Tax on financial transactions

The new tax on financial transactions will be effective from April 1, 2025. According to the proposed law, the bank will be obliged to directly calculate, withhold and remit the state tax. If it concerns foreign accounts of entrepreneurs, in this case the account owner will have to do it on a monthly basis.

It will be deducted from all bank transactions, e.g. during bank transfer, payment of invoices, purchase of securities, loan interest payments, commissions and fees, but also when withdrawing cash. This new financial transaction tax will not only apply to the following transactions:

• Payment of taxes, insurance and contributions, which are income of the state budget, levies to the Social Insurance Office and levies for health insurance paid into the State Treasury account.
• Payment operations on the securities trader's account, which are carried out by the trader with the intention of purchasing securities on behalf of the client, excluding payment operations related to the purchase of securities in the securities trader's own name.
• Financial transactions of the taxpayer carried out between his own accounts within one payment service provider - the so-called intrabank transfers between accounts. The exemption also applies to transfers between the taxpayer's transaction account and the taxpayer's current account maintained in the same bank.

The tax base is the amount of funds written off from the taxpayer's account (debit payment amount). The tax base also includes funds required from the taxpayer by the person who carried out transactions related to the taxpayer's activities in Slovakia on his behalf, such as salaries of his employees, reimbursements for consumed energy, payments to suppliers.

The proposed tax rate will depend on the subject of the tax. The new tax on financial transactions will be 0.4% of the amount of the financial transaction, a maximum of 40 euros per transaction. In the case of a cash withdrawal, either from an ATM or a bank, the rate should be 0.8% of the withdrawal amount without setting the maximum tax amount for the transaction. The new tax on financial transactions will be 0.4% of the allocated costs, without a maximum tax limit, for the allocation of expenses related to financial transactions tied to domestic operations. Additionally, the draft law includes an annual fee of 2 euros for the use of a payment card.

Below is an example of how to calculate the tax on financial transactions when paying an invoice.

Let's say that an entrepreneur receives two invoices from one supplier in the amount of 5,000 euros and in the amount of 10,000 euros.

If the entrepreneur decides to pay each invoice separately by bank transfer, in this transaction he will pay a tax of EUR 60 (0.4% of the amount of EUR 5,000 = EUR 20) and a tax of EUR 40 (0.4 % of the amount of 10,000 euros = 40 euros).

In the event that the entrepreneur would make the payment of these two invoices only as one payment, i.e. a total of 15,000 Euros, he would only pay a tax in the maximum amount of 40 Euros per transaction.

If the entrepreneur were to pay invoices by cash withdrawal and then making the payment, he would have to pay a tax of 120 Euros (0.8% of 15,000 Euros).