SLOVENIA

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.

• The Slovenian central bank is Banka Slovenije (BSI – bsi.si).
• The BSI is a member of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and operates certain activities, such as issuing currency, under the authority of the European Central Bank (ECB – www. www.ecb.europa.eu).

Bank supervision

• In November 2014, the ECB, via the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), assumed responsibility for supervising the financial stability of banks operating within the euro zone. However, while the ECB has final supervisory authority over all banks operating within the euro zone, it will only directly supervise those banks classified as ‘significant’ under the terms of the SSM (115 significant banking groups have been recognized to date). ‘Less significant’ banks will continue to be supervised by the national supervisory authority, i.e. the NBS.

• There is no standard approach to lifting fees.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax and treasury payments.
• Credit transfers can be paper-based or electronic.
• In 2020, 153 million credit transfers were processed (160.8 million in 2019), with a value of EUR 273 billion (EUR 285.5 million in 2019). Of the total number sent, 10.5 million were paper based, with a value of EUR 14 billion.
• Domestic credit transfers and instant credit transfers can be processed via BIPS.
• Instant payments can be processed via BIPS-IP. There are two sub-systems: BIPS-IP for commercial interbank instant payments and the FLIK Domestic payment scheme.
• Cross-border SEPA credit transfers can be settled via STEP2 or via correspondent banking networks.
• Sixteen banks in Slovenia participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• High-value and urgent domestic and cross-border (within the eurozone) credit transfers can be settled in real time via TARGET2-SI.
• High-value and urgent cross-border credit transfers can also be settled with end-of-day value via the Euro Banking Association's EURO1 system.
• Cross-border transfers can also be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• The European Payment Council’s SCT Inst scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) enables the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value is EUR 100,000) to another account in less than ten seconds. There are six participants.
• EBA Clearing and Italy’s SIA Group have developed and implemented a pan-European platform for instant EUR payments called RT1. It is fully compliant with the SCT Insts scheme and is in line with the ISO 20022 global messaging standards for instant payments.
• EBA Clearing has launched a pan-European request to pay (R2P) infrastructure solution with the support of 27 payment service providers from 11 countries. The new 24/7 service is compatible with the SCT and SCT Inst schemes and allows payees to take the initiative to request a specific payment from the payer.
• TIPS is a pan-European service for the settlement of instant payments in central bank money. The service enables payment service providers and ACHs with access to TARGET2 to offer fund transfers 24/7, 365 days a year. TIPS is aligned with SCT Insts. It is primarily focused on EUR payments but is technically capable of settling payments denominated in other currencies.

• Direct debits are used for regular payments, such as utility bills.
• In 2020, 44 million direct debits were processed (43 million in 2019), with a value of EUR 3.5 billion (EUR 3.5 billion in 2019).
• Direct debits can be settled on a same-day basis via SIMP-PS.
• SEPA direct debit CORE and B2B SEPA direct debit schemes are available in Slovenia. Sixteen banks in Slovenia participate in the SEPA direct debit CORE scheme, nine in the B2B scheme.

• Cheques are rarely used in Slovenia.

• Card payments, particularly debit cards, are increasingly popular, especially for retail transactions.
• There were 2.7 million debit and 129,059 credit cards in circulation at the end of March 2021. There were 1.3 million delayed debit cards in circulation.
• The number of domestic debit card payments in 2020 was 158.8 million (198.7 million in 2019). There were 3.9 million credit cards transactions (4.2 million in 2019).  
• There are three domestic card schemes in Slovenia. Activa, Karanta and Bankart. Active cards are co-branded with Maestro, Mastercard, Visa or Electron. Karenta cards are co-branded with Mastercard.
• American Express and Diners Club credit cards are also available.
• Contactless payment cards are available.
• Bankart processes BA cards and Karanta cards. Activa is the processor of that Activa card scheme.
• MasterCard processes domestic transactions made using MasterCard and Maestro payment cards.
• All cards issued are SEPA-compliant with EMV chips.

