Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 26/3/2026; Author: Antun Katalenić
The Ministry of Finance explained that such a high tax rate does not exist in Slovenia, noting that combining taxes and social security contributions with value added tax is methodologically flawed.
In an interview published on 11 March on the YouTube channel of Slovenian influencer David Milosavljević, Zoran Stevanović, president of the Truth party, claimed that Slovenia has a “71% tax rate.” According to him, this means an individual works solely for the state for nine months out of the year.
The Ministry of Finance clarified for Razkrinkavanje.si that a 71% tax rate does not exist in Slovenia. “If we calculate, purely theoretically, the highest possible combined rate of taxes and contributions an employee can pay on a portion of their income (the marginal tax and contribution rate), it amounts to approximately 67.2% for a taxpayer in the highest income bracket, which has a 50% income tax rate.”
As they pointed out, such a rate applies only to the top portion of income, which is known as marginal taxation, expressed as labour cost or “gross-gross” amount. “The average actual rate of taxes and contributions for such a taxpayer is therefore lower.”
In the YouTube interview, Stevanović cited an even higher tax rate than the one stated in Truth’s own platform. In that document, the party wrote that the “average Slovenian taxpayer is subject to an average effective tax rate of nearly 56%,” while entrepreneurs are taxed at “around 64%.”
According to the platform, which was published this March, the party came up with these figures by totalling the taxes and contributions paid by employees and adding the 22% value added tax (VAT) paid by all consumers.
They arrived at this calculation based on their own data suggesting the average Slovenian gross salary is around €1,800. However, according to the Statistical Office, the average gross salary last year was €2,536, while the average net salary was €1,602.
The Ministry warned that calculations attempting to represent the total tax burden by summing taxes and contributions on labour with VAT on consumption are methodologically flawed. This is because they combine taxes with different tax bases. Taxes and contributions on labour are levied on income, whereas VAT is a consumption tax paid only when an individual uses their income to purchase taxed goods or services.
According to the Value Added Tax Act, the current version of which has been in effect since 11 December 2024, VAT is “calculated and paid at a general rate of 22% of the tax base and is uniform for the supply of goods and services.” Nevertheless, under the law, some goods and services are taxed at lower rates of 9.5%or 5%, while others are fully tax exempted.
For example, the law provides VAT exemptions for healthcare and financial services. A lower 9.5% rate applies to food, beverages, and admission fees for cultural and sporting events. An even lower 5% rate applies to the supply of firefighting equipment, books, and newspapers.
The average VAT rate is therefore lower, amounting to approximately 17.7% according to ministry calculations. They added that since VAT is already included in the final price of goods or services, the actual average rate is 15%.
In the ministry’s view, calculations such as those cited by the Truth party fail to account for various tax expenditures, including tax breaks, exemptions, and reductions, which collectively account for more than 5% of GDP.
We have informed Zoran Stevanović of our findings and will publish his response once we have received it.
The claim that there is a 71% tax rate in Slovenia is false.
