Amendment to the Act on Taxes and fees Administration

(Act No. 493/2001 Coll. amending and supplementing the Act of the Slovak National Council No. 511/1992 Coll. on Taxes and Fees Administration and on amendments in the system of regional financial bodies, as amended and amending the Act No. 317/1992 Coll. on Real Estate Tax, as amended)

The purpose of the amendment is in particular to increase efficiency of tax administration and to further strengthen rights of tax subjects.

The filing of a property return is also newly regulated. Under this regulation only individuals are obliged to file a property return. According to the new wording of Sec. 40 of the Act on Taxes and Fees Administration, individuals with the permanent address in the Slovak Republic or having a permit for the permanent stay in the Slovak Republic shall submit the property return containing specification of the property which they own in the territory of the Slovak Republic as well as abroad. A legal representative, curator or tutor shall submit the property return on behalf of an individual who is not capable of legal acts or on behalf of infants who own any property.

The property return has to be filed by 30 September of each third calendar year according to the status as of 31 December of the calendar year preceding the year in which the property return has to be filed, starting from 2001. The property return, for submission of which the deadline was by 30 September 2001 at the latest, according to the status of property as of 1 January 2001, has to be filed by 31 January 2002 at the latest, according to the status of property as of 31 December 2000.

Before expiry of the period for submission of property return, an individual may file a corrective property return and in this case the previous property return is not taken into account. The property return and corrective property return are submitted to the relevant local tax administrator for income tax administration.

With the tax administrator's approval, a property return may be submitted also by means of electronic mail or on an electronic recording medium, if the data, their contents and layout are identical to the specimen which shall be issued by the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic.

The property return must contain property divided into

• immovable property,
• movable property,
• property rights and other property values.

An individual is obliged to file the property return if he/she owns immovable property acquired from 1 September 1999 in the total value of more than SKK 1,500,000. An individual is obliged to file the property return also if he/she owns movable property and property rights and other property values, the total value of which is more than SKK 1,500,000. The value of property, which is not stated in the property return (i.e. property of a sanitary nature serving exclusively the disabled persons and persons with a strong handicap, own works of art, own intangible rights of industrial property, own copyrights and unenforceable receivables) is not included in this total value.

An individual, to which a duty to submit a property return does not apply, is obliged to submit a written declaration on this fact to the relevant tax administrator in the period for filing of the property return at the latest.

The cash in the Slovak and foreign currencies, deposits in banks and branch offices of foreign banks in the Slovak and foreign currencies and deposits in banks with the registered seat in a foreign country are also regarded as movable property.

The property in an undivided co-ownership of married couple is stated in the property return by the wife and the husband in the equal proportion. Increase in property is determined by the tax administrator, which the found increase in property then compares with incomes of an individual for the period for which the property return is filed. If the tax administrator finds out a positive difference, it is entitled to call an individual to prove this difference.

If it is proved in the tax proceeding that an increase in property comes from other than from net incomes (i.e. taxation), the tax administrator may additionally impose an income tax upon an individual. The tax administrator notifies the General Prosecutor of the Slovak Republic of such tax imposition.

Under the award of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic dated 24 January 2002, the effectiveness of all the above mentioned provisions related to tax returns is temporarily suspended.

This Act is in force from 1 December 2001, save for the Article I, point 16 of Sec. 23(5) lett. s) and t) and point 57 of Sec. 63(10) and the Article II., which will become effective from 1 January 2002.

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