INTEREST among Slovak companies in registering in countries deemed tax havens is rising significantly. Based on data from the independent Czech agency ČEKIA, the number of companies registered in tax havens increased by 7.1 percent during the first half of 2012. The number of such registrations grew by 213 to 3,208, representing 1.62 percent of the 191,000 firms operating in Slovakia, the SITA newswire reported, citing ČEKIA, in early August.
The Netherlands, Cyprus and Luxembourg continue to be the most attractive tax havens for Slovak businesses. The biggest relative increase in the first half of the year was reported in the Seychelles, where the number of registered Slovak businesses rose by 111 percent.
“If Slovak businesses preserve the pace of joining international holdings throughout the year, it would mean the strongest outflow in the last three years,” said Petra Štěpánová, an analyst with ČEKIA. She said the current economic and political situation in Slovakia might have motivated Slovak firms to relocate their businesses to tax havens.
