Financial Directorate of SR

The jurisdiction of the Financial Directorate of the SR (“Financial Directorate”) extends throughout all the territory of the Slovak Republic. The Financial Directorate is wholly funded from the state budget through the Ministry of Finance’s budget allocation and it operates as the:

• Civil service office for the Financial Administration officers;
• Employer for the employees performing work in public interest or working on the basis of non-employment work arrangements defined in the Labour Code at the Financial Directorate, tax offices, customs offices and the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration (“Financial Directorate’s employees”);
• Civil service office for civil servants defined in the relevant law.

The Financial Directorate performs the following duties:

• Manages and controls tax offices, customs offices and the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration;
• Designs the Financial Administration development concept in line with the Financial Administration development strategy;
• Ensures the uniform application of special laws and of international treaties by which the Slovak Republic is bound (“international treaties”) in the areas of taxes, charges and customs, and proposes amendments to the same;
• Creates, develops and operates financial administration information systems and submits its activity plans aimed at creating and developing such information systems to the Ministry of Finance;
• Using the Financial Administration’s information systems, implements and maintains a central register of economic operators and of other entities engaging in activities which are subject to the customs legislation, and ensures the alignment of such Central Register with the relevant registers kept by the European Commission; implements and maintains a central register of taxable entities; maintains a base of data;
• Assigns EORI numbers (economic operator registration identifiers) to economic operators and other relevant persons in accordance with the relevant law;
• Provides information under the relevant law;
• Performs duties as the administrator of the Integrated Customs Tariff and tariff related measures and supervises compliance;
• Administers the harmonised system nomenclature and the combined nomenclature;
• Directs the acceptance of security for customs debt and makes decisions on the waiver of security for customs debt under the relevant law;
• Approves the appropriateness of containers for transport under customs seal;
• Provides data for the state statistics of trade in goods between the Slovak Republic and third countries and between the Slovak Republic and the Member States of the European Union (“Member States”);
• Organises the collection and processing of information for the customs statistics of goods where so required by relevant laws;
• Informs persons about their rights and duties with regard to taxes and charges, and other rights and duties arising from relevant laws;
• Informs municipalities about matters concerning local taxes and charges administered by them and the administration of taxes and relevant laws;
• Makes decisions on requests seeking intellectual property right protection remedies under relevant laws and notifies competent authorities of the Member States, to such extent and on such terms as provided for in relevant laws, of the decisions concerning such requests for remedies;
• Supplies information to the European Commission, to such extent and on such terms as provided for in relevant laws, on matters administered by the Financial Directorate and by customs offices;
• Decides on appeals challenging decisions of tax offices and customs offices and the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration and decisions of municipalities in matters concerned with taxes and charges, and makes reviews of such decisions outside appellate proceedings;
• Facilitates and carries out mutual international assistance and cooperation in the administration of taxes and recovery of certain financial claims under international treaties and relevant laws based on authorisation by the Ministry of Finance;
• Facilitates and carries out mutual international assistance and cooperation in the area of customs supervision and tax administrations under international treaties and relevant laws;
• Takes action, other than assessment proceedings, which otherwise falls within the authority of tax offices, customs offices and the Criminal Office of the Financial Administration in cases when
  1. state security so requires;
  2. a threat of harm to health or property or life has arisen and cannot otherwise be avoided;
  3. a threat has arisen that accounting documents or other documents might be damaged, destroyed or altered, or that the state budget or EU budget funds could be harmed, and such threat cannot otherwise be avoided;
  4. covert action is needed;
  5. immediate action is needed in order to achieve the objectives of tax laws, customs laws or other relevant laws under which the Financial Directorate is operating; or
  6. the outcome of a tax audit or the degree of tax supervision or customs supervision needs to be reviewed;
• Approves the printing of forms subject to control under relevant laws and organises the printing of tax return forms and various report and statement forms according to specimens designated by the Ministry of Finance;
• Prepares statements of the state’s claims incurred under the relevant law;
• Makes analyses of the state budged performance on behalf of the Financial Administration and performs analytical and conceptual work in the tax administration area;
• Takes action to detect and document criminal activity committed by the Financial Administration’ officers in connection with their work as civil servants and by the Financial Directorate’s staff;
• Performs inspection activities to detect and document misconduct of Financial Administration’s officers in connection with their work as civil servants and of the Financial Directorate’s staff;
• Provides training in the area of tax and customs legislation and organises examinations under the relevant law for consideration, which is limited to the reimbursement of actual costs and constitutes a state budged revenue;
• Collects, documents, keeps in custody and processes tangible and intangible objects of historical heritage and carries out edification activities in the area of customs and taxes;
• Performs forensic laboratory activities for law enforcement purposes in the spheres of customs and taxes and other relevant areas;
• Takes action to ensure the correctness and completeness of accounting of duty, tax and non-tax revenues, including the calculation of allocations from tax revenues claimable by local authorities and the execution of payments on behalf of tax offices and customs offices;
• Performs other duties arising for it from relevant laws or international treaties.

The statutory body of the Financial Directorate is the President of Financial Administration (“President”). The President manages and controls the Financial Administration and accounts for its operation to the Minister of Finance of the SR (“Minister”). If the position of President is not staffed, the Financial Administration is managed, to the extent of the President’s rights and duties, by the Vice-President of the Financial Administration (“Vice-President”).

The President represents the Financial Directorate vis-à-vis law enforcement authorities and courts; the President may delegate such representation of the Financial Directorate to another Financial Administration officer.

The internal organisational structure of the Financial Directorate is subject to approval by the Minister at the President’s proposal.