Have you decided to start a business? Have you chosen a trade licence over forming an s.r.o.? The benefit of a trade licence lies in how quickly and simply it can be set up compared with forming an s.r.o.

To trade legally and safely and issue invoices, you need to have your business activities entered in your trade licence. This way you will avoid complications with the tax office or the Trade Licensing Office.

Trade licences are currently divided into 3 groups:

Craft Trade Licence

To obtain a particular craft trade licence, you need proof of having completed an apprenticeship or course of study, or of professional competence. Craft trades include, for example, butchery, joinery, hairdressing and the like.

You will find the current list at https://www.minv.sk/?remeselne-zivnosti-1

Regulated Trade Licence

To obtain a regulated trade licence, you need professional competence in addition to meeting the general conditions.

Regulated trades include, for example, precious metal casting, running a driving school, optometry, dental technology and the like.

https://www.minv.sk/?viazane-zivnosti

Unregulated Trade Licence

To obtain an unregulated trade licence, you need neither to prove professional competence nor to have trained in the field. You simply have to meet the general conditions, which are as follows:

  • Minimum age of 18
  • A clean record, with no entry in the criminal records register
  • Full legal capacity

In short, unregulated trades cover all business activities that are not listed among the craft or regulated trades.

The list of unregulated trades is regularly updated by the Trade Licensing Department of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic. Bear in mind that the list is not binding and is for guidance only.

You will find the regularly updated list of unregulated trades for 2018 on the website of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic: https://www.minv.sk/?zivnostenske-podnikanie&subor=40259

Obtaining an unregulated trade licence is easy: you simply notify the trade, and once notified you will receive a trade licence certificate.

We recommend notifying your trade electronically, in which case you pay no fee. You can do so via the slovensko.sk portal; if you lack the time or technical experience, we recommend leaving electronic trade notification to a firm that specialises in such services.

If you notify your trades in person, you pay €5 in the form of a revenue stamp for each unregulated trade notified. For 15 trades, you would pay €75.