Bratislava

Salary from a foreign employer or fees from foreign clients

Taxed19% up to €43,983.32 of tax base, 25% to €60,349.21, 30% to €75,010.32 and 35% above (2026); 15% for the self-employed with revenue up to €100,000

Salary from a foreign employer is taxed on the 2026 scale: 19%, 25%, 30% and 35% at €43,983.32, €60,349.21 and €75,010.32 of tax base (154.8, 212.4 and 264 times the subsistence minimum; § 15(a)). A personal allowance of €5,966.73 applies up to a tax base of €26,367.26 and shrinks to zero at €43,983.32 (§ 11(2)). A foreign employer with no Slovak presence withholds nothing, so you file an annual return and pay yourself; foreign tax is relieved as the treaty says, and salary taxed in a non-treaty country can be exempted (§ 45). Freelancers need a trade licence (živnosť) or other self-employment registration. Their profit is taxed at 15% if revenue stays at or under €100,000, otherwise on the 19%–35% scale. Non-VAT payers can deduct 60% of revenue as lump-sum expenses, capped at €20,000 a year, plus the social and health contributions actually paid (§ 6(10)). Social insurance for the self-employed is 33.15% of an assessment base of roughly profit divided by 1.486; from 2026 a newly self-employed person becomes insured on the first day of the sixth month after starting, and then pays at least €303.11 a month (base €914.40), or a reduced 'mikroodvod' of €131.34 if the previous year's income was low, with a ceiling base of €16,764 a month. Health insurance is 16% in 2026 and 2027 (minimum base of 50% of the average wage, about €121.92 a month). The catch for non-EU nomads: without Slovak permanent residence, a self-employed person with a residence permit is in public health insurance, but an employee of an employer with no seat or permanent establishment in Slovakia is not and needs private cover (Health Insurance Act, § 3(3)). Social insurance for employees of foreign employers depends on EU rules or a bilateral agreement and is not covered here. VAT registration becomes compulsory once turnover counted under the VAT Act exceeds €50,000 in a calendar year (§ 4).

On the nomad visa

Slovakia has no digital-nomad visa or residence permit. EU citizens can live and work freely. Non-EU freelancers usually get temporary residence for business (prechodný pobyt na účel podnikania), granted for three years, on a Slovak trade licence, and then pay Slovak income tax and contributions as self-employed people; once they spend 183 days a year or keep a home here they are resident and taxed on worldwide income. There is no residence route aimed at remote employees of foreign employers.

Dividends, interest, gains, rent and pensions from abroad

TaxedForeign dividends 7% (35% from non-cooperating states); interest 19%; share and crypto gains, rent and private pensions 19%–35%; listed shares held over a year and state pensions exempt

Foreign dividends go into a separate base taxed at 7% (§ 15(a)(5), § 51e); dividends paid out of profits for periods that began before 1 January 2025 keep the rate in force then, which is 10% for 2024 profits (§ 52zzzb(5)), and dividends from a company in a non-cooperating state pay 35%. Foreign interest and other capital income go into a separate base taxed at 19% (§ 7). Gains on securities are exempt if they are admitted to a regulated market (or a similar foreign one) and held over a year (§ 9(1)(k)); otherwise share gains are other income taxed at 19%–35%, with the first €500 of net gains a year exempt (§ 8, § 9(1)(i)). Crypto gains are taxed at 19%–35% too, with no holding-period or €500 exemption (§ 8(1)(t)). Rent is taxed at 19%–35% after expenses, with €500 a year exempt (§ 6(3), § 9(1)(g)); rent from property abroad is normally taxed first where the property is, then relieved as the treaty says. Selling property is tax-free after 5 years of ownership (§ 9(1)(a)). Compulsory social-insurance pensions, including foreign ones, are exempt (§ 9(2)(a)); private pensions and life-insurance payouts are taxed. The catch: anyone in Slovak public health insurance also pays health contributions (16% in 2026) on capital income and other income such as share and crypto gains, through the annual settlement (Health Insurance Act, § 10b, § 13(7)); dividends and rent are not included. Foreign tax is credited as the treaty allows (§ 45).

Net wealth and inheritance

No wealth taxNo inheritance tax

Slovakia has no net wealth tax and no inheritance, gift or real-estate transfer tax. Inheritances and gifts are outside income tax, except gifts linked to employment or business (Income Tax Act, § 3(2)(a)). Owners pay a local property tax set by each municipality; for flats the statutory rate is €0.033 per m² of floor area a year, which the municipality can raise or lower by local regulation (Local Taxes Act, § 16).

Tax resident after

183 days a year

Top income tax rate

35%

When you become tax resident

You are resident, and taxed on worldwide income, if you have a registered permanent residence (trvalý pobyt) in Slovakia, a home (bydlisko), meaning accommodation that is not just occasional where your personal and economic ties show you intend to stay permanently, or if you habitually stay here, meaning at least 183 days in a calendar year, continuous or in several stays, with every started day counted (Income Tax Act, § 2(d)). People staying only to study or for medical treatment stay non-resident, and if a tax treaty makes you resident of another country, you are treated as non-resident (§ 2(e)). The Act tests each calendar year and has no split-year rule. Someone on a tourist stay of under 183 days with no home in Slovakia stays non-resident, but a non-resident is still taxed on Slovak-source income, which includes pay for employment physically performed in Slovakia and services provided here, wherever the payer is (§ 16(1)(b)–(c)); a treaty may exempt a short stay.

Top income tax rate

Bratislava, as anywhere in Slovakia: 19% on tax base up to €43,983.32, 25% up to €60,349.21, 30% up to €75,010.32 and 35% above (2026). The 30% and 35% bands first apply to the 2026 tax year. There is no regional or municipal income tax and no surcharge, so the top rate is the same nationwide. Self-employed people with revenue up to €100,000 pay 15% on business profit instead. Social and health insurance contributions are not counted here.