The wallets of the self-employed in Slovakia will become lighter at the start of next year as social insurance premiums rise in January.
The minimum contributions will rise by €9.78 to €167.89. This is because, given the figures published by the Statistics Office (ŠÚ SR), the average wage in Slovakia increased year-on-year by 6.2 percent last year, to €1,013, the SITA newswire reported.
A higher minimum assessment base

The minimum assessment base concerning social security contributions for the self-employed is, in fact, linked to the development of employees' average gross earnings. Hence, this base will also be adjusted upwards by 6.2 percent, to €506.50, from January 2020.
"The change affects not only those who in 2019 pay contributions calculated from the minimum assessment base, but also those whose premiums are currently below the minimum threshold set for 2020," said Peter Višváder, spokesperson for the Sociálna Poisťovňa state-run social insurer.
A minimum of €167.89
If the self-employed pay a minimum premium of €158.11 today, they will pay €167.89 monthly from next year.
“The new minimum social insurance premium will also have to be paid by the self-employed, who are not currently paying contributions calculated from the minimum assessment base, but their current social security contributions do not reach the newly set minimum assessment base,” Višváder added.

The social insurance premiums are paid for the previous month, which means the self-employed will have to pay higher social insurance premiums for January 2020 by February 10, 2020, at the latest.
A maximum benchmark will also increase
Starting from January 2020, the maximum assessment base for the payment of social insurance premiums will also go up, from €6,678 to €7,091.
It is due to the fact that as of January 2017 the maximum assessment base for the payment of social security contributions is seven times the average wage in Slovakia from two years ago.
The highest possible premiums for the self-employed will thus increase from €2,213.75 to €2,350.66 a month.
5. Nov 2019 at 13:55 | Compiled by Spectator staff