Financial services tax

The Financial Services Tax Act was published in the Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 94/12 on 10 December 2012. It entered into force on the fifteenth day following its publication in the Official Journal and the first calculation of the tax in accordance with this Act was made by taxpayers for the third month following the month in which the Act has entered into force (i.e. for the tax period of March 2013).

The new Financial Services Tax Act is introducing a liability to pay tax on those financial services that are taxed if they are exempt from VAT according to current regulations governing the VAT system and services performed by insurance brokers and insurance agents. The law provides an exemption from tax for certain financial services, i.e. for services that are subject to VAT and the Insurance Contracts Tax, and for financial services that are performed by certain entities such as the Bank of Slovenia, ECB, EU, European Financial Stability Facility, an international financial institution founded by two or more EU Member States, European Atomic Energy Community, EIB, international organisations, diplomatic and consular missions of other countries.

A person liable to pay the tax is any person performing financial services on the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, that are subject to the tax on financial services. They have to declare this tax liability in their financial services tax return. Persons liable to pay the financial services tax are therefore banks, other financial institutions and other persons performing financial services, the taxation of which is laid down by this Act, including foreign banks’ branches and permanent establishments of foreign legal persons in the Republic of Slovenia and including foreign persons who, in line with the material legislation, are entitled to directly perform financial services in the Republic of Slovenia.

The financial services tax is a transaction tax, therefore it is charged for the services performed. The tax liability arises in the moment when the financial service is performed. A financial service is considered to have been performed when a fee (commission) has been paid for this service.

The tax rate is 8.5 percent of the tax base.

The tax period covers the period of one calendar month. The taxpayer has to calculate the tax for each individual tax period in which they have performed financial services that are subject to taxation in accordance with the Financial Services Tax Act. A tax return has to be submitted to the tax authority for each tax period in which the tax has become chargeable, at the latest on the last working day of the month following this tax period.

The taxpayer is obliged to pay the tax at the latest on the last working day of the month following the tax period in which the tax has become chargeable.

The provisions of the VAT Act shall apply by analogy for corrections of mistakes from previous tax periods in the current tax return, for tax returns filed in retrospect after the deadline for their submission and for submitting tax returns at procedures of cessation of the taxpayer’s operations, at the company administration procedure, at bankruptcy proceedings, liquidation proceedings and at the procedure following the death of a taxpayer.