How much exactly do you owe the municipality for a given reservation? The formula is simple — rate × non-exempt persons × overnight stays — the catch is that both the rate and the exemptions are set by the VZN (municipal ordinance) of your municipality, with no nationwide cap and no nationwide list of exemptions. The same family can therefore pay a twice-as-high tax in two different cities. Here is the calculation step by step.
The formula
tax = municipal rate × non-exempt persons × number of overnight stays- Rate — set by the municipality’s VZN, with no statutory cap (verified destination rates).
- Persons — only those who are not exempt. By law, the only person who is not a taxpayer is an odídenec (a person granted temporary refuge, § 38a); all other exemptions — children, ŤZP (severe disability) card holders, seniors — are set by the municipality’s VZN.
- Overnight stays — Friday to Sunday = 2 overnight stays.
Example: a family in Košice
A family — 2 adults, children aged 10 and 16 — arrives on Friday and leaves on Sunday. The Košice rate is €3.50; the Košice VZN exempts persons under 18.
| Step | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight stays | Friday to Sunday | 2 |
| Exempt persons | both children < 18 (Košice VZN) | 2 persons pay |
| Tax | €3.50 × 2 persons × 2 overnight stays | €14 |
Now pay attention: in a municipality whose VZN has no children’s exemption, the same family pays €3.50 × 4 × 2 = €28 — double. In Poprad (only children under 7 are exempt, rate €2.50) all four pay: €2.50 × 4 × 2 = €20. Exemptions are not a detail — they are half of the calculation.
Three places where mistakes happen
1. Imported Czech rules. Czech hosts expanding into Slovakia automatically exempt children under 18 — in Czechia that is the law, in Slovakia it is at most a local exemption. Without a basis in the VZN, this means the tax was collected incorrectly (too low).
2. Exemption without records. You must be able to document the entitlement to an exemption — the child’s age, a record of the ŤZP card. An exemption you did not apply is your loss; one you cannot document is a finding of an inspection.
3. VZN specifics. Bratislava cancels exemptions for reservations made through digital platforms, Vysoké Tatry give a 50% discount to spa guests, and Liptovský Mikuláš adds a separate waste return on top of the tax. Two properties in two municipalities mean two regimes — details in our city guides.
From calculation to remittance
You remit to the municipality the total for the period (a month or a quarter, depending on the VZN), backed by records of overnight stays per person, including exempt ones. Continuous record-keeping is therefore more important than the formula itself — at the end of the period the return is built from it.
How Best Guest handles it
Best Guest holds rates, exemptions and filing periods as configurable rules for individual municipalities: the accommodation tax is calculated automatically for every stay (the guest fills in the exemption reason during online check-in), records are kept automatically and the return for the municipality is ready with one click — and you can also send the guest a QR code with the exact amount to your account.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Is the tax counted per night or per day?
Per overnight stay — the accommodation tax is tied to paid temporary accommodation and is collected per person and per overnight stay. A guest arriving on Friday and leaving on Sunday has 2 overnight stays.
Are children exempt from the tax?
Careful — in Slovakia this is not a nationwide rule. Act No. 582/2004 Coll. does not exempt children or holders of a ŤZP (severe disability) card; all exemptions are set by the VZN (municipal ordinance) of the specific municipality. Košice exempts persons under 18, Liptovský Mikuláš persons under 10, Poprad children under 7 — and a municipality without a children's exemption collects the tax for every child. That is a fundamental difference from Czechia, where children under 18 are exempt by law everywhere.
Is there a cap on how much a municipality can charge?
No — Slovak law sets no nationwide rate cap (unlike the Czech 50 CZK). Rates in the destinations we have verified currently range from €1.50 to €3.50 per person per overnight stay.
How is the tax remitted to the municipality?
On the schedule set by the VZN — typically monthly (Bratislava, Košice by the 15th) or quarterly (Liptovský Mikuláš), based on a return of the number of overnight stays backed by your records. By law, a cap of 60 overnight stays per guest with one accommodation provider per year applies everywhere; some VZNs add specifics of their own, such as a 50% discount for spa guests (Vysoké Tatry).
Can I include the tax in the price, or collect it separately?
Either — what matters is that you remit the correct amount to the municipality and can document it with your records. In practice you can include it in the price, have the guest pay by QR code with the exact amount to your account before arrival, or collect it on site — but for on-site payment (including by QR code) check whether you must record it in eKasa (see our eKasa guide).
Sources
Verified against
Informational only
This page is provided for general information and is not legal or tax advice. Rates, deadlines and exemptions are set by law and municipal ordinances and can change — always verify current requirements with your municipality or a qualified advisor.