LATEST ARTICLES

Starting business in the field of healthcare services

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If you decided to start a business in the field of healthcare services, you should have known that your business will be liable to strict standards, since the subject thereof is provision of services in the field of public interest – health of citizens. However, even if you succeed in obtaining the licence, it could still be not enough unless you have concluded a contract with an insurance company – otherwise your only option will be to collect direct payments from your patients. Not speaking of the fact that you as a provider are obliged to perform many duties even after obtaining the licence and concluding contracts with insurance companies. Specification of the duties can be found in a transparent handbook prepared for you in cooperation with the Business Sector Monitoring department.

Healthcare services in Slovakia are arranged in Act No. 578/2004 Coll. on Healthcare Providers, Healthcare Professionals, Professional Healthcare Organizations and on the Amendment and Supplementation of Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as “Act on Healthcare Providers”). In principle, healthcare can be provided both by natural and legal persons in two ways, i.e. either

  • by running one’s individual healthcare practice (only natural persons) or
  • by running one’s own healthcare facility (natural and legal persons).

Individual healthcare practice

The individual healthcare practice may be performed by healthcare professionals in the following occupations:

  • Physician and dentist
  • Nurse
  • Midwife
  • Physiotherapist
  • Curative pedagogue
  • Speech therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Massage therapist

Conditions for obtaining the licence for running one’s individual healthcare practice

Running one’s own healthcare facility

The second option of providing healthcare services is to run a healthcare facility. Healthcare facilities may only be operated upon a licence to be issued for the following types of healthcare facilities:

  1. Outpatient healthcare – e.g. general and specialized outpatient departments such as surgery, orthopaedics, gastroenterology, but also acupuncture, consulting psychology, etc.
  2. Institutional healthcare – such as general and specialized hospitals, sanatoriums, hospices, spa treatment, etc.
  3. Pharmaceutical healthcare – activities of these facilities are arranged by a special regulation, Act No. 362/2011 Coll. on Medicinal Products and Medical Devices and on Amendment and Supplementation of Certain Acts.

Conditions for obtaining a licence for running one’s own healthcare facility

Contracts of outpatient healthcare providers with health insurance companies

Payment mechanism for outpatient healthcare providers

Running accommodation facilities

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After you finalized your vision or business plan, found a place for your business, and decided the name of your business, you should get familiar with respective regulations and duties that surely wait for you as the operator of an accommodation facility. What should you not forget, what are your duties and what differences are in the field of accommodation services? You can learn this in a handbook prepared for you in cooperation with the Business Sector Monitoring department.

Accommodation facilities and prerequisites for their operation

Start up a small business

Act No. 455/1991 Coll. on Trade Licensing (hereinafter referred to as Trade Licensing Act) is the basic regulation arranging operation of any small business. In accordance with this Act, there are three types of trades recognized there and two of them – licensed and free trades – are interesting for us from the aspect of accommodation facilities.

Free trades are those trades, when one decides to run a business in the field of accommodation services without hospitality services or in the field of accommodation services with preparing and selling meals, drinks, and semi-products to the guests accommodated in accommodation facilities with capacity of up to 10 beds.

Licensed trades are relating to two categories of accommodation facilities only:

  1. accommodation services in accommodation facilities with hospitality services provided, and
  2. accommodation services in cottage areas, class 3, or in camp sites, classes 3 & 4.

How to obtain a trade licence

Operator’s duties

Under Section 21 (2) of Act No. 355/2007 Coll. on Protection, Support and Development of Public Health, and on Amendment and Supplementation of Certain Acts, accommodation facilities should meet requirements for internal environment, layout, functional arrangement, equipment and for the operation of accommodation facilities prescribed by the executive regulation. The executive regulation is Regulation of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic No. 259/2008 Coll. on Details of Requirements for the Internal Environment of Buildings and on Minimum Requirements for Apartments of Lower Standard and Accommodation Facilities, which contains specific requirements for the room equipment, lighting, cleaning of accommodation facilities, and other appurtenances to be followed.

Taxes and levies at the operation of accommodation facilities

Use of e-kasa client cash registers

Renting a real estate versus entrepreneurship in relation to the trends in the field of accommodation

Termination of business

If you are going to terminate your trade licence, you have two options just like when you started it. You can make it personally at the point of a single contact within the district office you belong to upon your permanent address or registered office (legal persons) or electronically using the form Notice of Termination of Business to be found in the Services Locator under the point of a single contact – Trade Register Services within the district office you belong to upon your permanent address or registered office. Under Article 57 (1), item g) of Trade Licensing Act, the trade authorization shall expire on the day specified in the Notice of Termination of Business or, under paragraph 3 thereof, if in the notice pursuant to paragraph 1 (g) no later date is stipulated, then the trade authorization shall expire as of the day following the day when the notice of termination of business is served upon appropriate Trades Licensing Office.

