Tax News, May 2024

APPROVED AMENDMENT TO THE ACT ON ASSISTANCE TO THE ECONOMY TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF THE ENERGY CRISIS

On 23 April 2024, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia approved the amendment to the Act on Assistance to the Economy to Mitigate the Effects of the Energy Crisis.

The regulation extends the deadline for the payment of withheld funds in the amount of 20 percent of the aid or the difference up to the total amount of aid, to which the beneficiary is legally entitled to, from end of February to end of August. The amendment is also correcting the discrepancy between the text of the law and its purpose, as the funds for the Slovene Enterprise Fund are provided in the amount of EUR 10 million for both 2023 and 2024.

CONFIRMED PACKAGE OF PROPOSED MEASURES FOR THE EU'S FIGHT AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM

On 24 April 2024, the European Parliament confirmed a package of proposed measures for a more effective EU fight against money laundering and terrorist financing, which includes the Proposal for the sixth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, the Proposal for the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, and the Proposal for a Regulation establishing the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism. Before the package of measures is published in the Official Journal of the EU and comes into force, it must be officially adopted by the Council of EU.

The new provisions allow immediate and free access to information on actual ownership in national registers for journalists, civil society organizations, and supervisory authorities, which will include data for at least five years. The legislation increases the powers of financial intelligence units to analyze and temporarily suspend suspicious transactions and requires enhanced customer due diligence by banks, asset managers/cryptocurrency assets, and real estate brokers, who must report suspicious activities.

The new rules also apply to top football clubs involved in high-value financial transactions with investors or sponsors, including advertisers and player transfers. There will also be increased scrutiny of wealthier individuals (i.e., individuals with a total wealth of at least EUR 50 million, excluding their main residence), as cash payments at the EU level will be limited to a maximum of EUR 10.000, except for individuals in a non-professional environment.

The supervision will be carried out by a newly established body in Frankfurt (AMLA), which will directly oversee the riskiest financial entities and intervene in supervisory failures.

ADOPTED AMENDMENT TO THE EXCISE ACT

An amendment to the Excise Act was published in the Official Gazette no. 35/2024 on 26 April 2024, which entered into force 15 days after its publication, i.e. 12 May 2024, and will apply in principle from 1 June 2024. From 1 January 2025 the amended point 4 of sixth paragraph of Art. 88 of the Act will be effective, which amends tariff codes of biogas, which is deemed as biofuel, while as of 1 January 2026, the third and fourth paragraphs of Article 96 of the Act, which additionally stipulate for the entitled person to exemption from excise duty for energy intensive companies to be the holder of a certificate of compliance with the SIST EN ISO 14001 or 50001 standard will begin to be used.

The amendment increases excise duties on tobacco products and expands the definition of tobacco products so that it also includes potential new products that are comparable to tobacco for heating, but do not contain processed tobacco, for example, herbal rolls for heating without tobacco and electronic water pipes. Consequently, for cigarettes, excise duty would increase for approx. 3%, for electronic cigarettes for 1,5-times and for tobacco for heating for a third. As a result, budget revenues should increase by EUR 11 million this year.