An empty flat, a few bookings and the first payment in the bank. But tax questions begin well before the annual return: using a property repeatedly to earn income can make its owner a taxable person for VAT purposes, even without a trade licence. A commission charged from abroad can trigger obligations before the turnover threshold for full VAT registration is reached. The article describes the Slovak rules for property in Slovakia.
With a genuine letting of a flat for residential use, in which you provide only the basic services connected with its use, you need neither a trade licence nor the formation of an s. r. o. Basic services are, for example, supplies of energy, waste collection and cleaning of the building’s communal areas; an individual’s income from such letting normally falls under section 6(3) of the Income Tax Act.
The word “short-term” on its own decides nothing: a fixed-term lease under Act No. 98/2014 Coll. can remain a letting without a trade licence, provided it is not in reality an accommodation service or a letting with services other than basic ones. That Act regulates the lease of a flat for a fixed term of at most six years; it says nothing about stays of tourists. In its methodological guideline of 23 June 2023 (its interpretation, not legislation), the Financial Directorate states in this regard that for accommodation intermediated through web platforms such as Booking or Airbnb, what decides is not the platform but the nature and scope of the service actually provided.
If you provide accommodation services or, alongside the letting, also provide services other than the basic ones, you need the appropriate trade licence for that activity. Changing bed linen and towels, cleaning for guests and breakfast are given in the methodological guideline as examples of services going beyond ordinary letting.
According to the same guideline, accommodation through platforms is in most cases short-term accommodation with service which does not meet a need for permanent housing, and therefore it is income from a trade. This is not, however, an automatic conclusion for every listing: the guideline expressly calls for an individual approach and an assessment of the real nature of the activity provided. The model of “tourists for a few nights, prepared beds, changing of linen and cleaning for the next guests” therefore cannot be passed off as private letting merely because there is only one flat or turnover is low.
| The service actually provided | Required licence or form |
|---|---|
| You let the flat for residential use with basic services only | No trade licence or s. r. o. is needed for such letting;; tax registrations are assessed separately. |
| You provide temporary accommodation with services for guests | You need the appropriate trade licence; you can operate as an individual or through a legal entity. |
| Do you want to run accommodation through your own s. r. o. | This is a choice of legal form; the necessary licence must be held by the company that provides the service. |
For accommodation without catering operations, the Act lists the unregulated trade “Ubytovacie služby bez poskytovania pohostinských činností” (Annex 4a of the Trade Licensing Act, serial number 35). If you also prepare breakfast or other meals for guests, it is a different trade, according to the actual scope of services.
Forming an s. r. o. does not in itself replace a trade licence: the company too must carry on a trade, and for unregulated trades from Annex 4a the notification after the company comes into being is handled for it by the commercial register. High turnover is likewise no reason why you would have to turn from a sole trader into an s. r. o.
If an activity requires a trade licence but an individual carries it on without one, the methodological guideline classifies such income as income under section 8 of the Income Tax Act, as other miscellaneous income, not as income from a trade or as passive letting under section 6(3). A trade licence is not obtained by declaring the income in a tax return.
The EUR 500 exemption under section 9(1)(g) applies, according to the wording of the law, only to income under section 6(3) and section 8(1)(a), that is, to occasional activities. It follows that other miscellaneous income from regular accommodation does not qualify for this exemption. The 60% flat rate does not apply to it either, because the law gives it only for income under section 6(1), (2) and (4).
The assessment of a trade is also separate from VAT: even a person without a trade licence can be a taxable person for VAT purposes. For VAT, accommodation is assessed under section 38(4) of the VAT Act, that is, by the groups of the statistical classification 55.1 to 55.3 and 55.9; the threshold of “less than three months” concerns only group 55.9, not automatically every letting.
Where the receipts genuinely are income from letting under section 6(3), an annual exemption of EUR 500 can be claimed. It is calculated on the total of this income for the year, not separately for each flat or each platform, and if you also sell, for example, securities or shares (section 8(1)(d) to (f)), the two exemptions together may not exceed EUR 500. Expenses are then reduced in the same proportion as income after the exemption.
The 60% flat-rate deduction, which the law gives only for income under section 6(1), (2) and (4), does not apply to this letting, nor the non-taxable part of the tax base, which is deducted only from the tax base from income under section 5 and section 6(1) and (2). For 2026, the tax base from such letting is taxed at progressive rates of 19%, 25%, 30% and 35%; the band thresholds are set by law as multiples of the subsistence minimum in force. The threshold of the band is assessed together with other income included in the same tax base.
An individual who is not yet registered for income tax and lets a property in Slovakia other than land must apply for registration by the end of the month following the month in which the letting began. The law does not make registration for letting depend on the amount of income, so the EUR 500 exemption does not in itself cancel it.
Even for letting under section 6(3), you can decide whether or not to record the property in business assets for tax purposes. According to the guideline, you decide this yourself for income under section 6(3). This must be distinguished from letting assets that you already use in a business: for example, income from a warehouse recorded in a sole trader’s assets belongs to their business income under section 6(5)(a).