Sports professionals making business

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Would you like to work as a personal trainer or instructor of group exercises? Several important changes occurred to the Sports Act within the last two years. How have they affected entrepreneurship of trainers and instructors of group exercises – lately called sports professionals? In cooperation with the Business Sector Monitoring department, we have prepared a transparent handbook for you about entrepreneurship of sports professionals to be found on their web page.

1. Who does belong among sports professionals?

A relatively new term, which has covered occupations belonging formerly under the trade licence for performing specialized activities in the field of physical culture within the last two years and which is specified in Section 6 of Sports Act as follows:

  • sports trainers and instructors
  • natural persons performing professional activities in sports upon the professional competence obtained in accordance with special regulations or defined upon regulations of a sports association
  • natural persons performing professional activities in sports, for which professional competence is not required in compliance with competition rules and regulations of a sports association
  • inspectors or officers of a sports organization
  • doping control officers

If you found yourself in any of this occupations, Section 6 (3) of Sports Act would have arranged several possibilities of how to perform them:

  • as an enterprise
  • upon a contract for performing activities of sports professionals
  • upon an employment or similar relation
  • as a voluntary worker (upon a contract for a voluntary work, when compensation for the time spent by such voluntary worker in the maximum sum of the minimum hourly rate is not wage but other income relieved of income tax in the total sum of EUR 500 for the whole tax period, i.e. one year)
  • without any contract (i.e. without claiming any compensation)

Legal framework for entrepreneurship of sports professionals

Institutional framework for entrepreneurship of sports professionals

Licence to perform activities of sports professionals as a business

If you meet requirements of the definition of a sports professional, still you may not start your sports business unless you have obtained a licence; to obtain it, you have to fill up:

  1. the application for registration in the list of sports professionals in the form of an electronic form and to submit other documents (certificate of professional competence – such as a photocopy of your diploma + statutory declaration of impeccability). A detailed procedure of how to fill up the electronic form can be found on the Ministry’s web page www.ziadosti-sport.iedu.sk.
  2. the application for registration of your business licence – i.e. submitting the data under Section 6 (4) of Sports Act. The application for registration of your business licence may also be filed through the district office acting as the point of single contact or sent to the respective address of the Ministry. A detailed procedure of how to fill up the Excel form can be found at the Ministry’s website.

Proving of professional competence

Duties of sports professionals running sports businesses against the tax office and insurance companies

Suspensions and terminations of businesses run by sports professionals

Founding an e-shop – commercial and warranty terms and conditions and protection of privacy

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 If you decided to start business in the on-line world and to enable your clients to buy your products/services via the internet, we would have been prepared a transparent handbook for you in cooperation with the Business Sector Monitoring department, which contains three basic legal appurtenances to be met in relation to your clients.

1. Commercial terms and conditions

Duly elaborated commercial terms and conditions complying with applicable regulations shall be published on your website. By means of the commercial terms and conditions, you will meet several information duties against consumers imposed on you as the e-shop operator by the law. If you fail to meet the information duties or if your commercial terms and conditions contain inaccurate or unreasonable provisions, you will be at risk of being penalized by the Slovak Commercial Inspection.

What should you avoid in your commercial terms and conditions?

2. Warranty terms and conditions

Warranty terms and conditions represent another obligatory appurtenance to be met, when operating e-shops. Conditions stated therein shall not exceed legal requirements and limit buyers’ rights. Warranty-related rules can be arranged in detail in separate warranty terms and conditions or can be included in your commercial terms and conditions.

What information must consumers be able to find in warranty terms and conditions?

3. Protection of privacy

When starting your e-shop, you should not forget the last condition, i.e. protection of privacy.  The declaration of protection of personal data should be published on your website. Not the literal wording, but contents of such declaration – how do you handle personal data of clients, what other parties (such as carriers for purposes of transporting the goods to clients) are they available for, and how will you handle them at their disposal – are specified by the law. The information shall be provided in a brief, transparent, comprehensible, and easily accessible form and it shall be formulated in a clear and simple manner.

Personal data processing principles

Holiday vouchers starting with as many as one employee

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One of the most relevant legal news of this year was brought by the amendment to Act No. 311/2001 Coll. Labour Code as amended or Act No. 91/2010 Coll. on Promotion of Tourism, which is based on the employer’s duty to provide its employee, whose uninterrupted employment at such employer is longer than or equal to 24 months, a holiday contribution to be used in the territory of Slovakia. Under the currently applicable and effective act, the employers employing more than 49 employees have such duty (upon the opinion of the Slovak Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, duly employed employees are taking into account only, i.e. the so-called agreement workers are not taken into account for specification of the relevant number of employees).

