Obligation of electronic invoicing from 1 January 2027

The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (“SR”) presented preliminary information on the draft Act (hereinafter referred to as the “Amendment”) amending Act No. 222/2004 Coll. on Value Added Tax (hereinafter referred to as the “VAT Act”).

The forthcoming Amendment involves the programme declaration of the Slovak Government for 2023-2027, in which it has committed to make the fight against tax evasion more effective.

The Amendment aims to transpose into the Act the rules of the Council Directive (EU) amending the Directive 2006/112/EC as regards the VAT rules for the digital age (further referred only as the “Directive”) and to introduce both mandatory electronic invoicing for registered VAT payers and mandatory real-time reporting of data on local transactions from electronic invoices to the Financial Administration.

The Amendment will introduce an obligation for VAT payers to prepare and receive invoices in a prescribed electronic format, with all the information required by the VAT Act, from 1 January 2027. At the same time, the obligation to electronically report data from issued and received electronic invoices for local transactions to the Financial Administration in real time will be introduced.

The reporting of data for local transactions together with the introduction of electronic invoicing should prepare VAT payers for the obligation to report cross-border transaction data, which will be transposed into the VAT Act by 1 July 2030 at the latest, in the framework of the aforementioned Directive

The state expects this measure to make the fight against tax fraud more effective, reduce tax gaps and, last but not least, improve tax collection. Making data from electronic invoices available in real time will also enable the Financial Administration to better identify the fulfilment of tax obligations or to prevent fraudulent actions.

On the other hand, this should simplify business operations for entrepreneurs and increase the efficiency and quality of the business environment. At the same time, standardisation of electronic invoicing will ensure faster data transfer, reliable communication and a reduction in errors due to the variety of systems used.

With effect from 1 January 2026, there will also be changes made in the area of VAT registration aimed at eliminating evasion of registration obligations, as well as in the area of registration cancellation aimed at preventing those persons proven to have been involved in fraudulent transactions from re-entering the VAT system.