Overview of legislative changes effective from 1 July 2023

Increase in the basic allowance for each 1 km driven from 1 July 2023

Measure of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No. 247/2023 Coll. of 27 June 2023 changes the amounts of the basic allowance for the use of road motor vehicles on business trips with effect from 1 July 2023.

The amount of the basic allowance for each 1 km driven for:

a) single-track vehicles and three-wheelers is €0.071,

b) passenger road motor vehicles is €0.252.

The amounts are rounded up to three decimal places under Section 8(2) of the Travel Allowances Act.

As stated in the explanatory memorandum to the measure, employees will be entitled to the increased basic allowance amounts from the first day of the calendar month following the calendar month in which these amounts are published in the Collection of Laws of the Slovak Republic – i.e. from 1 July 2023.

At the same time, Measure of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No. 88/2023 Coll. on the amounts of the basic allowance for the use of road motor vehicles on business trips, which set the basic allowance amounts from 1 April 2023, was repealed.

Subsistence minimum from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024

Under Act No. 601/2003 Coll. on the Subsistence Minimum, the subsistence minimum amounts are always adjusted as at 1 July of the current calendar year. The adjustment is made by multiplying the subsistence minimum amounts valid on 30 June of the current calendar year by the coefficient of growth in the living costs of low-income households determined by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic for the reference period. The reference period is the period from April of the previous calendar year to April of the current calendar year. The resulting amounts are rounded up to the nearest euro cent.

Measure of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic No. 220/2023 Coll. of 14 June 2023 adjusts the subsistence minimum amounts with effect from 1 July 2023 as follows:

a) €268.88 a month for one adult individual,

b) €187.57 a month for each additional jointly assessed adult individual,

c) €122.77 a month for

1. a minor child who is not a dependant,

2. a dependent child.

New limit for cash payments

The amending Act No. 211/2023 Coll. amends Act No. 394/2012 Coll. on the Limitation of Cash Payments. Until 30 June 2023, cash payments between entrepreneurs (both legal entities and individuals) exceeding €5,000 were prohibited, as were cash payments between individuals who are not entrepreneurs exceeding €15,000. From 1 July 2023, any cash payment exceeding €15,000 is prohibited. This applies to individuals – both entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs – as well as to legal entities.

Amendment to the Social Insurance Act – change in how days are counted towards entitlement to maternity leave

The amendment to the Social Insurance Act, which came into force on 1 July 2023, brings changes to the required period of sickness insurance for mothers claiming maternity benefit, a sickness insurance benefit. These changes make it possible to count an unfinished period of sickness insurance towards the required period of sickness insurance as well. This means that, in addition to the current sickness insurance on the basis of which entitlement to maternity benefit will be assessed, the Social Insurance Agency (Sociálna poisťovňa) will also take into account all completed and current periods of other sickness insurance (both compulsory and voluntary insurance) when calculating the required insurance period. These changes will apply to cases where entitlement to maternity benefit arises from the date the amendment takes effect, i.e. from 1 July 2023, and will not have retroactive effect. A period of voluntary insurance will still count towards the required insurance period for entitlement to maternity benefit. The changes in the amendment do not affect the other conditions of entitlement to maternity benefit or the procedures for claiming it.

New VAT control statement

From 1 July, a new version of the value added tax control statement (KV DPH), labelled KVDPHv23, is available. The reason for it was the introduction of a reduced VAT rate of 5% of the tax base, which is intended to help improve conditions for building state-supported rental housing with regulated rents and a guarantee of long-term housing. For the tax period of June 2023, or the second quarter of 2023, the control statement valid until 30 June 2023, labelled KVDPHv21, will be filed, including any supplementary control statements filed for tax periods ending no later than 30 June 2023.

New minimum pension amounts

Act No. 71/2023 Coll. amended Act No. 461/2003 Coll. on Social Insurance. With effect from 1 July 2023, new minimum pension amounts have been set. The minimum pension amounts will once again be linked to the subsistence minimum amount, and the way this amount is determined will also change.

The basic amount of the minimum pension for 30 years of pension insurance that count for minimum pension purposes is 136% of the subsistence minimum for one adult individual. The minimum pension amount is further increased by

– 2% for the 31st to 39th year,

– 3% for the 40th to 49th year,

– 5% for the 50th to 59th year,

– 7% for the 60th and each further year of pension insurance acquired that counts towards the minimum pension.

The amounts will be recalculated automatically, and the Social Insurance Agency will pay pensioners their minimum pensions in the increased amount in August, together with the back payment for July 2023.