In terms of the current legal arrangement, entrepreneurs will think thoroughly about employing the fiftieth worker, since quite high financial costs may occur to them in later periods, whereas the number of employees is assessed as the average recorded number of employees for the previous calendar year.

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

The sum of employer’s contribution to the employee’s holidays

Under the law, employers are obliged to contribute to their employees’ holidays in the sum of 55% of respective costs, but not more than EUR 275 for the calendar year. Indeed, full-time employees will receive the maximum sum only. Employers shall contribute to half-time employees’ holidays in the maximum sum of EUR 137.50 per calendar year.

Under the new regulation, the aforementioned duty should be applicable to all employers, i.e. also to at least 142,000 micro and small enterprises that were exempted from such duty under the act saying that the limiting number of employees is 49 and more; such enterprises thus could, but were not obliged to provide their employees holiday contributions. Upon the data of the Register of Organizations, there are 723,496 employees employed in micro and small enterprises including natural persons – entrepreneurs.

As resulting from the survey performed by Profesia, s. r. o. on the sample of 10,450 Slovak citizens at the beginning of 2018, 46.10% of respondents are employed at their employers for longer than 24 months. Although representativeness of the sample was not verified, we can use this per cent value for our purposes due to the lack of official data as the estimate of real share of working people employed at their employers for longer than 24 months. The estimated number of employees entitled to holiday contributions thus represents approximately 333,532 persons.

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Minimum costs in the sum of up to EUR 89.1 million

As also resulting from the data of the Statistical Office of the SR for the last quarter of 2018, 94.34% of all employed persons in Slovakia are full-time employees. Upon the aforementioned assumptions, we estimate that the total number of full-time employees employed at the same employer for longer than 24 months is 314,653. Estimated costs of employers from categories of micro and small enterprises for full-time employees are EUR 86,529,575. For purposes of our calculation, we suppose that the remaining 5.66% are half-time employees representing 18,877 employees in total. Estimated costs of employers for half-time employees represent EUR 2,595,588. Overall estimated costs of employers from categories of micro and small enterprises for all employees are EUR 89,125,163.

10 most important changes bringing entrepreneurs savings from 2019

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Based on the daily monitoring of legislation, the Better Regulation Center have selected 10 most important changes with potential of bringing entrepreneurs savings in 2019.

1. No submission of disclosures of criminal records even more

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Starting with 2019, the duty of submitting disclosures of criminal records to public authorities for proving one’s impeccability is cancelled. This change is based on a general clause in E-Government Act, under which it would be unnecessary to prove some facts to the public authorities, if such authorities would have been able to check those facts through information systems of public administration or if they are aware of the facts from their activities.

2. Reduction of VAT rate for accommodation services from 20 % to 10 %

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

The reduction of VAT rate to 10% for every type of accommodation service is particularly aimed at the supposed increase of the demand for accommodation services in the territory of Slovakia and the associated development of tourism.

Accommodation services include:

a) hotels and similar accommodation services,
b) hiking and other short-term accommodation services,
c) operation of recreational and holiday camps
d) other accommodation services (accommodation services in halls of residence, services in the rooms or accommodation units in hostels for workers, and others).

3. Increasing motivation of small employers to enter the dual education system

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

In order to make the dual education more attractive, a contribution for employers to compensate a part of their costs for implementation of the dual education shall be implemented in the sum of EUR 300 or 700 per student for large enterprises and up to EUR 1,000 per student for small and medium-sized enterprises for each student with the learning contract concluded in the year when practical education started to be provided.

As for the employers, the administrative burden has been significantly reduced by removing deadlines for submitting applications for verification of competence, replacing the documents to be submitted by statutory declarations as well as removing the duty of passing another verification of competence due to the increased number of students in the system of dual education.

At the same time, the share of practical education performed at another employer has increased; SMEs, which have no own capacities for meeting material, technical, spatial, and personnel requirements for performing practical education, will benefit from this in particular. Model education plans and curricula are deleted from the act and replaced by school education programmes to be elaborated in cooperation between secondary vocational schools and employers.

4. Cancelling the duty of paying security for VAT

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

It is not only that the duty of entrepreneurs to pay security for the tax has been cancelled but all the decisions regarding payments of securities for the tax issued before 31 December 2018, at which 12 months from the day of paying such security had not yet expired have been cancelled as well. The tax office shall pay financial securities, or their parts paid in cash back to the entities no later than by 28 February 2019 unless such security was used to compensate tax arrears or such arrears exist.

5. Lower tax rate on fuels

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

With the effective date until the end of 2019, the basic tax rate on fuels will be reduced as follows: petrol from the original sum of € 554/1,000 litres to the sum of € 547/1,000 litres and diesel from the original sum of € 394/1,000 litres to € 393/1,000 litres; then the value will be increased back to the value circa of the end of 2018.

