Accommodation Tax in Martin: the €2.00 Rate, Ordinance No. 76, Registration and Remittance

What is the rate and who sets it?

The legal framework is Act No. 582/2004 Coll. on Local Taxes — the specific rate is set by each city in its own VZN. In Martin the accommodation tax is part of the omnibus VZN No. 76 on local taxes, which also regulates property tax, dog tax and other local taxes — accommodation is covered in its Part Four, § 22 – § 26a. Under § 23 the rate is €2.00 per person per overnight stay in an accommodation establishment. Under § 22 the tax base is the number of overnight stays, but no more than 60 overnight stays by one taxpayer with the same payer in a calendar year — the same nationwide cap as in any other city.

How do I register as a tax payer?

Under § 26, the payer must notify the tax administrator, for each accommodation establishment in the city, of the start of providing paid temporary accommodation no later than the day it begins. The notification contains the payer’s identification and contact details, the name and address of the establishment, its type under § 37 of Act No. 582/2004 Coll., the accommodation capacity, and — if applicable — the identification of a tax payer’s representative who would partly or fully take over the payer’s tax obligations. Changes to relevant facts and the end of providing accommodation are reported within 30 days.

How often is the tax reported and remitted?

Quarterly. Under § 25, after the end of a quarter the payer prepares a return on the number of overnight stays and the number of accommodated persons for each establishment and delivers it to the tax administrator always by 15 January, 15 April, 15 July or 15 October of the relevant year. The tax itself is due within 15 days of the decision by which the tax administrator assesses it becoming final.

Who is exempt from the tax?

§ 24 of VZN No. 76 exempts 9 categories of persons in a single article — the widest range among the Slovak cities we have verified directly from the text of the VZN:

• pensioners over 65,
• children under 10,
• holders of a ŤZP or ŤZP/S (severe disability) card,
• natural persons awaiting a medical examination, procedures and hospitalisation,
• companions of patients hospitalised during the provision of healthcare (generally the legal representative of a minor or a person close to the patient),
• persons who are students up to 26 and are continuously preparing for a profession through full-time study,
• persons in material need,
• persons who are registered for temporary residence in the accommodation establishment where they are paying for accommodation,
• persons who ensure the operation of the accommodation establishment.

Two of these categories are unique in Martin’s overview: the exemption of a companion of a hospitalised patient (distinct from the companion of a ŤZP person and from the exemption of the patient themselves) and the exemption of an establishment’s operating staff (distinct from the exemption of the owner and their family, known for example from Kováčovce). Under § 24(2), entitlement to an exemption is proven by an appropriate document directly to the tax payer; the VZN does not specify the exact type of document for each category separately.

Does the Bratislava trap apply in Martin?

No. Unlike Bratislava or Dunajská Lužná, the text of § 24 – § 26a contains no clause that would cancel an exemption for a booking through a digital platform. A Martin guest with a ŤZP card is exempt equally for a direct booking and for a booking via Airbnb or Booking.com. More on this trap and which other cities have it in the city-by-city overview of exemptions.

Does Airbnb collect the tax for me?

No — so far only Airbnb in Bratislava has an agreement with a Slovak city on automatic tax collection at booking. In Martin you collect and remit the tax yourself, although the VZN in § 25(4) and § 26(1)(f) already provides for the institute of a tax payer’s representative, should you contractually transfer collection to a platform in the future.

How Best Guest handles it

Best Guest lets you set Martin’s rate and the whole nine-category range of exemptions once, and then automatically calculates the accommodation tax for every stay, keeps track of the 60-night cap and the quarterly deadlines of 15 Jan / 15 Apr / 15 Jul / 15 Oct — including the distinction of categories such as the companion of a hospitalised patient or operating staff, which you will not find in other cities at all.

Related pages

• Who does not pay accommodation tax in Slovakia — city-by-city overview
• Accommodation tax in Žilina
• Act No. 582/2004 Coll. on Local Taxes
• Host obligations in Slovakia