Archive of articles - September 2011, page 3
If you desire to read an old article, use the search bar or select the publication date.
Firms object to disparities in local taxes
EARLIER this year the business sector complained to the government about the uneven burden of local taxes imposed on businesses, arguing that it has a negative effect on the business environment. A subsequent analysis conducted by the Finance Ministry comparing revenue and rates of real estate taxes concluded that the business sector is indeed burdened more than the general population. To address this issue, the ministry prepared a revision to the law which parliament passed for further consideration. The business sector as well as municipalities will now have to wait for the final wording of the revision to see what impacts it will have.
SARIO seeks new investors
THE SLOVAK Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) presented Slovakia as an investment destination in Germany via a series of investment seminars and individual meetings held in mid September, the SITA newswire reported.
Primary kinds of taxes in Slovakia
Value added tax (VAT)
Fewer audits, more €
WHILE the total number of tax audits performed in Slovakia has been declining over recent years, a higher number of so-called ‘findings’ indicate that better methods and instruments are being used by the country’s tax administration to root out tax fraud or tax errors. In 2006 there were more than 30,000 tax audits in Slovakia and the average amount of each finding was less than €10,000 in miscalculated or unpaid taxes. In 2010 the Tax Directorate performed only 18,400 tax audits but the average finding was €30,000, according to the Slovak branch of Ernst & Young (E&Y) which wrote a report earlier this year titled Tax Audits in the Slovak Republic, based on data released by Slovakia’s Tax Directorate.
Quote of the week
“Mr Baška is a dunce, as only a dunce could step out in front of journalists and ask me to explain why we made an air show cheaper and more transparent than he did.”
Children's illustrators return again
AS IN each autumn every other year, the Slovak capital is now the centre of book illustrations for children. From September 1 till October 26, the 23rd Bienále ilustrácií Bratislava (Biennial of Illustration Bratislava), or BIB, presents the winning works from its international competition among other events. “The goal is not so much the competition; BIB also enhances the views of people towards creation for children, as adults can see illustrations from different countries,” the jury chair, Murti Bunanta from Indonesia, told the SITA newswire.
Tax Freedom Day came earlier in 2011
TAX Freedom Day, the day of the year on which a country’s taxpayers have finished paying their cumulative tax obligations to the government, came earlier in Slovakia in 2011 than it did in 2010. Tax Freedom Day was celebrated on June 3, 2011, while it arrived on June 7 in 2010, the SITA newswire wrote, citing an analysis prepared by the Slovak Taxpayers Association and the F.A. Hayek Foundation.
Fewer people support Obama
THE POPULARITY of US President Barack Obama in Slovakia is fading, a survey conducted by the American public policy and grant-making institution, the German Marshall Fund, suggests. While last year about 76 percent of Slovaks supported him as the leader of the US, this year he would be supported by only 58 percent of respondents here, the SITA newswire reported.
Sadiki sentence confirmed
CONVICTED drug smuggler and the reputed head of the drug mafia in Slovakia Baki Sadiki has had his sentence of 22 years in a maximum security prison confirmed after the regional court in Prešov rejected his appeal against an original verdict passed in June, the SITA newswire reported.
SND
SLOVAKS seem to be no big fans of acronyms. If you see one, it likely bears the name of a public institution, political party, or a foreign firm. In the first category, there is RTVS (the public broadcaster), NR SR (the parliament), FNM (the National Property Fund), SIS (the Slovak intelligence service), NKÚ (the Supreme Audit Office), ÚPN (the Nation’s Memory Institute), SPP (the national gas company), and the list could go on and on. In the second group you have the KDH (the Christian Democratic Movement), SDKÚ (the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union), SaS (Freedom and Solidarity), and SNS (the Slovak National Party). And in the last group you will find the usual mix of HBO, KFC, and ING.
Second pension pillar – version 21
THE ACT on Pension Savings, passed during the second government of Mikuláš Dzurinda in 2004 with the objective of reforming Slovakia’s pension system, has now been amended 21 times in its fairly brief legislative history. The newest changes initiated by the government of Iveta Radičová are designed to remove what her cabinet called deformations in the pension system pushed through by the previous government of Robert Fico.
New airline enters Slovak market
A NEW passenger airline, Slovakian Airlines, entered the local market in an original way in September – by naming its first plane, a Boeing 737-500, after Milan Rastislav Štefánik, one of the founders of independent Czechoslovakia, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported.
Cabinet sets special levy on banks
ENACTING a special tax levy on banks has been a pet project of Robert Fico and his Smer party. That passion never resulted in legislation when Fico and his coalition were in power between 2006 and 2010. But it is now the cabinet of Prime Minister Iveta Radičová that has approved a special levy on domestic banks and subsidiaries of international banks in the hope of bringing an additional €51 million to the state coffers next year.
Flooded shelter seeks help
THE FLOODS in Kežmarok in eastern Slovakia at the end of August destroyed the town’s animal shelter.
Tax-related information on the web
There are a number of internet-based sources where individuals and corporations can find detailed and up-to-date information about taxes in Slovakia and some sites are in the English language.
The 'other' Picasso in Bratislava
THOSE WHO appreciate only the 'trademark' Pablo Picasso, in particular his most famous cubist works, might be best advised to stay away from Bratislava’s City Gallery. Its exhibition Love and Death: La Suite Vollard is a collection of Picasso’s works, mostly etchings and dry points from the period between 1931 and 1936, which represent a transitional period between neoclassical forms of expression and surrealism.
More tax hikes to patch budget hole
THE SLOVAK government has introduced some new taxes and raised the rates of others in order to patch a hole forecast for next year’s budget. Apart from a special levy on banks and an earlier hike in excise tax on cigarettes it has also introduced new, more efficient tools against tax evasion, the SITA newswire wrote, adding that measures to stop excise tax evasion are expected to bring an additional €30 million to state coffers next year.
Thinking green, building smart
GLOBAL warming caused by greenhouse gases released by the burning of fossil fuels for power generation has become an issue in architecture. Architects no longer consider only how buildings look and how they meet their functional requirements, but also take into account their environmental impact. Sustainable architecture seeks to minimise the negative impacts of buildings on the environment and to draw attention to the importance of healthier and more sustainable communities. To pursue these aims, Slovakia participated for the first time in the annual World Green Building Week in mid September.
Two candidates emerge for ombudsman job
THE RULING coalition does not seem to have learned from the difficulties caused by its failure to agree on a joint candidate for the general prosecutor job, with two rival candidates now emerging to fill one of the next big state jobs that will need to be decided in coming months.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Last Week: Slovakia’s central bank governor still faces bribery case verdict
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- Show me your moves! Slovak hockey stars share their best pick-up lines
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The compass points to Kúty, and people are starting to follow
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