6. One step ahead in computerization and debureaucratization of the Land Registry

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

There was a service of change monitoring started within the portal of the Land Registry, which informs the users automatically on every change to the monitored real estate occurred in the Land Registry. For example, the portal will notify you of changes to the seal identification, to entries and records performed, and to the notes recorded. A new output is available too – the list of real estates created to provide the owners or other persons entitled upon their rights to the real estates an overview of all real estates owned or managed by the given person.

7. Less complicated process of employing foreigners from third countries

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Employing persons from third countries (i.e. from countries beyond EU, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland) on the Slovak labour market will be facilitated in the form of temporary assignments through employment agencies under the condition that they run their business at least three years.

Employers will only be allowed to use this option for the events of temporary assignments for jobs listed in the list of jobs suffering from the lack of labour force in the districts with the registered unemployment rate lower than 5%.

The list of jobs suffering from the lack of labour force in such districts shall be updated on the website of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the SR not only once a year as before, but once every quarter. The employees assigned from among foreigners from third countries will be included in the total number of employees that can be employed using the so-called fast-tracked procedure for labour shortage (not more than 30% of the total number of employees).

At the same time, the course of proceedings regarding residence of foreigners from third countries will be simplified, e.g. in the form of shortening deadlines for the assessment of applications for granting temporary residences for employment purposes from 90 to 30 days for labour shortage jobs or for employees of technological centres.

8. No duplicate payments of VAT ever more

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

The existing duplicate payments of VAT in some situations pointed out also by the podnikajte.sk portal using the absurd example of tea bought to the office have been cancelled. This applies to some exactly defined goods in retail stores such as agricultural crop and products made of iron and steel, when their buyers had to pay VAT twice.

9. Better conditions in the taxi service business

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Changes to the taxi service business from 1 April 2019 respond to unequal conditions for the so-called licensed taxi drivers and drivers providing services for clients through mobile applications. Conditions for conventional taxi drivers have thus been simplified, but, at the same time, the adherence thereto will be monitored in a stricter manner.

Taxi service operators still need licences (they can get one for ten years after documenting their impeccability) and their cars shall be marked as taxi service to be controllable.

However, professional competence, financial reliability, as well as additional insurance are not required anymore. Neither the age of the driver (originally 21 years, now the driving licence is enough) nor the age of the vehicle shall be determined anymore; the vehicle can be either owned by the driver or the driver can have documented the right for its use. Taximeters will not be mandatory in taxis, if the transport price is agreed in advance.

10. Making the operation of massage and wellness centres or sports facilities less complicated

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Starting with February 2019, regulation of entrepreneurs operating human body care facilities (such as massage saloons, wellness, and so on) or physical education and sports facilities has been reduced and administrative burden processes have been simplified.

As for the first type, the human body care facilities, requirements regarding lighting systems, compartments for clients’ shoes, location of showers in saunas, and minimum frequency of basic repairs of all paints and painting in human body care facilities have been reduced. The requirement of providing showers in massage saloons and floor space for employees and waiting rooms in saunas has been cancelled as a whole.

As for the second type, the physical education and sports facilities, the requirements for lighting systems have been reduced as well and the requirement of providing a sufficient number of rooms with washbasins for cleaners and of using ceramic walls in shower rooms and toilets only has been cancelled as a whole.

10 most important changes increasing costs of entrepreneurs from 2019

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Based on the daily monitoring of legislation, the Better Regulation Center have selected 10 most important changes that would increase costs of entrepreneurs from 2019.

1. Increasing the sum of the minimum wage from current EUR 480 to EUR 520

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Whereas the current minimum wage is EUR 480, it will be   increased by EUR 40 to EUR 520 in 2019. The hourly rate of the minimum wage, which has been increased by EUR 0.23, i.e. from the current sum of EUR 2.759 to EUR 2.989, is important too even from the aspect of the minimum wage for particular levels of work difficulty, when the rate is to be multiplied by a respective coefficient.

If an employee applies a deductible item for the health insurance and the tax allowance, the net wage will increase from the current sum of EUR 403.18 to EUR 430.35, i.e. the increase is EUR 27.17. The statutory minimum wage is also applicable for agreement workers; statutory representatives receiving minimum wages for their work in the companies as well as employers employing persons who have currently not received the minimum wage but the wage within the range from the current to the planned minimum wages (i.e. within the range from EUR 480 to EUR 520) should be careful too, since such wages will have to be revised too.

In accordance with the SME Test elaborated in cooperation with the Slovak Ministry of Labour, costs of SMEs relating to the increased minimum wage will be up to EUR 51.1 million.

2. The second phase of increasing extra pays for works of employees in the night and in the weekends

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

With regard of the increase of the minimum wage relating to extra pays for works in the night and in the weekends, costs of entrepreneurs from 1 May 2019 will be even higher than those caused by the changes from 1 May 2018.

