Commercial Law, Civil Law, Land Law

  • From January 1, 2011, foreign individuals are allowed to purchase land in the territory of the Slovak Republic without any limitations. It is a consequence of the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development not having requested the European Commission to extend the moratorium on purchase of agricultural and forest land, which was regulated by the Exchange Act.
  • From March 1, 2011, an amendment of the Act on Ownership of Land and Other Agricultural Property comes into force, on the basis of which a substitute land may be assigned to a land owner only within the same cadastral area, in which his original land is located. If assigning such substitute land is not possible, compensation shall be paid. The aim of the amendment is to eliminate speculative assignments of substitute lands out of the territory of the relevant cadastral area.
  • Under the Amendment of the Act on Cash Registers, entrepreneurs are obliged, by no later than December 31, 2011, to put into operation new cash registers, which bring several advantages, such as a simplified accounting process and saved costs related to paper cash receipts and their archiving. Entrepreneurs starting their businesses in 2011 are obliged to use the new cash registers from the start. The amendment also provides for uniform rights and obligations of Slovak entrepreneurs and of foreign entrepreneurs with respect to use of cash registers.
  • Pursuant to an amendment of the Civil Code effective as of January 1, 2011, public authorities are obliged to publish on internet all contracts dealing with the use of state funds and public property. Contracts entered into by ministries, central state authorities, public corporations and institutions connected to the State budget must be published in the Central registry for contracts maintained by the Office of the Government in electronic form on its website. The remaining public institutions will publish contracts on their websites or in the Commercial Bulletin free of charge. The aim of the amendment is to provide for a transparent and economical use of public property and state funds. 
  • Changes relating to restitution and assignment of substitute land by the Slovak Land Fund. Under the new rules, the owner of the land himself may propose, which land he would like to receive as a substitute land and, in case such land may not be assigned to him for statutory reasons and, at the same time, the owner refuses a substitute land offered to him by the Slovak Land Fund, the Slovak Land Fund will pay the owner a compensation for his land. 

Tax Law/Social Security Law

  • The Government enacted an increase of the Value Added Tax rate to 20%. As of January 1, 2011, the base VAT rate is 20% and the reduced VAT rate of 6% applicable to purchase of specific foods sold by individuals in small quantities is lifted. The other reduced VAT rate of 10% applicable to drugs, medical means and books remains valid. The Government also enacted amendments of several acts relating to an increase of excise tax on beer, tobacco and tobacco products, mineral oils, carbon and natural gas. Excise tax on vine will not increase. All these are temporary measures valid until the deficit of public finance is less than 3% of the Gross Domestic Product. 
  • Parliament enacted an amendment of the Value Added Tax Act effective as of January 1, 2011, which introduced an 80% tax on proceeds from sale of emissions and on surplus emissions. The tax base shall be the aggregate of surplus emissions in the respective calendar year and of sold emissions traded in the respective months, both evaluated based on the market price. The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak republic will regularly publish the relevant information on its official website. Subject to new tax will be emissions quotas allocated in 2011 and 2012. The Slovak Republic is the only country in Europe having introduced this type of tax. 
  • In 2011, the non-taxable part of the tax base shall decrease to EUR 3,559.30. The non-taxable part of the tax base is the amount that an employee or self-employed person deducts from his tax base prior to calculating the amount of the tax. As a result of the decrease, tax payers will pay a higher tax. The so called 'millionaire tax' will not be lifted, but will be less stringent as the threshold, from which the non-taxable part of the tax base commences to decrease, was moved from an 86 multiple of the amount of the minimum living standard to a 100 multiple). 
  • Under the last amendment of the Health Insurance Act, the government introduced health insurance contributions from dividends distributed to individuals. Under the original proposal, the contributions were to be paid by the legal entities distributing such dividends. The health insurance contribution rate will be 10% of the calculation base. Health insurance contributions payable from dividends will be capped. The obligation to pay the new contribution to health insurance companies lays with all individuals whose income is taxed as income from employment (with the exception of workers under contracts on work performed outside of standard employment). Employers that employ such individuals will thus be obliged to pay the new contributions on their behalf. The obligation to pay the new contributions will also apply to self-employed persons, who will pay them from their income from rent. The calculation base for an employee will be his income taxed as income from employment, including retirement benefits, severance pay, benefits related to use of employer’s vehicles, etc. 

Miscellaneous

  • Re-creation of the Ministry of Environment under the Amendment of Act No. 575/2001 Coll. This amendment is a reaction to recent extreme floods having caused significant damage to individuals, municipalities, and the state, as well as a reaction to the acute public interest in improving the protection of environment.