Personal scope of application As per 07 November 2024

Are there any deviations from the Directive in defining the intermediary?

2021/06/17

In principle, the Slovak definition is very close to the Directive. However, additionally, the intermediary is any person who knows based on their knowledge or could know that they directly or through the third person have provided aid, assistance or advice with respect to certain actions regarding the reportable cross-border arrangement except the person who proves that do not know or could not know that the report is applicable.

How is an intermediary defined? Is there a differentiation between a corporate entity and an individual person?

2021/06/17

An intermediary is a person or special entity which:1. Meets at least one of the following conditions: a) be resident for tax purposes in a Member State; b) have a permanent establishment in a Member State through which the services with respect to the arrangement are provided; c) be incorporated in, or governed by the laws of, a Member State; d) be registered with a professional association related to legal, taxation or consultancy services in a Member State.2. Designs, markets, organizes or makes available for implementation or manages the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement;3. Knows or could be reasonably expected to know that provides, directly or by means of other persons, aid, assistance or advice with respect to designing, marketing, organizing, making available for implementation or managing the implementation of a reportable cross-border arrangement, except a person or special entity which proves that does not know or could have not known that was involved in the reportable cross-border arrangement.There is no differentiation between the corporate entity/advisor in terms of an intermediary.

Can a corporate tax department (or its members) within a MNE or within a group of entities qualify as an intermediary?

2021/06/17

Yes.

How are the actions of designing, marketing, organizing, making available for implementation or managing the implementation of a tax arrangement defined?

2021/06/17

These actions are not defined.

Have the legal preconditions regarding the territorial nexus for an intermediary been implemented in accordance with the Directive?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Are there any other conditions apart from those of the Directive, such as the territorial nexus of a tax arrangement to a certain Member State, which trigger a reporting obligation of an intermediary (e.g. including intermediaries from outside the EU)?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

In which cases is the relevant taxpayer obliged to report? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

The relevant taxpayer is obliged to report in cases if:1. The relevant taxpayer is resident for the tax purposes in Slovakia;2. The relevant taxpayer has a permanent establishment in Slovakia which one reach benefits from the notified measure;3. The relevant taxpayer has income from sources in Slovakia and is not a tax resident in Slovakia and has not a permanent establishment in Slovakia;4. Provide activities in Slovakia and is not a tax resident in Slovakia, has no permanent establishment in Slovakia, and has no income from sources in Slovakia nor other member states.

Are there any other persons beside intermediaries or relevant taxpayers obliged to report?

2021/06/17

There are no other persons beside intermediaries (promoters and advisors) and users obliged to report.

Are there any deviations from the Directive in defining the relevant taxpayer?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Mechanism to avoid multiple reporting

Which measures have been taken to avoid multiple reporting obligations referring to an intermediary obliged to report in several countries? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

The intermediary is not required to submit information on the notified measure to the relevant authority in the Slovak republic if intermediary submits electronically a statement to Slovak tax authority confirming that the same information on the notified measure has already been submitted by the intermediary to the competent authority in another Member State.

Which measures have been taken to avoid multiple reporting obligations referring to more than one intermediary obliged to report? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Which measures have been taken to avoid multiple reporting obligations referring to a relevant taxpayer obliged to report several countries? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

The relevant taxpayer is not required to submit information on the notified measure to the relevant authority in the Slovak republic if the relevant taxpayer submits electronically a statement confirming that the same information on the notified measure has already been submitted by the relevant taxpayer to the competent authority in another Member State.

Which measures have been taken to avoid multiple reporting obligations referring to more than one relevant taxpayer obliged to report? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

Where is more than one relevant taxpayer, the relevant taxpayer that is to file information to the competent authority in the Slovak Republic in accordance with being the one that features first in the list below:1. The relevant taxpayer that agreed to the reportable cross-border arrangement with the intermediary;2. The relevant taxpayer that manages the implementation of the arrangement, if there is no other relevant taxpayer who agreed with intermediary on notified measure.Where more than one relevant taxpayer is required to submit information on the same notification such relevant taxpayers may agree on a joint representative who shall submit by electronically a joint declaration confirming that the same information on the notified measure has already been submitted by another relevant taxpayer.