Now they will pay 50 % of the minimum hourly rate for every hour of the night work for risky employees (categories 3 & 4) (this is the last year when they pay 30 % of the minimum hourly rate); as for the so-called general employees (whose work has to be performed in the night as well – i.e. food and automotive industries), 40 % of the minimum hourly rate will be paid (35 %, if the derogation clause is applied, and this is the last year when 30 % of the minimum hourly rate is paid).

Along with the wage earned, employees will be entitled to extra pays in the sum of at least 50 % of the minimum hourly rate for works performed on Saturdays (this is the last year when 25 % of the minimum hourly rate is paid) and at least 100 % of the minimum hourly rate for works performed on Sundays (this is the last year when 50 % of the minimum hourly rate is paid).

The extra pay in the sum of 100 % of the employee’s average hourly rate for works performed on public holidays as applicable from 1 May 2018 will not be changed.

3. Special levy for retail chains in the sum of 2,5 % of net sales

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Finally, a special levy in the sum of 2.5 % of net sales for the period of three consecutive calendar months will be paid by the retail chain:

  • in which at least 25 % of the net sales are produced by selling food to final consumers,
  • the operations of which are located in at least 15 % of all districts and the operations have similar design, common communication, and common marketing activities.

The exemption from paying the levy is applicable to SMEs in general as well as to company shops provided that the producer and the seller are the same person and to retail shops selling the only food line-up. Retail chains are obliged to submit written notifications regarding the sum of the levy to the tax office no later than by the end of the month following the period defined and to pay the levy by the same deadline.

If an entrepreneur fails to meet the duty, he/she may be liable to a penalty in the sum of 0.2 % of the sum of the last known operational and financial revenues for the previous accounting period (if the notification is not submitted) or 10 % of the unpaid sum, if the sum defined is not paid.

4. Mandatory employer´s contribution to the employee´s holidays in the territory of Slovakia

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

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A new mandatory extra pay provided by employers to employees in the form of a contribution to holidays has been established. It is applicable to employers with more than 49 employees (i.e. micro and small enterprises are exempted from the obligation) that are obliged to contribute to holidays of their employees in the territory of Slovakia in the sum of 55 % of the costs for such holidays, but not more than EUR 275 per calendar year.

The sum decided by the employer as the contribution for holidays includes neither the income tax nor mandatory payments both on the side of employer and employee. The employees employed by the employers longer than 24 months without any interruption will be allowed to ask for the contribution for holidays.

Employees will document eligible costs to their employers no later than by 30 days from the end of the holidays via submitting accounting documents and employers will provide their employees the contribution for holidays by the nearest payment date.

5. Extending the direct electronic connection between cash registers and financial administration

 

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

A mandatory on-line connection between cash registers and the central database of the financial administration has been established. In practice, it means that the financial administration will be informed of every purchase/transaction immediately, since every receipt issued will be registered in the eKasa central storage place.

The entrepreneurs that have currently used electronic cash registers for recording their sales might start to use eKasa from 1 April 2019, but the entrepreneurs that are obliged to record their sales on 1 April 2019 for the first time shall use eKasa from this date. And from 1 July 2019, eKasa will be mandatory for any and all entrepreneurs recording their sales by means of cash registers, since they accept cash at the place of sale and, at the same time, sell their goods or provide specific services.

So far, entrepreneurs were allowed to choose whether to connect to the systems of the financial administration (by means of virtual cash registers), but from now on, connection to the financial administration will be mandatory. Electronic cash registers will turn onto on-line cash registers (OCR or eKasa). However, entrepreneurs will have more options, since, along with the conventional ECRs, they will also be able to use tables, mobile phones, computers or VCRs. Nevertheless, they will have to modify their current cash registers or even to buy new ones.

As estimated by the Slovak Ministry of Finance, circa 80% cash registers will need modifications only with unit costs of circa EUR 80; the remaining 20% will have to be replace by new ones with the costs according to the Slovak Ministry of Finance of circa EUR 280 a piece. As calculated by the Ministry of Finance, entrepreneurs in Slovakia will thus pay for the implementation of eKasa circa EUR 28 million in total.

6. Taxation of virtual currencies

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Taxation of virtual currencies or the so-called cryptocurrencies became effective on 1 October 2018. The income from sold virtual currencies is considered subject to taxation, which is not exempted from tax, i.e. it is considered a taxable income. Exchange of virtual currency for assets, exchange of virtual currency for another virtual currency, exchange of virtual currency for services provided or paid transfer of virtual currency are considered sales of virtual currency. New provisions of Income Tax Act will be applied even at filing tax returns after 30 September 2018.

