When you must register for VAT in Slovakia: the €50,000 and €62,500 thresholds and § 7a

Most sole traders and small companies in Slovakia start out as non-VAT payers. As turnover grows, there are two thresholds to watch, and since 2025 both apply to the calendar year. On top of that there is a separate registration under § 7 and § 7a: you get a VAT ID without becoming a VAT payer.^⁠[1]

This guide explains when registration becomes mandatory, what counts as turnover, how and by when to register, when voluntary registration makes sense and what changes once you have a VAT ID.

Two thresholds: €50,000 and €62,500

The rules apply to a business with its seat, place of business or establishment in Slovakia, or with its residence or usual abode here.^⁠[1]

The difference matters. With the first threshold you have until the end of the year: you only become a VAT payer in January. With the second, the supply that crossed it is already taxed, and you invoice it as a VAT payer.^⁠[1]

What counts as turnover

Turnover is the value, excluding VAT, of goods and services supplied in Slovakia. It does not include supplies exempt under § 28 to 36 and § 40 to 42, insurance and financial services supplied as ancillary to another supply, or occasional sales of your own business assets other than stock.^⁠[1]

The place of supply decides. A service to a business in another country is generally supplied where the customer is established, so it is not a supply in Slovakia.^⁠[1] If you mostly invoice foreign clients, your turnover for registration purposes may be lower than the sum of all your invoices. Other obligations apply to such services, though; see § 7a below.

How and by when to register

You apply to the tax office within five working days of the day you exceeded a threshold, stating which threshold you exceeded and when.^⁠[1] The tax office registers you, assigns your VAT ID (IČ DPH) and issues a decision within ten days of receiving the application.^⁠[1]

Voluntary registration

You can become a VAT payer before you reach either threshold. After you apply, the tax office registers you within 21 days, and you become a VAT payer from the day stated in the decision.^⁠[1]

The upside is the right to deduct VAT on business purchases, which only a VAT payer has.^⁠[1] The downside is more obligations (returns, control statements, e-invoices) and, for customers who cannot deduct VAT, such as consumers, a price that is higher by the tax. If you sell mainly to VAT payers, voluntary registration does not make you more expensive for them.

§ 7 and § 7a: a VAT ID without being a VAT payer

A non-VAT payer must also register for VAT when trading with businesses in other EU countries, without becoming a VAT payer.^⁠[1]

You buy services from an EU supplier

If you receive a service from a foreign person established in another Member State and you are the one liable to pay the VAT on it, you must apply for registration before you receive the service (§ 7a(1)). Typically these are services an EU supplier invoices to you without VAT, such as online advertising or a software subscription.^⁠[1]

You sell services to businesses in the EU

If you supply a service whose place of supply is another Member State and the customer accounts for the VAT, you must register before you supply it (§ 7a(2)).^⁠[1] Your invoice then carries the words "prenesenie daňovej povinnosti" (reverse charge), and you include it in your quarterly EC sales list (súhrnný výkaz).^⁠[2]

You buy goods from the EU

For goods bought from another Member State you register under § 7 before the acquisition that brings the total value of such goods in the calendar year to €14,000.^⁠[1]

What such a registration means for you:^⁠[1]

• the tax office registers you and assigns a VAT ID within ten days of receiving the application,^⁠[1]
• for each month in which you become liable to pay VAT (for instance on a service you received), you file a return within 25 days and pay the tax; VAT of up to €5 does not have to be paid,^⁠[1]
• for each quarter in which you supplied a service to the EU, you file an EC sales list within 25 days,^⁠[1]
• you are not a VAT payer, so you cannot deduct VAT on your purchases.^⁠[1]

More on invoicing foreign clients is in Invoicing foreign clients from Slovakia.

What changes once you are a VAT payer

• Invoices: to businesses and legal entities you issue invoices with VAT and with all the particulars of § 74, within 15 days of the supply.^⁠[1] Details are in Invoice requirements in Slovakia 2026.
• Tax period: a calendar month; you can switch to quarterly only once more than 12 months have passed since the end of the month in which you became a VAT payer and your turnover over the previous 12 months stayed below €100,000.^⁠[1]
• Return and control statement: for each tax period within 25 days of its end, and the tax is paid by the same deadline.^⁠[1]
• Bank accounts: you notify the Financial Directorate of the accounts you use for business.^⁠[1]
• E-invoices: from 1 January 2027 you issue structured e-invoices for domestic sales to businesses and legal entities.^⁠[3] See E-invoicing in Slovakia from 1 January 2027.
• Flat-rate expenses: for a year in which you are a VAT payer throughout, you cannot claim flat-rate expenses for income tax.^⁠[4] See Flat-rate or actual expenses in Slovakia.
• Domestic reverse charge: for some domestic supplies, such as construction work for another VAT payer, the customer pays the VAT instead of you.^⁠[1] See Domestic reverse charge in Slovakia.

Can you deregister?

Yes. A VAT payer registered under § 4 may apply for deregistration once at least one calendar year has passed since becoming a VAT payer, provided its turnover in the previous calendar year did not exceed €50,000.^⁠[1]

Checklist

• Track your calendar-year turnover as you go, not only in December.
• Count only supplies in Slovakia, without exempt supplies.
• At €50,000, apply within five working days; you become a VAT payer in January.
• At €62,500, apply within five working days; the supply above the threshold is already taxed.
• Register under § 7a before your first service to or from a business in the EU.
• After registering, set up VAT invoices, returns and control statements.

How vporiadku helps

For a non-VAT payer, the vporiadku dashboard shows the total of issued invoices excluding VAT for the calendar year and the distance to both thresholds, €50,000 and €62,500. It is an indicative total of all invoices: if you also invoice abroad, recalculate your statutory turnover without services supplied abroad.

In the company settings you choose whether you are a non-VAT payer, a VAT payer or registered under § 7 or § 7a, and vporiadku adds the right sentence to your invoices, for example that you are not a VAT payer, or the reverse charge for a service to an EU business. For a VAT payer it builds the control statement, the EC sales list and the VAT return workings from your documents, even on the free Start plan; the XML of the statements is our reconstruction, not the official Financial Administration schema, so have it checked before your first filing.

Work out amounts with and without VAT in the VAT calculator. See our pricing or try vporiadku for free.