{"id":14410,"date":"2026-09-12T15:08:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consultoriaehero.com\/?p=14410"},"modified":"2026-09-12T19:49:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:49:25","slug":"vat-in-slovakia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consultoriaehero.com\/en\/vat-in-slovakia\/","title":{"rendered":"VAT in Slovakia in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Slovakia, VAT is called da\u0148 z pridanej hodnoty<\/em>, DPH for short. Since 1 January 2025 it has three rates: the standard 23 %<\/strong> rate and two reduced rates, 19 %<\/strong> and 5 %<\/strong>. They are set by \u00a7 27 of Act 222\/2004 Z. z. on VAT. Before that date, the standard rate was 20 % and food was taxed at 10 %; the 5 % rate already existed since 2023, but only for state-supported rental housing. Any table from before 2025 will give you wrong figures.<\/p>\n

And if you sell food, don\u2019t trust the 2025 tables either. On 1 January 2026, Acts 261\/2025 Z. z. and 385\/2025 Z. z. rewrote Annex 7 and moved a lot of products from 19 % to 23 % depending on how much sugar and salt they contain.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rate<\/th>\nPercentage<\/th>\nApplies to<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Standard (z\u00e1kladn\u00e1 sadzba dane)<\/span><\/td>\n23 %<\/strong><\/td>\nEverything not listed in Annexes 7 and 7a of the law: clothing, footwear, electronics, cosmetics, furniture, toys. Also mains water, alcoholic beverages above 0.5 % ABV and, since 1 January 2026, sweets, chocolate, pastries and sweet biscuits, ice cream, jams with added sugar, candied and preserved fruit, prepared nuts, muesli with added sugar, salty snacks and sugary soft drinks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced (zn\u00ed\u017een\u00e1 sadzba dane)<\/span><\/td>\n19 %<\/strong><\/td>\nFood from point 1 of Annex 7 that is not on the short 5 % list and did not move to 23 %: frozen or processed meat and fish, sea fish, cream and cheese, eggs, oils, cereals, meat and vegetable preserves, coffee and tea, salt, vinegar and unsweetened bottled drinking water. Also electricity and the service of non-alcoholic drinks in bars and restaurants<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced (zn\u00ed\u017een\u00e1 sadzba dane)<\/span><\/td>\n5 %<\/strong><\/td>\nShort list in Annex 7: fresh or chilled meat from farm animals, fresh freshwater fish, milk, butter, yogurt, sheep bryndza, honey, potatoes and fresh vegetables, apples and pears, fresh bread, gluten-free flours and doughs, juices with no added sugar or with up to 5 g per 100 ml. And medicines and medical products; books, newspapers, audiobooks and educational maps; accommodation; food served in restaurants; tickets to sports events and gyms; what a registered social enterprise brings to market; state-supported rental housing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Rates verified on 12 September 2026 against the \u201cSadzby dane\u201d page of Finan\u010dn\u00e1 spr\u00e1va, the Slovak Financial Administration (financnasprava.sk<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Since 2026, VAT on food depends on its sugar, salt and gluten<\/h2>\n

On 1 January 2026, Acts 261\/2025 Z. z.<\/strong> and 385\/2025 Z. z.<\/strong> came into force, rewriting point 1 of Annex 7 of the VAT Act. Until then, almost all food was taxed at 19 %. Now a long list of processed products is taxed at 23 %<\/strong>: sweets and candies (code 1704), chocolate and cocoa products (1806), pastries and sweet biscuits (1905 20, 1905 31, 1905 32 and several items under 1905 90), ice cream (2105 00), jams with added sugar or sweetener (2007), candied fruit (2006), prepared or preserved fruit and nuts (2008), cereal preparations such as muesli with added sugar (1904 10 and 1904 20), bagged potato chips (2005 20 20) and sugary soft drinks (2202).<\/p>\n

What is striking is the criterion: the product category no longer decides, its composition does. A juice with no added sugar, or with up to 5 g of added sugar per 100 ml<\/strong>, is taxed at 5 %; with more sugar, at 23 %. A flour or dough without gluten<\/strong> \u2014 up to 20 mg\/kg \u2014 is taxed at 5 %; the same flour with gluten stays at 19 %, but a mixture or dough under 1901 20 00 with gluten intended for 1905 pastries rises to 23 %. Fresh bread is taxed at 5 %, and a fresh bun too, but only if it weighs between 40 and 50 grams<\/strong> or if it contains no gluten. And diet foods on the Slovak Ministry of Health list stay at 19 %<\/strong> even if their code has moved up to 23 %.<\/p>\n

This is not a desk-level subtlety: Finan\u010dn\u00e1 spr\u00e1va itself had to correct on 14 January 2026<\/strong> what it had published about chapter 19 of the tariff \u2014 flours, cereal preparations and pastry \u2014 and on 4 March 2026<\/strong> it issued another note, 2\/DPH\/2026\/IM, about pastry and confectionery products and how to correct VAT on orders that crossed the year-end change. If you sell food to Slovakia, you have to assign the tax rate product by product according to the customs tariff code, not by store category.<\/p>\n

Three details that catch people out. Mains water<\/strong> is taxed at 23 %, while unsweetened bottled drinking water stays at 19 %. Fresh fish is taxed at 5 % only if it is freshwater<\/strong>: salmon and tuna, being sea fish, stay at 19 %. And in a restaurant, three rates sit at the same table: food at 5 %<\/strong>, non-alcoholic drinks at 19 %<\/strong> and alcohol above 0.5 % ABV at 23 %<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Which VAT you charge customers in Slovakia if you sell from another EU country<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.<\/p>\n