Without recording the flat as business assets, you can claim mainly the expenses of ordinary operation: utilities and other services connected with the letting, and payments into the repair fund. The expenses of acquiring such a flat (and therefore its depreciation), its repair or capital improvement are, for such a flat, expenses for the taxpayer’s personal needs, and you also cannot include insurance of the flat, property tax or interest on a loan to acquire it. Where the flat is recorded as business assets, the scope is broader: you can claim depreciation within the statutory limit, repairs, insurance, property tax and the relevant loan interest. Repayment of mortgage principal is not an ordinary tax expense, and a capital improvement follows the statutory treatment. Classification can also affect a future sale: the exemption of income from the sale of a property is tied to five years from its acquisition or from its removal from business assets, if it was previously part of them.
Separate furniture or appliances let as accessories may, under the statutory conditions, be an expense even for a flat outside business assets; this is not the same regime as for built-in fittings or repairs to the flat itself. Preparation costs incurred before letting begins are not automatically treated alike: for repairs, check in particular section 4(4), the connection with the future letting and the asset treatment of the property.
For energy, the contract with the supplier also matters: if the contract is concluded in the landlord’s name, the tenant’s payments are the landlord’s income even where the tenant pays the supplier directly, and the related documented costs are assessed as expenses. If the tenant has their own contract with the supplier and pays them directly, that payment is not the landlord’s income.
Passive letting cannot produce an overall tax loss: if documented expenses are higher than income, the difference is disregarded. If you claim documented expenses, it pays to keep tax records; the law envisages in them not only income and expenses but also assets, stocks, receivables and liabilities. It is therefore not enough to track bank receipts alone. For a flat in the spouses’ joint property regime (BSM), income is included in the tax base in the same proportion for each of them, unless they agree otherwise; expenses are divided in the same proportion. Each spouse can use their own EUR 500 exemption where the conditions are met. Where property is co-owned in shares, income and expenses are divided according to the co-ownership shares, and the co-owners cannot freely agree on the share.
Nor should attention stop at bank payments after the last letting ends: on definitive cessation of letting, uncollected receivables under section 17(8) and (9) can also enter the tax base. A mere change of tenant is not the same as permanently ceasing to let. Under the conditions of section 17(20) and (21), a tenant’s expenditure on capital improvements or repairs can constitute non-cash income of the landlord.
An individual’s income from providing accommodation as a trade falls under section 6(1)(b), so the EUR 500 exemption intended for passive letting does not apply to it. Where the conditions are met, a sole trader chooses documented expenses or a flat rate of 60% of income under section 6(1) and (2) combined, at most EUR 20,000 a year, plus the compulsory insurance contributions paid; the flat rate is available to a non-VAT-payer or to someone who is a VAT payer for only part of the year. Registration under section 7a alone does not make the person a VAT payer.
For taxable business income under section 6(1) and (2) of up to and including EUR 100,000, a 15% rate applies in 2026 to the tax base, not to takings; above this threshold the law sets bands of 19%, 25%, 30% and 35%.
An s. r. o. taxes its adjusted accounting profit: the rate is 10% for taxable revenues up to and including EUR 100,000, 21% above that amount and 24% for revenues above EUR 5 million. The legal entity’s minimum tax and its exceptions must also be checked. Sole traders and companies entered in the relevant registers are registered for income tax ex officio, under the statutory conditions.
Passive letting under section 6(3) is not a gainful activity of a self-employed person (SZČO), so passive letting alone does not give rise to contributions to the Social Insurance Agency. For a sole trader, compulsory sickness and pension insurance arise on the first day of the sixth calendar month after the month from which they are authorised to carry on business. From 1 July 2026, income for the previous year is also assessed every year: insurance does not arise if the income is not higher than 10.5 times the subsistence minimum. We cover contributions in more detail in the article Doing business in 2027: what is changing in taxes, contributions and wages. Health insurance must be assessed separately.
For a domestically established person, turnover is monitored by calendar year, not over the last twelve months; supplies by the same person from all platforms and other activities are added together.
| Situation | Obligation and start of VAT-payer status |
|---|---|
| Turnover does not exceed EUR 50,000 | Turnover alone does not give rise to compulsory payer status; other statutory grounds and section 7a must be assessed separately. |
| Turnover exceeds EUR 50,000 | Application within five working days; generally payer status from 1 January of the following year, unless an earlier ground arises. |
| Turnover exceeds EUR 62,500 in the same year | You become a payer with the supply that takes you over the threshold, including that supply; you file the application for registration within five working days of exceeding it. |
Exempt letting under section 38 is also included in turnover. However, registration alone does not automatically turn exempt letting into taxed accommodation. Voluntary earlier entry into VAT-payer status is possible under section 4(6) to (8).
If you are a taxable person that is not a VAT payer and an intermediary service is supplied to you for a commission by a supplier from another EU Member State, you pay the tax on it yourself (transfer of liability under section 69(3), place of supply under section 15(1)). You file the application for registration under section 7a before receiving that service; the law does not tie it to any minimum amount. If you are already registered under section 7, you do not file a further application. If you have already filed an application under section 4, the procedure under section 4(11) must also be taken into account. What matters is the specific supplier named on the invoice and the contractual arrangement, not the platform’s brand alone.
