The Slovak Banking Association (SBA) along with the Prosecutor-General's Office have filed a motion with at the European Commission in connection with an increase in the bank levy as of the beginning of this year. Banks have opposed this step from the very beginning, pointing to several risks related to it.
"Following a detailed analysis of options provided to it by Slovak legislation, SBA has filed a motion with the prosecutor-general to initiate proceedings at the Slovak Constitutional Court regarding the measure. SBA has also filed a complaint with the European Commission regarding the violation of EU law by a member state," said SBA spokesperson Diana Brodnianska.
As the Slovak Spectator wrote, "the bank levy, introduced in 2012 to protect the banking sector from crises was expected to end by the end of 2020. It stood at 0.2% of the value of banks' liabilities lowered by the amount of equity. Instead of ending the levy this year, the government approved its continuation, doubling it as of 2020 to 0.4%. Thus, banks should pay €144 million more to the state this year.
Banks are obliged to pay the levy in four quarterly instalments. They have already paid the first one. When preparing the respective amendment, the Finance Ministry argued that it needed to ensure that the state budget deficit does not exceed 0.49 percent of GDP this year. The increase in the bank levy was supported by the governing Smer-SD party and the Slovak National Party (SNS), who said that they wanted to increase the levy due to the growing profits of the banking sector and its fees.
