Reverse charge on a Slovak invoice

The supplier charges no VAT, the customer accounts for it — and the invoice has to carry one exact sentence. Below: how it reads, when the regime applies, which supplies it covers and where it usually goes wrong.

Updated: Sep 2, 2026

What the invoice must say

The invoice carries no tax: no rate, no VAT amount. Instead §74(1)(k) of the VAT Act asks for a single piece of wording, printed exactly like this:

prenesenie daňovej povinnosti

Everything else stays: both VAT numbers, the sequential number, the date of supply, the scope of the supply and the taxable amount. Adding “podľa §69 ods. 12” — with the letter that matches the supply, if you want it — is allowed but not required — the sentence itself is what must never be missing.

How it works

The supplier issues an invoice without tax

Carrying the wording “prenesenie daňovej povinnosti”, within 15 days of the day of supply (§73(1)(a) of the VAT Act).

The customer calculates the tax themselves

From the taxable amount on the invoice, at the rate that applies to the supply, and reports it on lines 09 and 10 of the VAT return.

And deducts it in the same return

Where the right to deduct exists (§49(2)(b)), the regime costs them nothing: the tax is declared and deducted in one and the same period.

The invoice goes into the control statement

The customer always reports it in part B.1; the supplier reports it in part A.2, but only for supplies under letters f) to j). That is where the two are cross-matched.

When the regime applies

Both of you are VAT payers

Supplier and customer must both hold a Slovak VAT number under §4, §4b, §4c or §5. A customer without one is invoiced normally, with VAT.

The place of supply is Slovakia

This is the domestic regime. Cross-border supplies follow different rules — see below.

The supply is on the §69(12) list

The list is closed: anything not on it is invoiced with VAT, however much both sides would prefer otherwise.

Which supplies it covers

The closed list in §69(12) of the VAT Act, as in force in 2026.

Construction work — letter j)

Work falling under section F of the CPA classification, including the supply of a building or part of one and goods supplied with installation or assembly where the assembly falls under section F. No value threshold.

Metal waste and scrap — letter a)

Waste and scrap from producing or working metal, and metal objects no longer usable as such.

Cereals and oilseeds — letter f)

Goods of chapters 10 and 12 of the Common Customs Tariff that are not normally intended for final consumption unaltered. No value threshold.

Iron and steel — letter g)

Goods of chapter 72 and of headings 7301, 7308 and 7314 of the Common Customs Tariff. No value threshold.

Mobile phones and integrated circuits — letters h) and i)

The only two items with a threshold: the regime applies only if the taxable amount on the invoice is €5,000 or more.

Immovable property — letters c) and d)

Property the supplier has opted to tax under §38(8), and property sold by a debtor in enforced-sale proceedings.

Emission allowances and goods under a guarantee — letters b) and e)

Transfers of greenhouse gas emission allowances, and goods supplied on enforcement of a security interest.

Construction work: the classification decides, not your judgement

Whether something is construction work is not settled by the wording of the order, nor by the fact that it happened on a building site, but by its classification under section F of the CPA (codes 41 to 43). The same activity can fall inside section F in one case and outside it in another — and the difference is the whole VAT. The Financial Administration publishes a table of classified construction activities; where it is genuinely unclear, ask the Statistical Office for a classification in writing.

The law does cover the borderline case, and this is the best news on the page: if a supplier of construction work or of goods with assembly “takes it” to be a supply under letter j) and the invoice carries the wording “prenesenie daňovej povinnosti”, the person liable for the tax is the customer (§69(16)). It covers ONLY those two supplies — a service outside section F is not protected by it. That sentence on the document is not a formality — it is what keeps the liability on the customer’s side when the classification is disputed.

Same sentence, different case: services to the EU

The same wording appears on an invoice for a service to a business in another member state where the place of supply follows §15(1) — there too the customer accounts for the tax. It is not §69(12), though, and the rules differ: the invoice is issued within 15 days of the end of the calendar month in which the service was supplied (§73(1)(d)), and the supply goes into the EC sales list, not the control statement.

Where it goes wrong

Anyone who states tax on an invoice is liable to pay it (§69(5)) — including when it should never have been there. The customer cannot deduct that tax, so one wrong invoice costs somebody the full VAT until you correct it.

VAT charged by mistake

The only way out is a correcting invoice, not an agreement between the two of you. Until it is issued the tax is yours to pay and the customer must not deduct it.

The customer is not a VAT payer

Without their VAT number the regime does not apply and the invoice carries tax. Check their status as at the day of supply in the Financial Administration register, not by what was true last year.

The sentence is missing

An invoice without it fails §74(1)(k) — and it is the only place the customer learns that they have to calculate the tax themselves.

The wrong deadline

Domestic reverse charge gives you 15 days from the day of supply. The “15 days from the end of the month” rule belongs to EU supplies and does not apply here.

Reverse charge on a supply that is not on the list

Ordinary trade, consulting or IT services are not in §69(12). An invoice without tax carrying that sentence is then simply wrong — and the missing tax is owed by the supplier.

Frequently asked questions

This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Have the classification of your particular supply confirmed by your accountant.