• There were 1,480 ATMs in Slovenia at the end of Q1 2021.
• There were 36,197 POS terminals in Slovenia at the end of 2019.
• Poravnava Kartic processes all domestic transactions with MasterCard, Karanta ad MA/Maestro cards at POS and ATMs. It is operated by Bankart.
• Poravnava bankomatov processes domestic debit cards transactions (BA Maestro, Activa Maestro) at ATMs when the cardholder makes a withdrawal from an ATM belonging to another participant in the payment system. It is operated by Bankart.
• All ATMs and POS terminals are EMV-compliant.

• Reloadable pre-paid cards are available from banks and non-banks.
• There are three licensed e-money institutions in Slovenia.
• Instant payments can be made using Flik, Slovenia’s national instant P2P money transfer system. Payments can be made 24/7/365 using a mobile number or email address. Flik is available from all commercial banks and savings bank which own it. Transfers of up to EUR 15,000 are permitted.
• Mobile wallet apps, such as VALÚ, Google Pay and Apple Pay, are available.

• The EU has trade agreements in place with over 30 countries.
• The EU is currently in free trade negotiations with a number of countries, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, Indonesia, Mercosur (the Southern Common Market), Uruguay, and the USA.
• The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on 1 May 2021.

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, July 2021.

• Import licences are required for agricultural products with quantitative restrictions, in accordance with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.

• Tariffs are set according to the EU customs code for all imports from outside the EU, with higher tariffs for agricultural imports.

• None.

• None.

• Slovenia prohibits the import of certain items in line with EU regulations and UN Security Council resolutions.
• Specific imports are prohibited in order to protect fauna and flora, for health and safety or moral reasons, and/or for national security.

• Export licences are required for dual-use goods and technological products, military equipment, armaments and ammunition, dangerous chemicals, poisons, narcotics and psychotropic substances.

• None.

• None.

• Slovenia has implemented the EU directive on export credit insurance.
• SID Bank is Slovenia’s export credit agency, provides state-supported export credit insurance in addition to state-subsidised export credit.
• Export credit insurance is also available from private insurance companies.

• Slovenia prohibits the export of certain items in line with EU regulations and UN Security Council resolutions.

• Slovenia does not apply exchange controls.
• Restrictions apply to foreign investment in a limited number of sectors such as maritime and air transport by non-EEA residents.

• N/A

• Interest expense may be deducted on loans from company owners or other associated parties up to a maximum of the amount calculated by using the prescribed interest rate published by the Ministry of Finance. Taxpayers must increase taxable profits by the amount of any excess interest expense unless they can prove that they could have received the loan on comparable terms from an unrelated party.

• N/A

• Binding and non-binding rulings on proposed business activities may be obtained from the tax authorities.

• Capital gains are subject to a base rate tax of 27.5%. which is reduced to 20% after the asset has been held for five years, 15% after 10 years and 10% if the asset is held for more than 15 years. Capital gains is tax exempt if the asset is held for more than 20 years.
• Capital gains arising from derivatives are taxed at a rate of 40% if disposed of during the first year of ownership. The rate decreases for longer periods of ownership.

• Slovenia has concluded 62 tax treaties.
• Slovenia has implemented country-by-country reporting requirements.  
• With country-by-country reporting, tax administrations of jurisdictions where a company operates will have aggregate information annually relating to the global allocation of income and taxes paid, together with other indicators of the location of economic activity within the MNE group. It will also cover information about which entities do business in a particular jurisdiction and the business activities each entity engages in. The information is collected by the country of residence of the MNE group, and then exchanged through exchange of information supported by such agreements as the MCAA. First exchanges under the MCAA started in 2017–18 on 2016 information.

• N/A

• Transactions with non-resident related parties must be on arm’s length terms. The same applies for resident related parties if one of the parties is deemed to be in a beneficial tax position. Documentation and reporting requirements apply.

• There is no stamp duty.

• There are no specific rules for cash pooling arrangements.

• Tax is levied on financial services provided by banks and other financial institutions. The tax rate is 8.5% and is applied to the fee of the financial service.

All tax information supplied by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Deloitte Highlight 2021 (www.deloitte.com).