Slovak tourist tax: a step-by-step guide to reporting

The accommodation tax (daň za ubytovanie) is paid by the guest, but it is collected and paid to the municipality (obec) by the operator of the accommodation. The tax is based on the number of nights, and everything else (the rate, deadlines, how to report and who is exempt) is set by each municipality in its own generally binding regulation, a local bylaw known as a VZN (všeobecne záväzné nariadenie). Before your first guest arrives you must notify the municipality of your capacity; after that you keep a guest register and, by the deadlines set in the VZN, report the number of nights and pay the tax.

What the law says

The tax is governed by Act No. 582/2004 Coll. on Local Taxes (zákon č. 582/2004 Z. z. o miestnych daniach), § 37 to 43. These provisions have not changed since 1 January 2026, and the amendment taking effect on 1 January 2027 does not change them either.

• What is taxed: temporary accommodation of an individual for payment. The law explicitly lists chalets, log cabins, bungalows, family houses and flats in apartment blocks, not just hotels and guesthouses.
• Taxpayer: the guest. Tax collector: the operator of the accommodation. If the operator cannot be identified, the owner of the property is responsible; where there are several owners, each of them is responsible and they are jointly and severally liable.
• Tax base: the number of nights, up to a maximum of 60 nights per guest with the same tax collector per calendar year.
• Rate: set by the municipality in euros per person per night; it may set different rates for different parts of the municipality.
• Competent municipality: the one in whose territory the accommodation is located.
• A person with temporary protection (odídenec) is not a taxpayer (§ 38a).

Notification duties (§ 41a)

• Notify the municipality of your accommodation capacity no later than the day you start providing accommodation.
• Notify it of the end of operation within 30 days, and likewise of any change that affects the tax.
• Keep a guest register (evidenčná kniha) on paper or electronically: first name and surname, permanent address, date of birth, number and type of ID document, number of nights and any other records needed to calculate the tax. More in the article Guest register requirements.
• Report the tax base to the municipality by the deadline and in the manner set out in the VZN.

If you still do not comply after a formal request, the municipality will assess the tax using estimates: the number of beds times the number of days you did not report (§ 41b). A municipality may also introduce a flat-rate tax per bed per year; it only applies with your consent, and you then do not have to keep the guest register for tax purposes (§ 41d), although you still have to keep the guest book required under the law on reporting residence.

The tax may be collected partly or fully on your behalf by a tax collector's representative (zástupca platiteľa), meaning the operator of a digital platform that brokers the accommodation (§ 38(3)). You must notify the municipality of this and continue to keep guest records for everyone (§ 41a(3)).

Three municipalities, three different sets of rules

How much the bylaws differ is shown by three municipalities in the Liptov region and near Brezno (Horná Lehota with Krpáčovo). All three regulations have been in force since 1 January 2026.

Each municipality also has its own additional duties:

• Liptovský Ján: register with the municipal office (obecný úrad) within 30 days of starting operation. The municipality assigns a registration number and a sign that must be displayed so that it is visible from a public space; failing to display it can lead to a fine of €100. The amount of tax collected is also recorded in the register.
• Demänovská Dolina: the start of accommodation must be notified within 30 days on the prescribed form, and payments to the municipality's account must include the variable symbol (payment reference) assigned at registration.
• Horná Lehota: a guest book with numbered pages must be submitted for stamping within 30 days, and receipts for tax paid must be kept for 10 years.

If your accommodation is elsewhere, look up the VZN on local taxes on your municipality's website. We keep adding rates and deadlines to our overview on the Tourist tax page.

Exemptions in practice

You can only apply an exemption if it is listed in your municipality's VZN. The lists vary considerably: in Demänovská Dolina only holders of a ŤZP card and their companions are exempt, whereas in Horná Lehota children under 6 and the owner's family are exempt too. Record the reason for every exempt guest; Horná Lehota requires this directly in the guest book, while Liptovský Ján and Demänovská Dolina make the exemption conditional on showing a valid card.

Example calculation (illustrative only): a family of four with a child under 6 stays for three nights.

• Horná Lehota: the child is exempt, so 3 people × 3 nights × €1.00 = €9.00.
• Demänovská Dolina: children are not exempt, so 4 people × 3 nights × €2.00 = €24.00.

Reporting step by step

1. Before your first guest, notify the municipality of your capacity and the start of accommodation on the form required by the VZN, or register if required.
2. For every stay, enter the guests in the guest register, collect the tax and issue a receipt with the details required by the VZN.
3. At the end of each period (month or quarter), add up the nights and file the report; if the VZN requires it, file a nil return too.
4. Pay the tax into the municipality's account using the assigned payment references, or at its cash desk if the municipality allows this.
5. Keep the register and receipts in case of an inspection.

Common pitfalls

With the accommodation tax, the things most often forgotten are small details that the VZN spells out explicitly:

• nil return: if the VZN requires it, it must be filed even in a month without a single guest (Liptovský Ján, Demänovská Dolina),
• change of capacity: adding an extra bed or a new room is a change in the facts relevant to the tax and must be notified within 30 days (§ 41a(1)),
• reason for exemption: without a record in the register, an exemption is hard to prove during an inspection,
• payment references: when paying into the municipality's account, include the variable symbol assigned at registration, as the VZN requires (for example Liptovský Ján and Demänovská Dolina),
• receipt for the guest: the VZN sets out what it must contain, for example the rate, the number of nights and the amount of tax,
• consistent data: from 2027 the municipality will also have access to data from the short-term rental register, so the capacity you notify to the municipality should match what is in the register.

Tax and bookings via booking portals

If a guest books through a portal, you collect the accommodation tax from them yourself, for example on arrival, unless the portal acts as the tax collector's representative in your municipality. For example, in its partner help pages Booking.com states that it does not charge commission on local taxes such as the accommodation tax. With a direct booking you can show the tax straight away in the price breakdown, so the guest is not surprised on arrival.

How SFERIN makes this easier

With the guest registration add-on, guests fill in their details on their phone via a QR code at the property, and you get a guest book with an export for the authorities, including the figures you need for the tax report. We are also preparing a calculation of the tax per person per night directly in the booking price. We will tell you the price of the add-on when we prepare your free website preview.