Consent of the beneficiary

Must we sign a new agreement to continue receiving electronic invoices by email after 1 January 2027?

Short answer

The law does not expressly require an earlier agreement on sending electronic invoices by email to be signed again for 1 January 2027. Under § 85o ods. 2 and § 71 ods. 4 of the VAT Act, the condition for sending an electronic invoice by a method other than a certified delivery service, such as email, remains the recipient’s consent to that delivery method. The law focuses on the existence of consent, not the date on which it was given.

Law condition

Existence of consent

Not the date when the consent was granted.

An Older Deal

Generally sufficient

Where it clearly covers the electronic transmission of invoices in general.

Caution

For narrow formulacii

If the agreement only talks about the PDF annex, we recommend updating it.

Open question

Without a definite source

We recommend checking directly with FS SR or tax advisor in case of doubts.

Detailed explanation

This is an area where I would advise you to exercise greater caution than with other issues: whilst the statutory condition itself (the existence of the recipient’s consent) is clear, as to whether a specific, previously concluded agreement also covers the new legal framework for electronic invoices under Section 85o (and not just the older, general term ‘electronic invoice’ under the previous legislation), no direct, unambiguously citable response from the Slovak Financial Administration has been found. In practice, therefore, I recommend checking the wording of the original agreement — if it clearly states consent to the sending of invoices electronically in general, this should, as a rule, continue to suffice; if the wording is closely tied to an older context (for example, only referring to a PDF attachment via email without any mention of an electronic invoice as such), it is more prudent to update the consent or have it expressly confirmed to avoid any doubt in the event of an audit.

As set out in the Act

The requirement for the recipient’s consent when sending an electronic invoice by means other than a certified delivery service is laid down in Section 85o(2) and Section 71(4) of Act No. 222/2004 Coll. on VAT, as amended by Act No. 385/2025 Coll. At present, we do not have a specific interpretation regarding the validity of an older agreement concluded prior to this amendment, supported by an unambiguous, citable opinion from the Slovak Financial Administration.

Practical examples

Companies have a general clause in their contracts regarding consent to the sending of invoices in electronic form, which remains sufficient.
The older agreement refers only to the sending of PDF invoices by email, with no mention of electronic invoices — the company would be better off updating it.
In case of doubt, the company will request explicit confirmation of consent from the customer in accordance with the new wording of the Act.

Most common mistakes

“All older agreements on the electronic sending of invoices will automatically cease to be valid on 1 January 2027.” The law does not require their automatic cancellation or renewal; the only condition is the existence of consent.
“Consent to electronic invoicing must always be signed on or after 1 January 2027.” What matters is the existence of the consent, not the date on which it was given.
“This issue has been clearly and definitively resolved in the official methodological and information materials of the Slovak Financial Administration.” This is a point on which we have not found a clearly citable statement; we therefore recommend greater caution and, where necessary, verification.

Conclusion

An older agreement to send an e-invoice by email does not need to be automatically signed again as at 1.1.2027, but it is more careful to update or explicitly verify the agreement if the agreement is unclear or narrowly formulated.

Legal basis

Act No. 222/2004 Coll. on VAT, Section 85o(2) a Section 71(4) (as amended by Act No. 385/2025 Coll.)