On 2 April 2020, the Parliament of the Slovak Republic passed a law on some extraordinary financial measures in connection with the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic. This law includes also parts devoted to taxes, wages, bookkeeping, as well as to the adjustment of many procedural institutes in tax administration.

The law will apply to the entire pandemic period, which means the period from 12 March 2020 until the end of the calendar month in which the government recalls the emergency situation. The vast majority of the new deadlines are extended until the end of the calendar month following the pandemic period.

The most important changes:

• All deadlines for filing income tax returns and paying income taxes are postponed until after the pandemic.

• No penalties will be imposed for not filing an additional income tax return within the stipulated deadline. The time for calculating the fine from such additional income tax return is limited.

• The possibility to transfer 2% of the tax to beneficiaries is extended during the pandemic period, while the beneficiaries will also be able to use the 2% tax to also help to mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic.

• The deadline for reporting the withholding and paying tax of the healthcare provider is extended during the pandemic period.

• Failure to pay an income tax advance will not be penalized by late payment interests.

• Unpaid income tax or VAT that expires during the pandemic period will not be considered a tax arrears.

• Imports of selected goods are exempt from import duties and value added tax.

• Breaches of obligations (e.g. accountancy) and breaches of deadlines under the Accounting Act will not be taken into account in certain circumstances.

• The deadline for filing the tax return and the due date of motor vehicle tax is postponed in selected cases.

• Tax inspections and tax proceedings are interrupted at the taxpayer's request, with the exceptions set out in the Act.

• Tax execution is postponed.

• Introduction of the possibility to make submissions via e-mail for entities that are not obliged to communicate electronically with the tax administrator.

• The service of documents in their own hands will be adapted to the conditions for the delivery of postal items addressed to the postal operator.

• The list of tax debtors is not updated.

• The period for the expiry of the right to levy the tax and the period for the expiry of the right to recover the tax arrears are interrupted.

• The actions and actions required to mitigate the negative consequences of a pandemic will be exempt from administrative charges.

As you can see, the tax office is thus supporting entrepreneurs by not asking payments, nor imposing deadlines on filings, so that they have enough room to concentrate their attention fully on saving their business during the length of the emergency period.

If you need advice on this issue, we will be happy to assist you. Contact us at support.covid19@vgd.eu. For more useful articles and information, visit our website, Facebook and Linked-In.