Under the reverse charge, Slovak VAT of 23% is calculated on the commission excluding tax. A non-payer registered only under section 7a cannot deduct this tax, and the registration does not oblige it to charge VAT on its own accommodation. On a commission of EUR 100 excluding tax, VAT is therefore EUR 23, while the host can continue to provide its own accommodation as a non-payer.
A non-payer files the return within 25 days after the end of the month in which the liability arose and pays the tax within the same deadline; if the tax payable is no more than EUR 5, the law waives the payment, not the return. Merely receiving the commission service does not give rise to a control statement or a recapitulative statement for such a person. Where the supplier is from a third country, merely receiving the service does not give rise to registration under section 7a, but the obligation to self-assess may arise under section 69(3) even without that registration.
A payer applies the reduced VAT rate of 5% to accommodation services in group CPA 55; this rate does not automatically cover every extra sold separately. Rent that qualifies for exemption under section 38 follows a different regime, and in the letting of a flat or family house the exemption cannot be waived at will. The place of supply of accommodation in Slovakia is Slovakia even when the guest comes from abroad.
The basic tax period of a payer is the calendar month; a quarter is possible only under the conditions of section 77. A payer generally deals with the return and its own tax liability within 25 days after the end of the period and also files a control statement under section 78a, including its exceptions. A VAT payer deducts VAT on related purchases, including self-assessed commission, only if the statutory conditions are met.
Under the ordinary scheme, VAT arises on the supply of the service, and for a particular advance payment earlier, on its receipt; a later bank transfer from the platform does not postpone this liability. For a stay ending on 31 August for which you did not receive payment earlier, the supply belongs to August, even though the platform sends the money only in September. If the platform collects money on the accommodation provider’s behalf already before the stay, the contract and the moment the advance is received must be examined; the date of the payout to your account alone is not enough. The special scheme under section 68d has its own rules.
For a VAT payer, the relevant VAT is extracted from the price; the commission does not in itself reduce the value of its accommodation service for turnover purposes. A fee that the platform charges the guest for its own service in its own name must not be confused with the accommodation provider’s price.
Therefore keep overviews of stays, advance payments received, commission invoices, payouts and accommodation documents; whether you must issue an invoice under the VAT Act is assessed according to the specific customer and transaction. Received invoices for which a non-payer is required to pay VAT are retained for ten years following the relevant year.
Accommodation tax can also apply to stays in an ordinary flat; the rate, reliefs and payment deadlines are set by the municipality in its generally binding regulation (VZN). The operator notifies the municipality of the accommodation capacity no later than the day accommodation begins and keeps the guest register required by law. If the platform collects the tax as a representative of the payer under an agreement with the municipality, the scope of that representation must be checked. As a payer of accommodation tax, you also remain subject to the notification obligation and the keeping of a guest register.
If you are an accommodation provider within the meaning of the Act on the Residence of Foreigners, that is, a legal entity or an individual entrepreneur who provides accommodation on the basis of an accommodation contract, you must verify the foreigner’s identity on accommodation and ensure that the form reporting the foreigner’s stay is completed. You deliver it to the police unit within five days of accommodation, including electronically. The law does not expressly say whether this also applies to a private host without a trade licence; if you are unsure, check with the foreign police.
For business payments in cash or by card on the spot, registration in eKasa is assessed under the Act on the Registration of Sales in force in 2026. The law, however, recognises takings only as a payment received at a point of sale in cash or by an instrument that replaces cash; an ordinary account-to-account transfer, such as a payout from a platform, is not expressly mentioned there. If you receive payments in another way, check whether eKasa applies to you as well. From 1 May 2026, a seller subject to the requirement must also offer a cashless payment option for takings above EUR 1, subject to the exceptions set out by law.
DAC7 means reporting of data by the platform, not a new tax or a separate registration for an ordinary host; the host provides the platform with the required data. The limits of 30 transactions and EUR 2,000, known from the sale of goods, are not an exemption for letting property.
A practical sequence: first establish the legal nature of the service and of the provider, then check the tax identification number, the supplier of the commission, VAT registration, the local generally binding regulation and the way payments are received. Keep matching stays with advance payments, commissions and payouts, and monitor turnover for the person as a whole.
An individual’s obligation to file a return depends on total taxable income and the other conditions of section 32, not merely on payouts from a single platform. Where an obligation arises from this income, the return is type B. The ordinary deadline for calendar year 2026 is 31 March 2027, with the possibility of a statutory extension; the tax is also due within the filing deadline. A payment from a foreign platform does not, by itself, make accommodation in Slovakia foreign-source income that would justify the six-month extension.
You can also prepare the type B return yourself on our page Type B income tax return online. If you need more time, you can extend the deadline with a notice of extension of the filing deadline.
The best material for your accountant is a continuous account of each booking: what was supplied, to whom, when, for how much and how the payment reached the provider.
Tell us what services you provide to guests, how much you earn each year and who pays you. We will help you assess whether it is letting or a trade, set up VAT and prepare your tax return.
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