7. Obligation of reporting every job vacancy

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

From 2019, employers shall report job vacancies and their characteristics to the Labour Office, in the territorial scope of which such job vacancies are included. Job vacancies can be reported personally to an employee – representative for job vacancies, via phone or e-mail or the Labour Office’s website by filling up the document “Report of Vacant Job Position”. Employers can also report job vacancies electronically via the portals istp.sk or profesia.sk or kariera.sk. Once published on the portals, the Labour Office will understand the obligation of reporting job vacancies as met. If an employer fails to meet the obligation, such employer can be penalized in the sum of up to EUR 300.

If a vacant job position reported by an employer is also appropriate for citizens of third countries, the same conditions will be applied with one exemption – employers reporting job vacancies electronically can use the istp.sk portal only.

8. Stricter conditions for employing foreigners

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Starting with the next year, employers applying for permits to employ or for approving confirmations of a possibility to occupy a vacant job position shall meet two cumulative conditionsthe ban of illegal employment must not be breached in the period of five years from filing the application (this period has been extended from original two years to five years) and job vacancies and their characteristics shall be reported to the Labour Office, in the territorial scope of which such job vacancies are included (at least 20 days prior to filing the application).

9. Annual change of levies for self-employed persons

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

The minimum basis of assessment to be used by self-employed persons as a basis for paying social insurance is defined as 50% of the average wage in Slovakia two years ago. Since the average wage in Slovakia in 2017 as calculated by the Slovak Statistical Office reached EUR 954, the minimum monthly basis of assessment for paying social insurance of self-employed persons for the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 will increase from EUR 456 to EUR 477.

The maximum basis of assessment is defined as seven times the monthly average wage and will be increased from EUR 6,284 to EUR 6,678 for the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019. The trade licence holders who were informed of their obligation to pay minimum or maximum sum of levies shall start to pay the new sum of monthly levies on 1 January 2019.

If a trade licence holder paid minimum levies in the sum of EUR 151.16 from 1 July 2018, from now on he/she should pay the levies in the minimum sum of EUR 158.11, which represented the increase by EUR 6.95. If a trade licence holder paid maximum levies in the sum of EUR 2,116.29 from 1 July 2018, from 1 January 2019 he/she should pay the levies in the maximum sum of EUR 2,213.75, which represented the increase by EUR 97.46.

10. New retroactive tax from non-life insurance

Zdroj: Pixabay
Zdroj: Pixabay

Not only that the 8 % levy from the received non-life insurance premiums, which has been in force for two years, is replaced by 8 % tax, but it is also applied to the insurance policies entered into before 1 January 2017, when the original levy became effective, i.e. to all non-life insurance contracts administered by insurance companies (we are talking about millions of contracts that were previously calculated without tax).

It is a quarterly payable tax and new administrative costs (changed information systems, recalculation of premium sums, revisions of insurance policies, keeping and storing records required for due tax specification) related thereto occur to the insurance companies.

Insurance companies shall pay the tax for the whole non-life insurance group excluding PZS, i.e. for private property and liability insurance (insurance of household, apartment, house), car insurance, travel insurance, but, for example, also for accident insurance being a type of non-life insurance unless it is an additional insurance to a life insurance.

At the first sight, the change is relating to insurance companies in particular, but other entities having bought/planning to buy an insurance product can be affected thereby too due to the price increase in response to the costs distribution. If you decide to get insured abroad for avoiding the risk of a higher price, the obligation of paying the 8 % insurance tax will be transferred onto you as the policy holder, i.e. the client. Such situation shall be reported to the tax office and you will have to fill up the respective form and to pay the tax.

How micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises will be affected by the new sum of the minimum wage?

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The increased minimum wage causes not only the increase of employees’ net incomes, but also the increase of levies and hourly rates. To show the level, at which the new sum of the minimum wage will be reflected in the costs of employers from among SMEs, we have performed several calculations and comparisons (some of them in cooperation with the Slovak Ministry of Labour).

The sum of the minimum wage in 2018 as compared to 2019

On the next figure, you can see a comparison of net incomes of an employee, levies paid by the employer, hourly rates, and total payments to the state budget in 2018 and in 2019. When comparing hourly rates and net incomes of the employee, we can see that the sum on the employee’s payroll slip will be of EUR 27.17 higher (if the deductible allowance for health insurance is applied), but the costs of the employer caused by the increased minimum wage is EUR 54.08 (the difference between the original and new minimum wages + levies).

When calculating the overall impact of the increased minimum wage on the business sector, the Slovak Ministry of Labour took the sum of EUR 520 as a basis too. Based on this assumption, the Slovak Ministry of Labour calculated that the increase of the minimum wage up to EUR 520 would, in total, relate to 28,792 employers – natural persons and 15,836 employers – legal persons classified as micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. More information regarding the method of calculation of the number of affected SMEs could be found in our SME Test or in the Analysis of Impacts on the Business Sector prepared by the Slovak Ministry of Labour.

