Motor vehicle tax return

Motor vehicle tax is defined by Act No. 361/2014 Coll. (MVT). Each taxpayer who used a motor vehicle for business purposes during the previous year is obliged to pay motor vehicle tax.

• What is a subject to tax
  

The subject of motor vehicle tax is a motor vehicle as defined in § 2 of the MVT Act.

The subject of the tax is a vehicle that meets the following criteria:

-    a motor vehicle of categories M, N, L, O,
-    vehicle registered in the Slovak Republic,
-    used for business (according to the Commercial Code) or other self-employed activity (e.g. surveyor, tax advisor, etc.) in the tax period.

For the purposes of this Act, the use of a vehicle for business means:

a.    actual use of the vehicle for business (in connection with Section 6(10) of the Income Tax Act – application of flat-rate expenses)
b.    vehicle is in the accounting records (in connection with the Accounting Act),
c.    registration of the vehicle in the tax register (in connection with § 6 par. 11 of the Income Tax Act),
d.    the application of expenditures related to the use of the vehicle, or
e.    use of the vehicle for business by the taxpayer (e.g. the employee's car on a business trip, etc.)

Each entrepreneur (legal entity, self-employed person) is obliged to file a tax return for the MVT if it meets the above conditions, regardless of the method of recording expenses (simple-entry accounting, double-entry accounting, tax records, flat-rate expenses). The decisive factor is whether the vehicle was used for business.

• Vehicles not subject to tax or exempt from taxation

The following vehicles shall not be subject to motor vehicle tax:

• vehicle assigned a special registration number M, H, S (test drive vehicles, vintage vehicles, sports cars)
• a vehicle intended for carrying out special activities which is not intended for transport and is marked as a special vehicle in the registration certificate Part I and the registration certificate Part II.

According to § 4 of the MVT Act, a vehicle is exempt from tax:

• diplomatic missions and consular posts, where reciprocity is guaranteed,
• emergency medical service, mine rescue vehicle, mountain rescue vehicle, air ambulance vehicle and fire protection vehicle,
• regular passenger services operating under a public service contract,
• used exclusively in agricultural and forestry production.

The exemption will be applied by the taxpayer directly in the tax return. Even if the resulting tax will be zero, the taxpayer is obliged to indicate the vehicle in the tax return. The exceptions are vehicles of diplomatic missions and consular posts, if reciprocity is guaranteed, which are not included in the tax return.

• When does tax become chargeable

In the vast majority of cases, tax liability arises on the first day of the month in which the vehicle becomes subject to tax.

The only exception is the situation of the legal successor of the taxpayer, which was dissolved without liquidation and in the event of the extinction and incurrence of tax liability by the same taxpayer or in the event of the transfer of the same vehicle to a new taxpayer.

The tax liability shall cease on the last day of the month in which:

• decommissioning or temporary removal of a vehicle from the vehicle registration in the Slovak Republic,
• the cessation or interruption of the business,
• issuing a certificate to the authorities of the Police Force on the theft of the vehicle,
• the dissolution of the taxpayer without liquidation,
• change of keeper of the vehicle,
• termination of use of the vehicle

The taxpayer is obliged to indicate the occurrence and extinction of tax liability in the tax return.

• Who is the taxpayer

The taxpayer is a person liable to pay tax, the law defines it in § 3 of the MVT Act.

It may be a natural or legal person who:

a.    is entered on the document as the holder of the vehicle,
b.    has its branch registered as the holder of the vehicle in the document,
c.    uses the vehicle,
d.    is an employer and pays the employee travel allowances for the use of a vehicle that is not used for business

• Deadline for filing a tax return and paying tax

The taxpayer is obliged to fill in and file the tax return electronically through the Portal of the Financial Administration. Mandatory electronic communication applies to all entrepreneurs.

As a rule, the taxpayer is obliged to file a motor vehicle tax return for 2022 by 31.01.2023. At the same time, the tax is also due.  The tax to be paid calculated in the tax return is not paid if it does not exceed EUR 5.

At the same time, the taxpayer is obliged to calculate the expected tax liability for 2023, and if the amount exceeds EUR 700, he is also obliged to pay quarterly tax advances. In case of the expected tax is higher than EUR 8,300, the taxpayer pays advances monthly.