What | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard VAT rate, from 1 Jan 2025 | 23% | financnasprava.sk, Sadzby dane |
| Reduced rates, from 1 Jan 2025 | 19% and 5% | financnasprava.sk, Sadzby dane |
| Standard rate before 1 Jan 2025 | 20% | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| §4 mandatory registration threshold (payer from 1 January following) | 50 000 eur in a calendar year | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| §4 accelerated threshold (payer at the moment of the breaching supply) | 62 500 eur in a calendar year | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| Previous §4 threshold, to 31 Dec 2024 | 49 790 eur over up to 12 preceding months (§85kn transitional) | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| Turnover measurement period, from 1 Jan 2025 | Calendar year, restarting each 1 January | Consolidated VAT Act |
| §4 application deadline | 5 working days | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| §4 decision, compulsory / voluntary | 10 days / 21 days | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| Voluntary registration backdating | Not permitted | 2/DPH/2025/MP |
| §7 threshold, goods from other member states | 14 000 eur net in a calendar year | VAT Act §7(1) |
| §7 application timing | Before the acquisition that reaches 14 000 eur | VAT Act §7(1) |
| §7 voluntary registration commitment | Must tax acquisitions for at least 2 calendar years | FS SR §7 information sheet |
| §7a threshold | None ("nezáleží na výške ceny služby") | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| §7a application timing | Before receiving the service; before supplying the service | VAT Act §7a(1), (2) |
| §7 / §7a decision and IČ DPH allocation | Not later than 10 days (amended from 7, from 1 Jan 2025) | VAT Act §7(3), §7a(3) |
| §7 / §7a input VAT deduction | None. Registrant is not a platiteľ dane | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| §7 / §7a return and payment | 25 days after the end of the month in which the liability arose. No nil returns. | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| Minimum tax payable | No obligation where the tax due is not more than 5 eur | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| EC Sales List for §7a services supplied | Quarterly, within 25 days of quarter end. No nil listing. | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| Invoice deadline, §15(1) services to another member state | Within 15 days of month end, marked "prenesenie daňovej povinnosti" | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| Invoice retention | 10 years | FS SR §7 information sheet |
| §7 deregistration test | Below 14 000 eur in the current year and the preceding year | FS SR §7 information sheet |
| Registration form version | Confirm before filing (guidance cites ver. 2015) | FS SR §7a information sheet |
| Monthly vs quarterly tax period for a new §4 payer (§77) | Confirm before filing | not verified |
| Public-holiday interaction with "five working days" | Confirm before filing | not verified |
| Late-registration penalties | Confirm before filing | not verified |
Jana, an SZČO web developer in Košice. Not VAT-registered at 1 January 2026.
Part 1, the §7a trigger she did not see coming. In January 2026 Jana buys 200 eur of advertising from Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. Place of supply Slovakia under §15(1), and Jana is liable under §69(3).
Had she bought the same ads from a US entity, no §7a registration would be required, but the 46 eur of self-assessed VAT and the return would still be due.
Part 2, the §4 threshold. Jana bills Slovak clients 4 500 eur net per month, and a German agency 2 000 eur per month for §15(1) services. The German fees have their place of supply in Germany and do not enter her turnover at all.
| Date | Slovak supplies (net) | Cumulative turnover |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan to 30 Nov 2026 | 11 × 4 500 | 49 500 |
| 10 Dec 2026 | 4 500 | 54 000 |
She exceeds 50 000 eur on 10 December 2026. Trigger A applies (54 000 is over 50 000 but under 62 500), so she becomes a VAT payer on 1 January 2027 and the 10 December invoice is correctly issued without VAT. Her application is due within five working days.
Part 3, the counterfactual that changes everything. Suppose instead the 10 December invoice is a one-off project at 14 000 eur net, taking cumulative turnover to 63 500 eur.
Part 4, what §4 registration changes. From the moment she is a payer, the Meta Ireland VAT reverses out: she declares the 23% and deducts it in the same return, so the advertising costs her 200 eur again.
Caution on the two 2018 information sheets. They remain published by the tax authority and are the clearest official statements of the §7 and §7a procedural obligations and of the no-deduction rule, which is why they are cited. They are out of date on two points: they state a 20% tax rate (now 23%) and a 7-day registration decision period (now 10 days from 1 January 2025). Where they conflict with the statute, the statute governs.
Other Slovakia computations in the OpenAccountants Tax Library.
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