It adopted opinions on the National Council’s vetoes on the Implementation of the Republic of Slovenia’s Budgets Act, the amendment to the Value Added Tax Act and the amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act. The Government has allocated funds from the budget reserve to the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief to cover intervention costs incurred in extinguishing the fire in the Trstelj area of the Karst Region in July.

The Government approves the proposed amendments to the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Act

At today's meeting of the Committee on the Economy, the Government approved the proposed amendments to the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Act.

The proposed amendments take into account, to the greatest extent possible, the comments of the National Assembly's Legislative and Legal Service, regarding the proposed Act's compliance with the Constitution, the legal system and legislative and technical considerations.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The Government approves amendments to the Payment Services, Services for Issuing Electronic Money and Payment Systems Act

At the committee meeting, the Government also approved the proposed amendments to the amendment to the Payment Services, Services for Issuing Electronic Money and Payment Systems Act.

These amendments take into account, to the greatest extent possible, the comments of the National Assembly's Legislative and Legal Service, regarding the proposed Act's compliance with the Constitution, the legal system and legislative and technical considerations.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The Government's opinion on the National Council's veto on the amendment to the Implementation of the Republic of Slovenia’s Budgets Act

At the meeting of the Committee on the Economy, the Government adopted an opinion on the National Council’s request for the National Assembly to reconsider the Implementation of the Republic of Slovenia’s 2025 and 2026 Budgets Act.

The Government noted in its opinion that the National Council is not seeking reconsideration of the Implementation of the Budgets Act due to the Act itself, but because the amendment to the Act reduced the amount of funds in its financial plan.

The Government believes that this reduction should not negatively impact the functioning of the National Council in 2025. Namely, by adopting the Implementation of the Budgets Act, the National Assembly also approved a proposed provision under which the budget reserve funds can be used for purposes not covered in the state budget or where the allocated funds are insufficient. These funds would enable the smooth implementation of the state budget in the current year and are intended for commitments determined by acts and regulations adopted on the basis thereof. This means that the amount of funds allocated in the National Council's financial plan is not final and additional funds can be provided if justified needs are demonstrated.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The Government's opinion on the National Council's veto on the amendment to the Value Added Tax Act

The Government has adopted an opinion on the National Council’s request for the National Assembly to reconsider the amended Value Added Tax Act.

The Government considers the regulation of the obligation to maintain records of VAT charged and VAT deducted in a structured electronic format, with the periodic transmission of data from these records to the tax authority, which is addressed by the National Council, to be appropriate and justified.

It also considers the exemption of beverages with added sugar and sweeteners from taxation at a lower VAT rate to be an appropriate and justified measure that effectively supports other measures and health policy efforts to reduce sugar consumption.

The Government elaborated on this in greater detail in its opinion. Among other considerations, it noted that the change in maintaining VAT records applies only to taxable persons registered for VAT purposes. In addition, under the current regulations, taxable persons must allow the tax authority to verify the accuracy of the calculation and payment of VAT by submitting accounting data upon the request of the tax authority. The proposed Act newly regulates the structured content and format of records, specifying a comprehensive set of data to be included, and the obligation to report this data electronically to the tax authority.

In the Government's opinion, given the increasing digitalisation of business operations and communication between taxable persons, there is no valid reason for taxable persons not to electronically report data from the records on charging and deducting VAT to the tax authority.

By defining how data within these records is managed and reported to the tax authority, the proposed changes aim to prevent fraud and irregularities in VAT calculation faster and more efficiently. This also contributes to improving the competitive environment for the operations of economic entities that correctly meet their tax obligations, while at the same time relieving taxpayers of administrative obligations when dealing with the tax authority.

The introduction of a pre-populated VAT return also offers a benefit that will be of great help to smaller taxable persons with simpler transactions to meet their obligation to submit VAT returns.

With regard to the National Council's view that the exemption of drinks with added sugar and sweeteners from taxation at the reduced VAT rate will not achieve the declared objective of reducing the consumption of unhealthy drinks, the Government explains that the proposed measure aims to impact retail prices, thereby reducing the availability of sugary drinks. This is particularly aimed at encouraging young people to consumer fewer of these drinks. It should be stressed that the measure to remove the reduced VAT rate does not apply to fruit juices and waters.

The health profession has long drawn attention to the problems associated with the consumption of foods with a high sugar content, in particular sugary drinks. This issue has also been discussed in detail by the Strategic Food Council and the Strategic Health Council set up within the Office of the Prime Minister. Both councils have recommended addressing the problem of increased sugar consumption and the associated public health consequences. In particular, the issue of access to sugary drinks was highlighted, with proposals for a range of measures to reduce the availability of sugary drinks, particularly for young people.

As for the argument that a mere increase in the tax rate cannot guarantee the desired outcome, the Government explains that a wide range of measures have been considered by the councils to achieve this objective. One of the key measures is raising public awareness on the issue, as well as various other measures that would contribute to reducing the availability and thus the widespread consumption of sugary drinks.

Source: Ministry of Finance

Government's opinion on the National Council's veto on the amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act

At the meeting of the Committee on the Economy, the Government adopted an opinion on the National Council’s request for the National Assembly to reconsider the amendment to the Personal Income Tax Act.

In its opinion, the Government explained that, in designing measures to increase productivity, it relied on a report by the Office for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development, which listed attracting labour, especially educated labour from abroad, and encouraging the return of Slovenian experts (through a circular migration system) as the primary measures to enhance productivity. The Government therefore rejects the National Council's claims that it views domestic educated workers as less educated, thereby implicitly creating an assumption of a lower-quality domestic education system. The Government has also explained extensively during the legislative process, and further substantiated in its opinion, that introducing a special personal allowance is a solution in line with the constitution.

As regards the changes to the standardised expenditure system, the Government sees no justifiable reasons to delay addressing this issue, and the reasons for the changes are explained at length in the Government's submissions and are not repeated here. Moreover, the proposed solutions affect a very small number of taxable persons, namely those with a larger volume of business or other income, for whom the recording of actual income and expenditure cannot be excessively burdensome from a cost perspective. In addition, the Government considers that the proposed transitional arrangements provide sufficient time for affected taxpayers to transition to another method of determining their tax base.

With regard to the changes concerning seconded workers, social security contributions and employers' expectations for changes in the field of income tax, the Government recalls that it has prepared an analysis of the impact of these changes in the process of drafting the draft Act. Based on the data received, it was found that the total number of employees in companies that seconded their employees abroad in 2023 did not decrease significantly in 2024. At the same time, most of the companies that seconded their employees in both years maintained or even increased their total number of employees. Notably, these companies even increased their total number of seconded workers in 2024 compared to 2023 (an increase of 18%).

Source: Ministry of Finance

Government provides funds for the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief

At a meeting of the Committee on State Regulation and Public Affairs, the Government decided to provide the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief with spending appropriations totalling EUR 414,161.95  from the Budget Reserve Fund to cover the intervention costs incurred in fighting the fire in the Trstelj area of the Karst Region in July.

In addition, the Government decided to provide the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief with an additional spending appropriation of EUR 2,668 from the Budgetary Reserve Fund to cover the costs of damage assessment following the severe storms in June this year.

Source: Ministry of Finance