Google and Facebook ads and Slovak VAT: registering under §7a in 2026

A common story: a sole trader or a small s.r.o. that is not a VAT payer starts a campaign on Facebook or in Google Ads. A month later the accountant asks about an invoice from Ireland and a §7a registration. The campaign is already running, and the registration should have been in place before it.

Below: why this happens, what to do and in which order, and how to plan the ad budget so the 23% is not a surprise.

I do not give tax advice; I set up advertising. This explains the mechanism the way I explain it to clients when campaigns start. The decision for your company is your accountant's.

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Why VAT when you are not a VAT payer

Google Ads is invoiced by Google Ireland Limited, Facebook and Instagram ads by Meta Platforms Ireland Limited. Both are companies from another EU country.

When a business buys a service from a company in another EU country, the place of supply is Slovakia (§15(1) of the Slovak VAT Act) and the tax is paid by the customer, not the supplier (§69(3)). That is why invoices from Google Ads and Meta arrive without VAT, and you have to pay it in Slovakia.

To declare and pay it you need a registration. If you are not a VAT payer, that is the registration under §7a.

The same applies to other EU services: LinkedIn ads, Booking or Airbnb commissions, software licences, freelancers from other EU countries.

Who has to register

A business, sole trader or s.r.o., that is not a VAT payer and receives a service from a supplier in another EU country with the place of supply in Slovakia. For advertising, that is practically every non-payer who pays Google or Meta for business ads.

A §7a registration does not make you a VAT payer. You do not add VAT to your own invoices and you do not deduct input VAT. The registration only exists so you can pay the tax on services from abroad.

If you already are a VAT payer, §7a does not concern you. What happens then is below.

When: before the first campaign

The application for a §7a registration is filed before the service is received, that is before the campaign starts spending. The tax office registers you within seven days of receiving the application and assigns a VAT number (IČ DPH).

The order that works:

1. Apply for registration under §7a. Usually electronically, and usually your accountant does it.
2. Wait for the VAT number.
3. Enter it in the billing details in both Google Ads and Meta Business. Without it the system does not know a business is buying.
4. Only then start the campaigns.

The most common mistake is the reverse order: campaign first, then the first invoice, and only then the VAT question.

What changes after registration

A return only for months with ads. For every calendar month in which you received the service, you file a VAT return by the 25th of the following month and pay the tax by the same date. In months without ads you file nothing.

The 23% rate applies to the invoice amount.

The kontrolný výkaz (control statement) is not filed by a person registered under §7a. The súhrnný výkaz (recapitulative statement) only applies if you yourself supply services to businesses in other EU countries.

No deduction. You pay the tax and do not get it back. For a non-payer it is a real cost.

How much more ads cost for a non-payer

Twenty-three per cent of what Google or Meta spends. Put it in the budget from day one:

If your whole monthly ad money is 300€, set about 244€ in the campaigns and keep the rest for the VAT. Otherwise every month costs 69€ more than planned.

For a VAT payer it is different: the tax on the service is declared and deducted in the same return. The ads cost nothing extra; the accountant just includes them in the return and the control statement.

What if you do not enter a VAT number in Google or Meta

The system may then treat you as a private person and add Slovak VAT to the invoice. The amount looks similar, but:

• in the common reading this does not remove the §7a registration duty, as the service was bought for the business;
• the document does not match how an EU service is meant to be booked;
• a tax audit can bring a fine for the unmet registration duty.

How to deal with ads that already ran without a registration is your accountant's decision. The sooner you raise it, the fewer months need correcting.

Documents: where they go and who reads them

Google Ads issues a document for every month; Meta sends a receipt with every charge, and with a low billing threshold there can be several a month.

Two things that save trouble:

• The billing email should be one your accountant reads, or forward the documents once a month.
• The billing details (company name, address, VAT number) should be identical in both accounts. A mistake in one means correcting documents for every month.

Common mistakes

1. Campaign before registration. The registration should be done before the first payment.
2. A budget without VAT. For a non-payer the 23% is a real extra cost.
3. The VAT number in one account only. Google and Meta each need their own setting.
4. Confusing §7a with being a VAT payer. A §7a registration gives no deduction and does not oblige you to add VAT to your own invoices.
5. Documents nobody sees. Invoices go to an inbox no one reads, and the accountant learns about the ads from the bank statement.

How I handle it when setting up ads

When campaigns start, I open the Google Ads and Meta accounts in your company name: the account and the statistics stay yours. I enter the billing details with the VAT number, set where the documents go, and plan the budget with the VAT in it from the start.

I do not handle the tax registration, returns or bookkeeping. That is the work of an accountant or a tax adviser, and I am neither.

A complete campaign launch costs from about 1,000€, management 25€/hr, and the ad budget is paid directly to Google or Meta. Details on the advertising service page.

Related: how much Google ads cost in Slovakia, Google Ads or Meta, VAT registration when turnover crosses the threshold and živnosť or s.r.o..

Ready to run ads?

Google Ads and Meta with tracking wired properly, so you can see what comes back.

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