The Slovak Parliament approved the government’s draft amendment to the Act on Excise Tax on Electricity, Coal and Natural Gas in early June 2025. The aim of the proposal is to reduce the administrative burden of the registration process for consumers, adapt the legislation to current trends and promote the electronification of processes.
Below we provide you with a clear overview of the most important amendments to the current legislation.
- New definitions in the Excise Tax Act
The following definitions are added to the legislation in view of current trends and developments in the energy sector:
- electricity company – a person who operates in the energy sector on the basis of a permit and produces electricity or operates a distribution system or purchases electricity for the purpose of resale
- electricity supplier – a person who operates in the energy sector on the basis of a permit or in compliance with the notification obligation and supplies electricity to the end user of electricity
- gas company – a person who operates in the energy sector on the basis of a permit and produces natural gas or is an operator of a transmission network or purchases natural gas, stores it for the purpose of resale
- natural gas supplier – a person who operates in the energy sector on the basis of a permit or in compliance with the notification obligation and supplies natural gas to the end user
- New exemption from electricity taxation
Electricity produced or consumed by the person who produced it is now exempt from taxation if the total installed capacity of the facility does not exceed 5 MW.
The exemption does not apply to electricity produced:
- coal
- natural gas
- mineral oil
- Introduction of new persons subject to registration
The government proposal adds to the law the following persons who are entitled to use tax-exempt electricity but are obliged to apply to the customs office for registration as:
- an authorised electricity consumer
- an authorised coal consumer
- an authorised natural gas consumer
The authorized consumer is obliged to include in the application for the issuance of a permit for exempt electricity information on:
- the purpose of using the exempt electricity, coal, natural gas and the estimated amount of its annual consumption in MWh
- the number of the separate point of consumption exclusively for the consumption of electricity from the exempt electricity
- a document proving the business license (not older than 30 days)
- a description of the purpose and method of using the exempt electricity and documents proving these facts
- a statement that it is technically impossible for the electricity to be used for purposes other than those specified by the exemption act
The Bratislava Customs Office is obliged to examine the application and issue a permit for the consumption of tax-exempt electricity within 30 days of submitting the application for registration as an authorized consumer of electricity, coal or natural gas. At the same time, the authorized person is obliged to report all changes to the Customs Office.
The new condition is that the electricity supplier shall not supply tax-exempt electricity to an eligible electricity consumer without a permit for exempt electricity.
This does not apply if the eligible electricity consumer is also the end consumer of electricity in a household.
- Termination of the use of the permit for exempt electricity
The government bill also adds to the current wording of the Act on Excise Tax on Electricity, Coal and Natural Gas the conditions under which the right to use the benefits of the permit for the purchase of exempt electricity terminates. These are the following facts:
- deletion or submission of an application for deletion from the commercial register
- deletion or submission of an application for deletion from the trade register for natural persons – entrepreneurs
- death of an authorized electricity consumer
- entry into liquidation
- repeated use of exempt electricity for a purpose other than tax exemption
- repeated failure to pay a fine for administrative offenses
- Amendments to the rules for the use and supply of natural gas
The subject of the tax for the excise duty on natural gas was amended by the government proposal to the following wording, which includes:
- liquefied natural gas (nomenclature 2711 11 00)
- natural gas in its full state and compressed natural gas (nomenclature 27 11 21 00)
- biogas, biomethane and other gases in a gaseous or compressed state (nomenclature 2711 29 00)
- natural gas, water gas, producer gas, petroleum and other gases (nomenclature 2705 00 00)
- any gas that has been used as a fuel or propellant
Also, the tax rate for natural gas is also adjusted according to the method of use as follows:
Method of use | Rate |
| As fuel for heat production | 1,32 EUR/MWh |
| As a fuel (supplied at filling stations) | 9,36 EUR/MWh |
| For other purposes | 1,32 EUR/MWh |
The government bill enters into force on July 1, 2025.
You can read the complete text of the approved government proposal with all amendments and supplements on the following page of the National Council of the Slovak Republic (in Slovak language only).
