Slovakia

Taxes, residence and daily life for people moving to Slovakia: for a wealthy family, an expat employee and a remote worker. Researched 16 October 2026.

Open Slovakia in the interactive guide

At a glance

For an EU-citizen family of five living off a €30M portfolio, the guide's default reader. The interactive guide recomputes everything for other passports and situations.

Score for a wealthy family: 75 / 100
Tax on a €30M portfolio: €4,200 a year
Wealth tax: none
Children inherit: tax-free
After 60 years: €239,820,000 of €30,000,000 (with no tax at all: €286,928,000)
Living costs, family of five: €223,586 a year
EU member: yes
Currency: EUR
Capital: Bratislava

Tax on investments, inheritance and wealth

Slovakia exempts gains on listed shares held over one year (foreign exchanges included), taxes dividends at 7%, and has no inheritance, gift or wealth tax. The catch is a private business sale or short-term trading, which is taxed at up to 35% from 2026 plus 15% uncapped health insurance (about 50% at the top).

Ordinary tax residence: Progressive PIT (19/25/30/35% from 2026) with exemptions for long-held listed securities and real estate; 7% dividends.

Income tax for employees and remote workers

2026 scale: 19% on the tax base up to EUR 43,983.32 (154.8x the subsistence minimum), 25% to EUR 60,349.21, 30% to EUR 75,010.32, 35% above. Non-taxable amount EUR 5,966.73 a year, full up to a tax base of EUR 26,367.26 and zero from EUR 50,234.18. Employee contributions: 9.4% social (maximum monthly assessment base EUR 16,764, i.e. EUR 201,168 a year) and 5% health (no cap); the recorded rate is the combined 14.4% and the cap applies to the social part only.

Inheritance law and trusts

Only children are protected: minors keep their full intestate share, adults half. A foreign resident can choose the law of their nationality (EU Succession Regulation art. 22). Slovakia has no trusts, and foundations are for public benefit.

Daily life, scored out of 100

From public indicators (World Bank, UNDP, Transparency International and others); higher is better.

Measure	Score
Safety and personal security	74
Political and institutional stability	61
Corruption and government integrity	49
Legal system and property rights	61
Healthcare quality and access	72
Education quality	54
Human development and quality of life	76
Infrastructure and connectivity	77
Cost of living and housing	75
Business opportunities and economy	67
Cultural fit and lifestyle	55

Research notes

Slovakia — family-office tax dossier

Last reviewed: 2026-10-16 Tax year: 2026 Reviewer: research agent (Claude), unreviewed by a tax adviser

Summary

Income Tax Act No. 595/2003 Coll. (ZDP), time version effective 1.1.2026. Listed securities held over one year: exempt. Dividends: 7%. No inheritance, gift or wealth tax. Private business sales and short-term gains: progressive up to 35% (new 2026 brackets) plus health insurance.

Residence and eligibility

Resident with permanent residence, a habitual home with intent to stay permanently, or 183+ days in a calendar year (PwC). EU: free movement. US/other: purpose-based temporary residence; no investor programme found (unverified).

Capital gains

Gains on securities and company stakes are "other income" (§8(1)(e)-(f)) in the general base (§4(1)(a)) taxed under §15(a)(1): 19% up to 154.8x, 25% to 212.4x, 30% to 264x, 35% above 264x the subsistence minimum (2026; the 30% and 35% bands are new for 2026). PwC says capital gains are in a separate 19% base; the law text puts them in the general base, so we follow the law.
Exempt (§9(1)(k)): securities admitted to an EU regulated market or a comparable foreign regulated market, held more than one year (and listed more than one year before sale); not for business assets.
Real estate held over 5 years: exempt (§9(1)(a)). EUR 500 a year allowance for net other income (§9(1)(i)).
Health insurance: 15% on taxable §8 income, uncapped (Act 580/2004 §10b(1)(d), §13(7), §12(1)(b)).
JSON: listed securities 0.0; real estate 0.0; private_business_sale = 0.50 (35% tax + 15% health insurance); headline 0.35.

Re-verified 2026-10-15 from the law text: §8(1)(e)-(f) gains are part of the general base under §4(1)(a), taxed at 19/25/30/35% (§15(a)(1)); the 19% separate base (§15(a)(4)) is for §7 capital income only. Health insurance: Act 580/2004 §10b(1)(d), §13(7), §12(1)(b): 15% on the §8 tax base, uncapped (the 60x cap in §13(6) applies only to dividends). JSON private_business_sale raised from 0.35 to 0.50 (35% + 15%).

Dividends

§15(a)(5): 7% on dividends from 2025+ profits (10% for 2024 profits; 7% for 2017-2023; 2004-2016 profits untaxed); withheld by Slovak payers, separate base for foreign dividends (§51e). 35% from non-cooperative states (§15(a)(6)). No health insurance on dividends from 2017+ profits.
JSON: domestic and foreign 0.07, credit. Foreign dividends: separate base §51e(1)(a), (3)(a), 7% (§15(a)(5)); credit §45(1). Holding structures: a Slovak holding s.r.o. would pay 21% on gains from portfolio shares (PwC; not read in the statute) and 7% again on the payout; there is no private foundation or family trust, so no structure is scored.