1. Additional payments to cover the new minimum wage

As for the employees of self-employed persons, it is not possible to reflect the number of worked hours and the agreed weekly working hours upon the data regarding the bases of assessment obtained from the Social Insurance Company, so some assumptions were used for performing a qualified estimation. As for the group of employees, for whom the range of the bases of assessment is lower than EUR 480, i.e. than the currently applicable gross minimum monthly wage, the average basis of assessment per employee is EUR 252.61. At the increase of the minimum wage up to EUR 520, i.e. by 8.33%, it can be assumed that the average basis of assessment at this group of employees will increase by the same value. Therefore, the total sum of additional monthly payments for 53,390 employees in this category represents:

252.61 * [(520-480)/480] * 53,390 = EUR 1,123,903.99 per month, i.e. EUR 13,486,847.90 per year.

As for the second group of employees of self-employed persons, i.e. those, for whom the range of the bases of assessment oscillated between EUR 480 and EUR 520, additional monthly payments to cover the wage represent the difference between the new minimum wage and the current average basis of assessment, i.e.:

(520-491.09) * 11,576 employees = EUR 334,662.16, i.e. EUR 4,015,945.92 a year.

As for the employers – legal persons from the category of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, the total sum of additional monthly payments to cover the minimum wage represents EUR 1,693,211.97, i.e. EUR 20,318,534.63 a year.

2. Health insurance levies from the higher minimum wage

The increased minimum wage will also affect the sum of health insurance levies to be paid by employers for their employees. The total increase of the sum of health insurance levies paid by SMEs (as a result of the increased minimum wage to EUR 520) represents EUR 3,784,368.

Total impact of the increased minimum wage

The estimated increase of personnel costs for employers from the category of SMEs is more than EUR 51 million. This sum includes additional payments to cover the new minimum wage (increase of the minimum wage to EUR 520) in the sum of EUR 37.8 million, health insurance levies paid by employers in the sum of EUR 3.7 million, and levies to the Social Insurance Company (25.2% of gross wages) in the sum of EUR 9.5 million.

However, it should be emphasized that this sum does not include increased personnel costs for the employees who do not receive the basic minimum wage, indeed, but their work performance is appreciated in accordance with higher levels of work difficulty in compliance with wage requirements. If this group of employees is taken into account in calculations, the increased personnel costs for employers – SMEs would be even more significantly higher.

European Enterprise Promotion Award EEPA

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It is not enough inspiration for potential entrepreneurs. That is why today we would like to introduce to you a competition focused on looking for and awarding successful initiatives, which support enterprises and entrepreneurship as such in Europe. The European Enterprise Promotion Award is also aimed at pointing out examples of best policies and practices in entrepreneurship, increasing public awareness of the added value of entrepreneurship, and, finally, encouraging and inspiring potential entrepreneurs. You can find out in our article, why just we and just here do write about that. Cross your fingers for us.

6 categories, 7 awards

  1. Promoting the entrepreneurial spirit recognises initiatives at the national, regional, and local levels that promote an entrepreneurial mindset, especially among young people and women,
  2. Investing in entrepreneurial skills recognises initiatives that improve entrepreneurial and managerial skills,
  3. Promoting the business environment recognises innovation policies that support enterprise start-up and growth, simplify legislative and administrative procedures for businesses, and implement the “think small first” principle for small and medium-sized enterprises,
  4. Supporting the internationalisation of business recognises policies and initiatives that encourage enterprises and particularly small and medium-sized businesses to benefit more from the opportunities offered by markets, both inside and outside the EU,
  5. Supporting the development of green markets and resource efficiency recognises policies and initiatives that support SMEs and their access to green markets and help to improve their resource efficiency,
  6. Responsible and inclusive entrepreneurship recognises initiatives of authorities or public/private communities that promote corporate social responsibility among small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, this category recognises efforts for promoting entrepreneurship among disadvantaged groups such as the unemployed, especially for a longer time, migrants, disabled, or people from ethnic minorities.

In addition to the six categories mentioned above, one can also win the Jury’s Grand Prize. It will be won by the initiative from any European enterprise promotion category considered by the jury the most creative and inspiring one. National, regional, and local authorities or public-private partnerships from any EU member state or from any country associated within the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) may compete.

After more than two years of our activities, we have decided to participate on the European Enterprise Promotion Award too. With the aim of simplifying legal and administrative procedures in the entrepreneurship and of implementing the “think small first” principle in the Slovak law to the maximum extent, we compete in the category No. 3 Promoting the business environment.

