How is income from Airbnb or Booking.com actually taxed in Slovakia? Short answer: a typical short-term rental with services is business income (trade licence) — taxed with the option of 60% flat-rate expenses and subject to health insurance and usually also social insurance. It is therefore not the same as the taxation of an ordinary long-term rental.
Rental vs. business: two different tax categories
The Income Tax Act distinguishes:
| Rental income | Business income (trade licence) | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical case | bare long-term rental | Airbnb/Booking with services |
| Trade licence | no | yes |
| Expenses | actual only | actual or 60% flat rate (max €20,000/year) |
| Health levies | no | yes — 15% (2025), 16% (2026–2027) |
| Social insurance | no | yes (details below) |
Which category applies to you depends on the nature of the activity — we covered it in detail in Do I need a trade licence for Airbnb? The typical host with cleaning, linen and check-in belongs in the right-hand column.
Flat-rate expenses: the simplest route for smaller hosts
With a trade licence you can choose:
- actual expenses — you keep records of all costs (utilities, furnishings, cleaning, platform fees…), or
- flat-rate expenses of 60% of income, capped at €20,000 per year — no expense receipts needed, applied automatically as a percentage (you still have to keep records of your income).
For most smaller hosts, the flat rate is both advantageous and convenient: on income of, say, €15,000 a year, €9,000 is recognised as expenses without a single receipt, and you tax a base of €6,000 (before deducting levies and tax-free allowances). Actual expenses are worth considering with high real costs — for example when furnishing the apartment, or with a high rent that you pay yourself.
The tax rate
The personal income tax rate depends on the type of income and the year. With a trade licence, the rate is 15% if your business income (turnover) for the year does not exceed €100,000 (2025 and 2026). Rental income without a trade licence is taxed progressively: for 2025 at 19%/25%, and from 2026 under new brackets of 19%, 25%, 30% and 35% (§ 15 of the Income Tax Act). Verify the specific rate for your situation with an accountant or on the Financial Administration’s pages. How much you keep in the end depends on your whole situation, so we do not quote a single effective burden.
Levies: health right away, social later
- Health insurance — paid in advances; the rate for a self-employed person is 15% for 2025 and 16% for 2026 and 2027 (temporary increase under § 38ezk of Act No. 580/2004 Coll.). After the year ends, an annual reconciliation takes place.
- Social insurance for new licence holders (from 2026) — anyone who registers a trade licence from 1 January 2026 and has not been self-employed before (or not for more than five years) is compulsorily insured from the first day of the sixth calendar month after the licence starts, regardless of income (§ 21(1) of Act No. 461/2003 Coll.). The old “no social insurance in the first year” rule no longer applies.
- Social insurance — the annual 1 July test — after that, the obligation is assessed based on the preceding year’s business income per the tax return. From 1 July 2026 the threshold is €2,876.90 of 2025 income (10.5 times the subsistence minimum). The rules change almost every year — verify your situation with the Social Insurance Agency.
Registration and the tax return
- Registration for income tax: by the end of the month following the month in which you started renting. When notifying a trade licence, it mostly happens automatically.
- Tax return: filed annually (type B), by the end of March of the following year, with the option of an extension.
- Remember that VAT is a separate topic — VAT-identified person registration must be requested independently of income tax, before you receive the first service (commission) from a foreign platform.
Why this can’t just be ignored
Platforms report your income to the tax authorities automatically under the DAC7 rules (in Slovakia § 22h et seq. of Act No. 442/2012 Coll.). For property rentals there is no minimum threshold: the often-quoted “fewer than 30 transactions and at most €2,000” exemption applies only to sales of goods; only entities with more than 2,000 rentals of a single listed property a year, typically hotels, are excluded. The tax office therefore sees your platform income and can match it against your (un)filed return. Untaxed income can be assessed retroactively, with penalties — more in the article on fines.
How Best Guest handles this
Best Guest does not handle income tax — for that you need an accountant. What it does handle is the record-keeping side of the business that the tax agenda draws on: the digital guest register, accommodation tax overviews and the documents for reporting foreigners — so during a tax inspection your operational records are complete and exportable.
This article is an informational overview, not tax advice. Rates, thresholds and limits change — consult a tax advisor or accountant about your specific situation.
Related pages
Frequently asked questions
Do I tax Airbnb income as rental income, or as business income?
A typical short-term rental with services (cleaning, linen, check-in) is an accommodation service — that is, business income based on a trade licence, not income from renting real estate. This is a fundamental difference: it changes how expenses are calculated, the rates, and the levy obligations. A bare long-term rental without services, by contrast, is taxed as rental income.
Which expenses can I claim with a trade licence?
Either actual documented expenses, or flat-rate expenses of 60% of income, capped at €20,000 per year. The flat rate is administratively the simplest and for most smaller hosts also advantageous — you do not have to keep receipts for every light bulb; expenses are recognised automatically as a percentage.
Which levies do I pay on trade-licence income?
Health insurance: the rate for a self-employed person is 15% for 2025 and 16% for 2026 and 2027 (a temporary increase under § 38ezk of Act No. 580/2004 Coll.), paid in advances with an annual reconciliation. Social insurance: anyone who registers a trade licence from 2026 and has not been self-employed before (or not for more than five years) is compulsorily insured from the first day of the sixth calendar month after the licence starts, regardless of income. After that, the obligation is assessed each year as of 1 July based on the preceding year's business income — from 1 July 2026 you pay if your 2025 income exceeded €2,876.90. Verify your situation with the Social Insurance Agency and your health insurer.
When do I have to register with the tax office?
Registration for income tax must be done by the end of the calendar month following the month in which you started renting. With a trade licence, registration mostly happens automatically when the licence is notified.
How much of my Airbnb income actually remains after taxes and levies?
There is no single percentage — it depends on your income and expenses, whether you are also employed, and whether you already pay social insurance. With a trade licence the burden consists of income tax (15% of the tax base if your business income for the year does not exceed €100,000), health insurance (16% in 2026) and possibly social insurance. For a precise calculation for your situation, we recommend an accountant or tax advisor.
Will the tax office learn about my platform income?
Yes. Airbnb and Booking.com report hosts' income to the tax authorities under the DAC7 rules (in Slovakia § 22h et seq. of Act No. 442/2012 Coll.), by 31 January of the following year, and must send you the same data. For property rentals there is no minimum threshold — the 'fewer than 30 transactions and at most €2,000' exemption applies only to sales of goods. Even a host with a single stay a year is reported, and untaxed platform income can be assessed retroactively, with penalties.
Sources
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.