Electronic trip logbook from 1 January 2026 – what the Slovak VAT amendment changes
The Slovak VAT amendment effective 1 January 2026 changed how input VAT is deducted on passenger cars. Without a detailed trip logbook kept in electronic form, a VAT payer may deduct only half of the tax — and the other half is not a tax-deductible expense either. Here is who is affected, what the records must contain, and what „a specific purpose of the journey“ means in practice.
What changed on 1 January 2026
The amendment introduced § 85n into the Slovak VAT Act, covering passenger cars of category M1 and two- and three-wheeled vehicles L1e and L3e. For those, a new default applies: the payer deducts a flat 50 % of input VAT.
The full 100 % is available only when the business proves the vehicle is used exclusively for business — and the proof is a detailed trip logbook kept in electronic form. Activities where business use follows from the nature of the trade, such as car rentals, taxi services and driving schools, are exempt.
Have your accountant confirm the exact scope (including purchase price and acquisition period), as that determines whether the regime applies to you.
What the logbook must contain
The law now lists the minimum content of the records. They must contain the vehicle identification number (VIN), registration number, name and type of the vehicle, and the odometer reading on the day record-keeping starts, at the end of every tax period and on the day it ends.
For every use of the vehicle the records must also show:
• the sequence number of the entry, • the name and surname of the person who drove, • date and time of departure and date and time of arrival, • the purpose of the journey proving business use, • the place where the journey started and where it ended, • kilometres driven and the odometer reading before and after each use.
Records are kept separately for each vehicle, along with records of goods and services purchased for operating the vehicle — fuel, servicing and maintenance.
Why „business trip“ is not a sufficient purpose
The most common mistake is a one-word purpose. The record must make it clear that the journey served the business — stating that it was a business trip proves nothing on its own.
Write something specific instead: „site inspection, client Novák, Trenčín“, „goods delivery — order 2026/114“, „vehicle service, authorised garage Žilina“. A good test: would an inspector who does not know your company understand the entry?
Paper logbooks and plain PDFs no longer suffice
The law requires records in electronic form. A notebook in the glovebox or a scanned sheet will not meet it, and a plain PDF is problematic because it cannot be processed further by machine.
The safe option is a machine-processable format — a spreadsheet (XLS, CSV) that can be filtered, summed and checked. That is why SaveTrack exports the logbook to XLS and CSV, not only to PDF for printing.
What it means in money
The gap between a 50 % and a 100 % deduction is not just cash flow. The unclaimed half of the VAT is not a tax-deductible expense either, so it cannot be recovered through income tax — it is a permanent cost increase.
On a €30,000 car including VAT, half the tax runs into thousands of euros. Making the records compliant costs a few euros a month for GPS tracking that fills the logbook automatically.
How SaveTrack handles it
The SaveTrack logbook is generated from GPS: date and time of departure and arrival, start and end location, kilometres driven and the odometer reading before and after the trip are recorded without retyping. The driver is matched via driver identification, you mark the trip as business or private and add a specific purpose.
Each vehicle carries its VIN and category (M1, L1e, L3e…), and the logbook export has a header with the vehicle, registration number, VIN, period and the odometer readings at the start and end of the period. Trips are numbered sequentially in chronological order per vehicle, exactly as the law requires.
Every change to a record stays in the audit trail, so it is clear who edited a trip and when — and private routes can be masked for data-protection reasons.
FAQ
Who does the electronic logbook requirement apply to?
Slovak VAT payers with passenger cars of category M1 and two- and three-wheeled vehicles L1e and L3e. Without detailed electronic records they may deduct only 50 % of input VAT. Car rentals, taxi services and driving schools are exempt. Have your accountant confirm the exact scope.
Is a paper logbook or a PDF enough?
No. The law requires records in electronic form, and in practice a machine-processable format — an XLS or CSV spreadsheet — is the safe option. Paper and plain PDFs will not reliably meet the requirement.
Why is „business trip“ not enough as a purpose?
The record must show that the vehicle served the business. „Business trip“ on its own proves nothing, so state a specific purpose — for example „site inspection, client Novák, Trenčín“.
Does the logbook have to include the VIN?
Yes, the VIN is among the mandatory details, together with the registration number, name and type of the vehicle. In SaveTrack you fill it in the vehicle settings and it flows automatically into the export header and every logbook row.
Let GPS fill in the logbook and leave the export to us
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