The competition consists of two selection rounds and competitors may not proceed to the European round unless they competed in the national round. The first national round had already taken place (the deadline for sending projects to the national round was 22 June 2018) and the Better Regulation Center is one of the two projects proceeding to the European round. From now on, the expert jury is the body to select the winners of the competition. They will be announced at the award presentation ceremony in November 2018.

If you want to participate on the next year of the competition, detail information can be found on the page of the European Commission. Results of the 8th national round of the competition can be seen here.

Identification of gold-plating in the Slovak legislative framework

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What is gold-plating?

According to the European Commission’s interpretation, the term Gold-plating presents an extension of the requirements imposed by European legislation, especially directives, in the process of transposition.  In practice, we are able to see that in cases where the transposed legal norm

  • leads to the application of an option departing from EU regulatory requirements in a stricter and more extensive version,
  • doesn't lead to the application of an option departing from EU regulatory requirements in a less burdensome and strict version,
  • doesn't lead, in case of more alternatives, to choosing the one that would be the least stringent and burdensome,
  • leads to a voluntary extension of EU regulation in terms of covering cases/subjects that are not exhaustively listed.

Gold-plating in Slovakia

A very recent example of gold-plating in the Slovak legislative framework is occupational health services for all employees irrespective of the category of work as determined by the assessment of health risks, which came into effect with the amendment No. 204/2014 Coll. and is stipulated in Act No. 355/2007 Coll. on the protection, support and development of public health. The employer's obligation to provide occupational health service was previously applicable only to employees performing hazardous work included in the third and fourth category.

Explanatory statement of the amendment justifies the proposed change by the need to meet the requirements of the European Framework Directive of the Council of 12 June 1989 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. Even though the directive expects the entrepreneurs to provide employees with protective and preventive services against threats to health at work, specifics in terms of legislation are left up to member states.

The Directive, in addition to enabling the provision of these services through the firms’ own staff and external services and persons, allows member states to define the categories of enterprises, in which the employer, assuming he is qualified/competent enough, can take, due to the nature of the activities and size of the enterprise, personal responsibility for the appropriate measures. Our legislation, unfortunately, does not allow for this option.

Comparison of the Slovak transposition within an international context does indeed reveal a significant extent of gold-plating: e.g. in Poland, the employer has the option to perform working health services personally in the case he employs fewer than 10 employees and this option is extended to fewer than 20 employees given that he meets the criteria of higher degree of competence. Similarly, in Portugal up to 10 employees. In Austria, even up to 50 employees.

How do EU member states fight Gold-plating?

Examples of an effective system of measures focusing on a fight against Gold-plating can be found in United Kingdom’s legislation, which stipulates several principles applicable to the transposition process. In particular:

  • ensure that domestic enterprises won't get into competitive disadvantage compared with their European partners as a result of the transposition. This requires not going beyond the minimum requirements of the directive of the EU (eg. the amount of fines, number of employees, the form of duties, etc.),
  • a special chapter explicitly devoted to the identification of some form of gold-plating is always a part of regulatory impact assessment,
  • transposition’s entry into force cannot be set earlier than latest possible deadline set by the EU directive,
  • maintaining existing protection standards if they are higher / more extensive than the ones proposed in EU directive.

In the Netherlands, a transposition's impact assessment points out to the cases of gold-plating and the government also collects suggestions from the public regarding gold-plating in the existing national legislation. Methodology of the procedure in assessing the impact of regulation in the Czech Republic also includes the obligation to identify whether EU directives should be implemented more extensively than necessary.

How do we struggle with gold-plating in Slovakia?

Regulatory Impact Assessment is an instrument with the potential to significantly decrease the occurrence of gold-plating in the transposition process of European legislation. That means that an analysis of impacts of the proposed regulation on the stakeholders affected should subsequently lead to the modification of the proposal, thus reducing or even fully eliminating possible negative impacts.

Since April 2016, The Uniform Methodology for Assessing Selected Impacts outlines new requirements for the impact clause as an indispensable part of any proposed material (legislative and non-legislative nature) by the Slovak government. If the impact clause identifies impacts on the business environment, impact analysis as well as the SME Test must be included. The SME test includes a gold-plating analysis of the regulation in the case the legislative material is a transposition of an EU law.

In such a case, assessment of gold-plating in a SME Test is a so-called ex ante assessment. One of the Center's tasks is also an ex post legal analysis of already transposed EU legislative acts into the Slovak legislation. Such analyses include identification of proposals to optimize the regulatory burden on businesses.

Businesses, their representatives or other interested parties can directly notify the Better Regulation Center upon gold-plating identification. To do so, they can use this contact form. The Center will look at every relevant suggestion, with the aim to propose measures to optimize the excessive regulatory burden on businesses caused by the effects of gold-plating. Afterwards, these proposed measures will be submitted to the Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic and their implementation will be closely monitored.