Forvis Mazars has published the fourteenth edition of its regional tax guide, which presents country-by-country snapshots and comparative charts of the tax systems of 25 Central and Eastern European (CEE) jurisdictions for 2026.
Alongside the core Central European countries - Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland (the so-called Visegrád Group) - the guide covers South-East Europe, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and the Baltic states, with contributions from the Forvis Mazars offices in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan).
Three themes define the 2026 landscape: personal income tax and VAT rates have risen in several countries, reversing the relative stability of prior years; Pillar II compliance is moving from a legislative exercise to an operational reality as the first filing deadlines arrive; and mandatory e-invoicing has become a mainstream compliance requirement across the region's largest economies.
Download the static version of our guide or compare countries within the online tool of Forvis Mazars CEE tax guide 2025.
Slovakia has introduced two new upper personal income tax (PIT) brackets - 30% and 35% - extending the existing 19% and 25% scale. For 2026 the progressive PIT scale is:
A 15% rate applies to natural persons earning entrepreneurial (self-employed) income that does not exceed EUR 100,000 per year. Dividends from profit generated after 1 January 2025 are taxed at 7% (capped by double tax treaty for non-residents) or at 35% for non-cooperative jurisdictions.
Employer social security and health insurance contributions in Slovakia stand at 36.2% of gross salary, while employees pay 14.4%. The guide places Slovakia among the jurisdictions with the highest employer social taxes in the region (Estonia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all sit above 33%).
Measured by the tax wedge, the share of total labour costs that goes to the state in taxes and contributions, Slovakia is a high-burden jurisdiction. At the private-sector average wage, the wedge works out at approximately 45%, well above both the CEE regional average of 37% and the OECD average of roughly 35%, and above the EU member-state average that approaches 42%.
The tax wedge represents the proportion of total labour costs paid to the state as taxes and contributions. It combines personal income tax with the social and health insurance contributions paid by both employers and employees. A higher wedge means employees receive a lower net wage from the total cost of employment, which can affect work incentives, employment levels and competitiveness.
Caps and minimums: social security contributions are capped by a maximum assessment base of EUR 16,764 for 2026, while there is no maximum assessment base for health insurance. The minimum monthly health insurance contribution for an employee is EUR 45.45 in 2026.
Slovakia is among the countries offering meaningful tax relief for families. At the average wage, raising three children reduces the tax wedge by 14.0 percentage points relative to an employee without children. It is one of the larger family effects in the region, behind only Hungary's expanded allowance.
The effect compresses at higher incomes: in progressive systems such as Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia, the absolute tax wedge at twice the average wage with three children still exceeds 43–45%, confirming that family allowances do not fully offset higher marginal rates.
Slovakia's statutory minimum wage rose from EUR 816 to EUR 915, a double-digit increase. The gross average wage in the private sector is EUR 1,569. After tax and contributions, the net minimum wage is EUR 728.89 (79.66% of gross) and the net average wage is EUR 1,182.35 (75.36% of gross). Germany and Austria remain at the top of the regional distribution, with minimum wages of around EUR 2,400.
Slovakia's standard VAT rate is 23%, among the highest in the region. Reduced rates of 5% (selected basic foods, medicines and pharmaceutical products, books, accommodation services) and 19% (electricity, other food, restaurant and catering services) apply. From 2026, the VAT rate on high-sugar and high-salt foods - sweets, confectionery, ice cream, jams, sweetened soft drinks and salty snacks - rises from 19% to 23%.
Registration and reporting: the VAT registration threshold is EUR 50,000 (registration from 1 January of the following year) or EUR 62,500 (immediate registration). VAT returns and payments are due within 25 days of the end of the period, with monthly filing for new payers or those whose prior-year turnover exceeds EUR 100,000. Records must be kept for a minimum of 10 years.
Mandatory e-invoicing: structured e-invoicing becomes mandatory for domestic transactions from 1 January 2027 and for cross-border transactions from 1 July 2030, aligning Slovakia with the region's wider move towards real-time digital compliance.
The general CIT rate is 21%. From the 2025 tax period onwards, taxpayers whose taxable income (revenues) exceeds EUR 5 million pay an increased 24% rate, while small and medium-sized enterprises with taxable income up to EUR 100,000 apply a 10% rate. Slovakia is one of the countries (alongside Poland) that retains a beneficial rate for smaller taxpayers.
Minimum tax ranges from EUR 340 to EUR 3,840, and for tax periods starting from 2026 up to EUR 11,520, depending on taxable income. Tax losses can be carried forward for a maximum of five consecutive tax periods, up to 50% of the tax base. Group taxation is not available.
Withholding tax: 0% on dividends paid to a company resident in a cooperative jurisdiction that is the beneficial owner; 19% on interest and royalties; and 35% on payments to residents of non-cooperative jurisdictions. Slovakia has concluded double tax treaties with 75 jurisdictions.
Slovakia has implemented the EU GloBE Directive (2022/2523) and operates a domestic minimum top-up tax (qualifying as a QDMTT) to ensure a minimum level of taxation for multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic groups. The DAC9 Directive on Pillar II information exchange was transposed effective 1 January 2026. Slovakia also applies exit tax, participation exemption rules, the ATAD I and II measures, and Country-by-Country, DAC6 and DAC7 reporting requirements.
| Country | Standard VAT | CIT rate(s) | Top PIT rate | Employer SSC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slovakia | 23% | 10% / 21% / 24% | up to 35% | 36.2% |
| Czech Republic | 21% | 21% | 23% | 24.8% + 9% |
| Poland | 23% | 9% / 19% | 32% | 21.98% |
| Hungary | 27% | 9% | 15% (flat) | 13% |
| Austria | 20% | 23% | up to 55% | ~29.6% |
| Germany | 19% | ~30% (incl. trade tax) | up to 47.475% | 21.15% |
If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your business, the Forvis Mazars tax team in Slovakia is available to help. Download the static version of the guide or explore the interactive Forvis Mazars CEE tax guide 2026 tool to compare jurisdictions and tax parameters.
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