Inheritance and gifts to children

No inheritance or gift tax (PwC). Income from gifts and inheritance is outside the income tax (§12(7)(b) ZDP; the previous text cited §3(2)(b), which is not the provision). JSON: basis = none, fully_exempt.

Wealth tax

None (PwC). Local real estate tax is a municipal property tax.

Special regimes

None.

Company taxation (kept separate from personal tax)

§15(b): 10% (revenue up to EUR 100,000), 21% standard, 24% (revenue above EUR 5m). Minimum tax rules.

Cost of living notes

City: Bratislava.

Prime family-home rent (monthly): EUR 3,000 (2026). Median asking rent of 71 houses of 180-450 m² for rent in Bratislava (all districts; mostly Koliba, Záhorská Bystrica, Rusovce, Ahoj, Horský park, castle hill), read from all six result pages of Nehnutelnosti.sk on 15 Oct 2026 (about 155 listings; range EUR 1,290-8,500; offices excluded). Asking rents, utilities extra. Source: Domy Bratislava - ponuka domov na prenájom, https://www.nehnutelnosti.sk/vysledky/domy/bratislava/prenajom
International school (annual, per child): EUR 27,530 (2026). The British International School Bratislava (Nord Anglia), Year 13 (IB Diploma), school year 2026/27: EUR 27,530 tuition (includes IBDP exam fees; no capital fee). New students pay a one-off EUR 900 registration fee and a refundable EUR 1,200 deposit. Source: BISB tuition fees 2026-27 (Schedule of Fee 2026/2027), https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/bisb-bratislava/admissions/tuition-fees

Prime purchase price per m², family health insurance and housekeeper cost were not sourced in this round and are omitted rather than guessed.

Open questions

PwC describes capital gains as falling in a separate 19% base; the law (§8(1)(e)-(f), §4(1)(a), §15(a)(1)-(4) ZDP, version effective 1 Jan 2026) puts gains on securities and company stakes in the general progressive base and reserves the separate 19% base for §7 capital income. We follow the law text.
Euro amounts of the 2026 bracket thresholds (multiples of the subsistence minimum valid on 1 Jan 2026) not computed here.
The credit method (§45(1) ZDP) credits the foreign tax up to the treaty rate and up to the Slovak tax on that income, so a 15% foreign withholding extinguishes the 7%; confirmed for treaties with a 15% cap (US, most EU states); a treaty capping at less than 7% would leave a residual.
Notary probate fees not quantified; treated as negligible.

Sources

Zákon č. 595/2003 Z. z. o dani z príjmov (version effective 1.1.2026): https://www.slov-lex.sk/static/pdf/2003/595/ZZ_2003_595_20260101.pdf
PwC, Slovak Republic - Individual - Income determination: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/slovak-republic/individual/income-determination
PwC, Slovak Republic - Individual - Taxes on personal income: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/slovak-republic/individual/taxes-on-personal-income
PwC, Slovak Republic - Individual - Other taxes: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/slovak-republic/individual/other-taxes
PwC, Slovak Republic - Individual - Residence: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/slovak-republic/individual/residence
PwC, Slovak Republic - Corporate - Taxes on corporate income: https://taxsummaries.pwc.com/slovak-republic/corporate/taxes-on-corporate-income
Zákon č. 580/2004 Z. z. o zdravotnom poistení (consolidated, effective 1.7.2026): https://www.slov-lex.sk/static/pdf/2004/580/ZZ_2004_580_20260701.pdf
Domy Bratislava - ponuka domov na prenájom: https://www.nehnutelnosti.sk/vysledky/domy/bratislava/prenajom
BISB tuition fees 2026-27 (Schedule of Fee 2026/2027): https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/bisb-bratislava/admissions/tuition-fees

Change log

2026-10-15: initial research.
2026-10-15: resolved capital-gains base from the law text (general progressive base, not the separate 19% base) and added 15% uncapped health insurance to private_business_sale (0.35 -> 0.50); capital_gains now high/verified; added Bratislava cost of living (Nehnutelnosti.sk rent sample, BISB 2026/27 fee).
2026-10-15: family rent re-checked against the upper-middle-class standard: kept.
2026-10-16: corrected the citation for gifts and inheritances to §12(7)(b) ZDP; read §15(a)(5), §51e(1)(a) and (3)(a) (7% separate base on foreign dividends), §45(1) (foreign tax credit up to the treaty rate and the Slovak tax) and §9(1)(k) (securities held more than one year on a regulated market) in the 2026 text and the Finančná správa guidance on foreign dividends; resolved the credit open question; noted why a holding s.r.o. is not scored. No rate changed.

Residence and succession sources

European e-Justice: Succession, Slovakia — European e-Justice Portal
Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 on succession — European Union
HCCH status table: Convention of 1 July 1985 on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition — Hague Conference on Private International Law

Tax sources are cited in the research notes above.