Plan contractor hiring in Slovakia

Engage a Slovak independent trader under a service agreement or order that defines the work and the agreed fee, then pay against the contractor's invoice. A živnostník operates in their own name and takes responsibility for delivering the service. The contractor also handles their own health and social insurance contributions. The important hiring decision is whether the person can organise that business independently: the Labour Inspectorate distinguishes agreed service specifications from instructions directing how the person performs the work. Set out the deliverables, acceptance conditions and price before work starts, and make sure the manager running the engagement follows the same arrangement.

Sources: National Labour Inspectorate: dependent work from 2026, Trade Licensing Act, sections 2, 3, 19 and 47

If the line is crossed

An arrangement that amounts to dependent work can expose the buyer to employment obligations and an illegal-employment finding. Where Slovak employment law applies, wages and applicable working conditions belong to the employment relationship; choosing another country's law cannot simply remove mandatory protection for someone habitually working in Slovakia. The current illegal-employment fine ranges from €4,000 to €200,000. Social insurance also needs correction: an employer based in another EU member state must register and account for both contribution shares when the worker falls under Slovak social-security legislation. Once the facts point to employment, involve the hiring and payroll owners to address the relationship and affected periods.

Sources: National Labour Inspectorate: dependent work from 2026, National Labour Inspectorate: illegal-employment sanctions, Social Insurance Agency: foreign-employer obligations, Rome I Regulation, articles 3, 4 and 8

Potvrdenie o daňovej rezidencii

Certificate of tax residence

Ask the contractor for a Slovak tax-residence certificate when your tax process needs formal evidence of residence. The contractor requests it from their tax administrator, which issues it to a taxpayer with unlimited Slovak tax liability. Keep the certificate with the contract and the residence details used for the payment review. It answers where the person is tax resident; the supplier's trade authorisation and VAT identification answer different onboarding questions. Requesting this document should follow an actual need in the buyer's tax process, rather than becoming a routine prerequisite for every Slovak invoice.

Issued by: Slovak tax administrator, on the contractor's application

Timing: When residence evidence is needed by the foreign customer

Sources: Income Tax Act, sections 6, 48 and 51g

For an ordinary B2B service supplied to your business establishment abroad, the Slovak invoice generally carries no Slovak VAT because the place of supply follows the customer. Give the contractor evidence of your business status and identify the establishment receiving the service before the invoice is prepared. An EU customer and a non-EU customer can therefore both receive a bill without Slovak VAT, although their registration and recipient-tax consequences differ. Services tied to property and other special categories have their own place rules. A foreign billing address or payment currency alone does not determine the answer, so describe the service accurately when agreeing the tax treatment.

Sources: VAT Act, Financial Administration: service place of supply

What an invoice has to show

• Prenesenie daňovej povinnosti on an EU recipient-taxable invoice

  The Slovak wording identifies reverse charge where the customer is liable for VAT. Check that the invoice uses the supplier's applicable IČ DPH and the customer's VAT identifier for the transaction, alongside the invoice number, dates and service description. A DIČ copied into a VAT field is a different identifier and should come back for correction. The law allows certain tax-calculation details to be omitted on these EU invoices when the taxable amount can be determined from the service description and value. A bill without Slovak VAT still needs to identify the actual recipient and the transaction being taxed.

  Sources: VAT Act

• A cross-border service invoice even from a non-full-payer

  Section 72 also requires a supplier who is not a full VAT payer to issue an invoice for general B2B services supplied in another EU member state or a third country. Do not waive the invoice just because the contractor has no domestic VAT charge. For an EU service, the invoice deadline is 15 days after the end of the month in which the service was supplied; advance payments have the same month-end rule. A completed third-country service follows the general 15-day issuance rule. These are the contractor's invoice deadlines, so put the buyer's payment due date in the agreement separately.

  Sources: VAT Act

Pay the contractor's service invoice on the date agreed in the contract. If Slovak commercial law governs and no different payment term is agreed, default arises after 30 days from the later of invoice delivery or performance, with separate rules where an acceptance inspection applies. Keep evidence of those dates so finance can identify when delay begins. In courts applying Rome I, parties can choose governing law, and service contracts generally default to the service provider's habitual-residence law when no choice is made, subject to exceptions. Check that clause when approving payment terms for the Slovak supplier.

Sources: Commercial Code, Rome I Regulation, articles 3, 4 and 8

When invoices are settled

A Slovak-law commercial service contract generally cannot set payment beyond 60 days from the later of invoice receipt or performance unless a longer term is expressly agreed and is not grossly unfair to the supplier. A separate acceptance inspection affects when the clock starts. Once payment is late, the contractor can claim interest without sending a special reminder. The ordinary rule treats an account payment as completed when the money reaches the creditor's account, unless the parties agree otherwise. Schedule the payment with that completion point in mind and keep the receipt confirmation where the due date is close.

Sources: Commercial Code

The currency on the invoice

Slovak contractors can invoice foreign business customers in a foreign currency. Agree the invoice currency and the currency the contractor will receive so that payment clears the stated debt. The Financial Administration's guidance recognises foreign-currency receivables and their conversion for the contractor's income-tax records. Those euro accounting values can differ from the commercial amount owed, so use the agreed invoice currency when matching payment to the bill. If Slovak VAT is actually payable, the invoice must show the total VAT amount in euros. That tax-display requirement does not by itself require every cross-border service price to be denominated in euros.

Sources: Financial Administration: foreign-currency receivables, VAT Act

Deducting Slovak income tax from an ordinary service invoice

A foreign business with no Slovak establishment does not become a Slovak withholding agent simply by paying a resident independent trader for ordinary services. The foreign-payer rules have specific triggers, including a permanent establishment, particular performance income and qualifying employment activity. Separate the contractor's own business-income tax from those payer rules when configuring the supplier record. Artistic performance, royalties or a relationship that is actually employment need their own analysis, as do any deductions required in your home country. For the ordinary independent service purchase, agree the commercial fee without importing a Slovak employee deduction into the invoice.

Sources: Income Tax Act, sections 6, 48 and 51g

Requiring a cash-register receipt for an invoiced remote service

The contractor does not need to record an invoice payment in eKasa when it is paid from the customer's account to the supplier's account outside the point of sale under the Financial Administration's stated conditions. A demand for a cash-register receipt can therefore hold up a valid business invoice. Keep the invoice and payment record together for reconciliation. For electronic invoices, the current general VAT rules permit an electronic format with the recipient's consent. Agree the receiving format with the contractor and check the document's contents, instead of treating the separate electronic-invoicing rollout as a cash-register requirement.

Sources: Financial Administration: eKasa scope, VAT Act