July 2, 2019
Since 2012, Slovakia has introduced dozens of action plans to avoid tax fraud, inter alia „tax cobra“ or limited cash payments. Despite that, the tax gap in hotel, restaurant, and coffee shop areas is still too high. The most recent measure aimed at closing the tax gap is a mandatory electronic cash register system, which directly connects all cashiers to the financial management portal called eKasa.
Until now, entrepreneurs had the option to opt-in to a financial management system voluntarily. From now on, online connection to financial management will be mandatory for every entrepreneur. Electronic cash registers will become online cash registers.
Despite apparent benefits for the state, online connection to financial management also has some benefits for entrepreneurs themselves. They will be able to expand their possibilities by using not only classic electronic cash registers, but also a tablet, a mobile phone, or a computer.
From April 1, 2019, all new salesrooms and new cash registers (those who started recording sales after April 1, 2019) must be connected to the system, all other entities gradually from April 1, to June 30, 2019. From July 1, 2019, all entrepreneurs must be fully connected to the eKasa system.
However, there have been several complications in practice, starting with insufficient market coverage by online cash registers. These complications forced the state to take action to avoid sanctions for entrepreneurs, who couldn´t comply with the new regulations due to reasons beyond their control.
The Finance Ministry of Slovak Republic stated that despite the effort of the stakeholders, the market could not be sufficiently supplied with necessary software and hardware solutions. According to this statement, under certain conditions, fines will be delayed for those entrepreneurs, who did not have time to install eKasa on time.
Entrepreneurs who signed up for the financial report by June 30, 2019, will have permission to use old cash registers until September 30, 2019, so far as they at the same time also ordered a certified eKasa and they continue to charge sales at the existing old cash registers. An entrepreneur has to prove by written confirmation or e-mail, that he ordered an online cash register from manufacturer, importer or distributor who has been issued a decision on certification and that he had also applied for online cash register code.
Entrepreneurs who will prove this will be able to continue using the electronic cash register without a penalty until September 30, 2019. Thus, a penalty will not apply to those who have objective causes.