How does the National Tax Authority expect the conditions for exemption from filing a report to be met?

2021/06/17

Intermediaries or relevant taxpayer is not required to submit information on the notified measure to the relevant authority in the Slovak republic if the intermediary / relevant taxpayer submits electronically a statement confirming that the same information on the notified measure has already been submitted by other intermediaries / relevant taxpayer to the competent authority in another Member State.If several intermediaries or taxpayers are involved in one arrangement they may agree on a joint representative to submit a joint statement with information electronically. In the joint declaration, the representative shall indicate the identification data of all relevant taxpayers/intermediaries for whom the joint declaration has been submitted.Form of the joint declaration is available on the web page of the Tax Authority in an electronic format.

Material scope of application

Are national tax arrangements subject to reporting under the Directive?

2021/06/17

National tax arrangements are not subject to report.

Which taxes are affected? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Does the hallmark catalogue deviate from the Directive? If yes, to what extent?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Which hallmarks are linked with the main benefit test?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

How is the main benefit test defined?

2021/06/17

If the main purpose or one of the main purposes of the proposed measure was to obtain a tax advantage for the relevant taxpayer.

How is a tax advantage defined?

2021/06/17

There is no explicit definition in the local legislation however the Guidance of the Financial Directorate refers to the definition in Commission Recommendation of 6 December 2012 on aggressive tax planning (2012/772/EU).

Are there any deviations from the Directive in defining a cross-border arrangement?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

Is there a white list defining arrangements explicitly excluded from a reporting obligation? If yes, please provide details.

2021/06/17

No.

Are there any deviations from the Directive in defining associated enterprises?

2021/06/17

Slovak legislation covers all associated persons as defined in the Directive. There is a deviation from the definition of association based on family relationships where the Slovak legislation considers also the relationships between individual her or his spouse and his or her lineal ascendants or descendants as relationships between associated persons while the Directive does not explicitly mentions this kind of relationship under associated.

Reporting process

When is a cross border arrangement made available for implementation (e.g. handover of contract documents)?

2021/06/17

There is no specific guidance.

When is a cross-border arrangement ready for implementation?

2021/06/17

There is no specific guidance.

When has the first step in the implementation of a cross-border arrangement been made?

2021/06/17

Guidance of the Financial directorate in the form of FAQ provides only for an example e.g. signing of a contract. However, no exhaustive list is provided.

Which information should be included in the report? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive.

What does the reporting process look like? Are there deviations from the Directive?

2021/06/17

The DAC 6 report is filed in the XML format report (prepared based on a tool available on the web page of the Financial Directorate) and such XML report is attached to a prescribed DAC 6 form. Both are filed electronically and a reference number is assigned after filing the report.

Is the entire report to be provided by the intermediary/relevant taxpayer? Who must provide the report?

2021/06/17

In principle, the intermediary, as well as the relevant taxpayer, are obliged to provide the entire report, except for professional secrecy cases.

What are the respective deadlines for the intermediary and the relevant taxpayer to file the report? Are there deviations from the Directive in terms of filing the information within 30 days?

2021/06/17

There are no deviations from the Directive and the option to extend the original deadlines by 6 months has been implemented.

Which numbers are assigned by local tax authorities to the cross-border arrangements?

2021/06/17

The format of the 17 digits specific code of the arrangement is e.g. SKA20200708123456. A specific number is assigned to each arrangement by the tax authoritiesafter filing the report.

What is the reporting deadline for arrangements the first step of which was implemented between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020?

2021/06/17

01.03.2021

When is the reporting deadline for arrangements for which the event triggering the reporting obligation lies between 1 July 2020 and 31 December 2020?

2021/06/17

01.02.2021

When is the reporting deadline for arrangements for which the event triggering the reporting obligation lies after 1 January 2021?

