Indirect tax - Slovenia

Value Added Tax (VAT) is the main type of indirect taxation in Slovenia and in other European Union (EU) countries. 

VAT is categorized as tax on consumption which is applied during the whole production and distribution process to most goods and services. Goods and services are taxed only to the value that was added during one particular phase which means that VAT for all previous phases was already deducted. One of the essential characteristics of VAT is to ensure neutrality between taxpayers as it avoids double taxation. 

A business registered for the tax will charge VAT (output tax) on its sales, and incur VAT (input tax) on its purchases (including any VAT paid at importation). The difference between the output tax and the deductible input tax in each accounting period will be the amount of VAT payable by the business to the tax authority. Where the input tax exceeds the output tax, a refund can be claimed. 

A transaction is within the scope of Slovenian VAT if the following conditions are met: 

• the supply of goods and services, done in the scope of taxpayers’ economic activities on the territory of Slovenia 
• acquisition of the goods within the EU 
• import of goods. 

There are three rates of VAT that are applied to goods and services in Slovenia: the standard rate (22%), the reduced rate (9.5%) and the super-reduced rate (5%). In addition, some goods and services are exempted from the tax. 

Businesses that make exempt supplies are unable to claim all of the input tax that they incur, so the VAT paid to suppliers will be a ‘real’ cost. 

Goods imported into Slovenia from outside the EU are subject to VAT. The tax will have to be paid by the importer at the time of importation or, under certain conditions, through monthly VAT returns with reverse charge mechanism. Where the importation is for business purposes and the importer is registered for VAT, it may be possible to reclaim the tax (subject to certain rules). 

A domestic taxable person who either makes or intends to make taxable supply of goods or services, which exceed €60,000 (€7,500 for agricultural activities) turnover in the period of twelve months, must register for VAT in Slovenia. 

Small businesses can register on a voluntary basis even if the registration limit has not been exceeded, this registration is valid in current calander year (year of registration) and in the following calander year. Foreign taxable person who makes supply to Slovenia is obliged to register for VAT in Slovenia prior to commencing any taxable activities in Slovenia, regardless of the fact that it may not exceed the prescribed turnover limit. 

For these purposes, a taxable person is any kind of legal entity (body) which meets the following requirements: 

• they are carrying out one or more economic making activities; 
• these activities are done independently; and 
• the purpose of activity is to gain long-term revenue if the activity includes capital utilization. 

Therefore, once a person is registered for VAT, all of his business activities will be covered by the registration – even if the nature of some of those activities is very different. 

A penalty may be imposed by the Tax authority if a business fails to register for VAT at the correct time. 

The VAT registration limit does not apply to businesses that are not established in Slovenia. Those businesses will need to register for VAT before they commence performing taxable transactions in Slovenia, irrespective of the level of turnover. Different registration requirements apply to businesses involved with B2C sales, e.g. online sales of goods and provision of electronic services (limit €10,000 or OSS scheme). 

B2C supplies of telecommunications, radio and television broadcasting services, and/or electronically supplied services to customers in Slovenia are subject to Slovenian VAT (place of taxation is in Slovenia) if the threshold of EUR 10,000 of turnover with regard to services rendered to Slovene customers in the current and also previous calendar year is surpassed.  

Nevertheless, from 1 July 2021 onwards, suppliers from other EU Member States and third countries and territories may opt-in to use EU and non-EU special schemes, respectively, to report provision of such services to Slovene customers, as Slovenia is fully aligned with European legislation. 

For EU businesses registered for VAT in Slovenia no fiscal representative required. Non EU-businesses are required to appoint a fiscal representative.

The default tax return period in Slovenia is one calendar month. Businesses with previous years’ turnover of less than €210,000 per year may file quarterly returns. Regardless of the turnover businesses which carry out any intra-community transactions must submit a monthly return. Non-resident taxable persons and newly registered businesses must submit monthly returns.

For businesses that are identified for VAT purposes in Solvenia, as of 1 July 2025, the obligation to maintain two records within their accounting system and submit these records among with VAT return to the tax authority is introduced, namely:

• Record of charged VAT, and
• Record of VAT deduction.

Taxable persons must submit the record of charged VAT and the record of VAT deduction to the tax authoriy in electronic from via electronic means for tax periods starting from 1 July 2025 onwards.

No, if the return has been submitted before the tax office has started a tax inspection. 

Businesses that are registered for VAT in Slovenia and make supplies of goods or services to traders registered for the tax in other EU countries are required to complete and submit EC Sales Lists (RP form). The RP must show details of the recipients of the goods and services and is submitted on a monthly basis.

Generally, RP’s are only submitted for months in which there were supplies made to other EU countries, i.e. nil supplies do not have to be reported.

In addition, if the value of the intra-EU trade in goods dispatched or arriving from other EU is above an annual threshold, a supplementary declaration (referred to as an Intrastat declaration) has to be submitted for either or both. These declarations have to be submitted on a monthly basis.

Further to this, special report on local sales subject to reverse charge under Article 76.a of Slovene VAT Act needs to be submitted for construction work including repair, cleaning, maintenance, alteration and demolition services in relation to immovable property; supply of staff involved in the performance of construction work; supply of buildings or parts thereof, and of the land on which they stand, unless the supply is performed before the buildings or parts thereof are first occupied or used or if the supply is performed prior to the expiry of the two-year period from the commencement of the first use or first occupation and supply of land other than building land; supply of waste, residues and used material and services related thereto; and transfer of greenhouse gas emission rights as defined by the Act governing protection of the environment.

The special report must show details of the recipients of the goods and services and is submitted on a monthly basis. Generally, those special reports are only submitted for months in which such supplies were performed, i.e. nil supplies do not have to be reported.

Yes. A range of penalties can be imposed where businesses do not comply with the VAT rules.

Penalties and interest can be applied for errors and omissions made on tax returns, or where the tax is paid late. Penalties can also be applied where the business has failed to maintain adequate records, provide information (including additional declarations), or makes repeated mistakes.

Criminal proceedings may be brought in the case of more serious matters.

Yes, it may be possible to reclaim the VAT incurred in certain circumstances.

Two schemes exist, one for businesses established in the EU and another for businesses established elsewhere.

The EU cross border refund scheme is available in all EU Member States, and enables a business established in an EU country to recover VAT incurred in another Member State. To be eligible to make a claim, the claimant must be a taxable person established in an EU Member State other than the one from which the claim is to be sought. In addition, the claimant:

• must not be registered, liable, or eligible to be registered in the Member State from which the claimant is claiming the refund
• must have no fixed establishment, seat of economic activity, place of business or other residence there
• during the refund period he must not have supplied any goods or services in the Member State of refund, apart from certain limited exceptions.

The amount that is refundable is determined by the deduction rules that apply in the country making the refund. The claim is submitted electronically to the Tax authority from whom the repayment is being sought.

The refund period must not cover more than one calendar year or less than three calendar months – unless it is covering the remainder of a calendar year. The claim has to be made by 30 September of the year following that in which the VAT was incurred.

Businesses established outside of the EU can, subject to certain conditions, also reclaim the VAT incurred on imports into Slovenia or purchases of goods and services used in Slovenia. The scheme is available to any person carrying on a business established in a third country ie outside the EU, provided that in the period of the claim:

• they were not established in Slovenia, ie no seat or permanent establishment in Slovenia; no residence nor habitual abode in Slovenia in cases where there is no seat or permanent establishment in Slovenia
• they made no supplies of goods and services in Slovenia other than certain specified exceptions
• where they are established in a third country having a comparable system of turnover taxes, unless the Slovenian tax authority allows otherwise, that country provides reciprocal arrangements for refunds to be made to taxable persons established in Slovenia.

The deadline for the submission of VAT refund request for businesses from third countries is 30 June in the year following the year to which the VAT refund request relates.

The deadline for the submission of VAT refund request for businesses from other EU countries is 30 September in the year following the year to which the VAT refund request relates. In this case the VAT refund request is submitted electronically via the VAT refund portal.

A VAT invoice must show:

• the date of invoice
• a unique, sequential number which identifies the invoice
• the VAT identification number under which the taxable person supplied the goods or services
• the customer’s VAT identification number under which the customer received a supply of goods or services in respect of which he/she is liable for payment of VAT, or received a supply of goods or services as referred to in Article 46 of ZDDV-1
• name and address of the taxable person and its customer or client
• quantity and nature of supplied goods or the extent and nature of the services rendered
• the date on which the supply of goods or services was made or completed or the date on which the payment on account was made if that date is known and is different from the invoice date
• the taxable amount, the unit price exclusive of VAT, and any discounts and rebates if they are not included in the unit price
• the applied VAT rate
• the amount of VAT
• the total value of the invoice/the total amount payable, excluding VAT
• the ‘self-invoicing’ indication if the invoice is issued by the buyer of goods or services or on behalf of and for the account of the taxable person
• in the case of a VAT exemption, a reference to the valid provision of Council Directive 2006/112/EC or the appropriate article of this Act or other reference pointing to the fact that the supply of goods or services is exempt from VAT
• if a VAT payer is the buyer of goods or services, the ‘reverse charge’ indication
• details to support zero VAT – export, reverse charge or intra- community supply
• a description sufficient to identify the goods or services supplied to the customer
• the rate of any cash discount
• the customer’s name and address.

VAT invoices can be issued, received and stored in electronic format and there is no need to tell the tax authority. Electronic invoices must contain the same information as paper invoices. The method used to ensure the authenticity of origin, the integrity of content and legibility of the invoices is a business choice and can be achieved by any business controls which create a reliable audit trail between an invoice and a supply of goods or services.

Currently, Slovenia does not require SAF-T reporting.

However, significant electronic VAT reporting requirements will be introduced in 2027.

New Reuirement: Mandatory VAT Ledger Submission (From 1 July 2025):

• All VAT- registered businesses in Slovenia will be required to submit detailed VAT ledgers alongside their VAT returns.
• These ledgers must include transaction-level data for both sales and purchases.
• Submission format: Businesses must file their Vat ledgers electronically in structured formats susch as XML, JSON,or CSV.
• First reporting period: July 2025, with submissions due in August 2025.

While real-time VAT reporting (similar to SAF-T) is not yet mandatory in Slovenia, businesses should prepare for increased digital tax compliance requirements, including future mandatory B2B e-invoicing from 2027.