2021/06/17

The arrangements have to be reported within 30 days from the event triggering the reporting.

Penalties

In which cases are penalties imposed?

2021/06/17

Penalties are imposed in cases, if:1. The report or notification on exemption was not filed;2. The report or notification on exemption was filed late;3. the report was filed incomplete.

What are the penalties?

2021/06/17

Discretionary up to EUR 30,000. May be imposed also repeatedly.

Is a distinction made between penalties imposed on intermediaries/relevant taxpayers/other persons obliged to report?

2021/06/17

No distinction is made between intermediaries and relevant taxpayers.

What are the penalties in case of redundant reports? A redundant report is a report, which was filed, although there is no obligation to file one.

2021/06/17

There are no penalties for redundant reports.

Do the penalties differ with regard to incomplete, incorrect, missing or late reports? Are there any gradations?

2021/06/17

The penalties do not differ based on the DAC 6 local law; however, the nature of the breach maybe reflected since the penalties are discretionary.

Are arrangements the first step of which was implemented between 25 June 2018 and 30 June 2020 treated differently in the means of penalties?

2021/06/17

No.

Other aspects

Do already other reporting regimes on cross-border arrangements exist?

2021/06/17

No other disclosure regimes exist.

Are there any other special deviations from the Directive? 

2021/06/17

There are no other deviations from the Directive.

What is the name of the national Tax Authority responsible for DAC6?

2021/06/17

'Finančné riaditeľstvo SR - Oddelenie automatickej výmeny informácií (Financial directorate of SR - department of automatic exchange of information).

Do any other obligations apart from reporting a reportable cross-border arrangement exist under the national DAC6 legislation? (i.e. indication of the arrangement in the tax return)

2021/06/17

There are no other obligations.

Professional privilege/secrecy

Who is primarily obliged to report? Is there a primary reporting obligation of the intermediary or the relevant taxpayer? Is there legal privilege and in how far has it been considered for allocating the reporting obligation?

2021/06/17

The primary reporting obligation lies within the intermediary unless such intermediary (e.g. lawyers, tax consultants, auditors) is exempt from the obligation due to the professional secrecy. The exemption is guaranteed by the DAC 6 local law.

Does the reporting obligation breach a legal professional privilege under national law?

2021/06/17

Yes.

Does the national law make reference to professional privilege or professional secrecy?

2021/06/17

There is a reference to duty of confidentiality.

What is the difference, as per the national law, between professional privilege and professional secrecy?

2021/06/17

The Slovak DAC 6 legislation only refers to professional secrecy.

To which categories of intermediaries does the professional privilege or professional secrecy apply?

2021/06/17

e.g. lawyers, tax consultants and auditors.

In the context of the reporting obligation, under which conditions are the intermediaries entitled/obliged to make use of professional privilege or professional secrecy?

2021/06/17

The intermediary who has to keep professional secrecy (e.g. lawyers, tax consultants, auditors) is automatically exempt based on the DAC 6 local legislation from the obligation to report the information. There is no option in this respect.

In cases in which professional privilege or secrecy applies, please describe the procedure for notification.

2021/06/17

The intermediary who is exempt from the obligation to report based on professional secrecy has the obligation to provide relevant taxpayers with the information for timely and correct reporting i.e. in fact provide the information that has to be reported to the taxpayer. The method of notification is not specified, however, proof of this notification by the intermediary to the taxpayer shall be presented in case of a tax inspection of the DAC 6 obligations.

Does the national law provide specific conditions to waive professional privilege or professional secrecy?

2021/06/17

The professional secrecy of a tax advisor may be waived based on a written declaration of the taxpayer. Professional secrecy of a lawyer may be waived based on the written consent of the taxpayer; however, the lawyer can reject the consent if he considers that the waiver would be against the interest of the taxpayer. Professional secrecy of a statutory auditor may be waived based on a decision of the taxpayer without any specific conditions or form of the waiver prescribed.

Martin Smatana
Senior Manager