The AmCham Finance Committee, in its commentary, highlights several key challenges posed by the proposed law and calls for an additional expert discussion to improve its content. In the Committee’s view, the current draft does not contribute to legal predictability and tax system transparency and may negatively affect the development of Slovenia’s innovative financial sector. 

A Hasty Approach and Lack of Expert Involvement 

The draft law was prepared without the involvement of experts in crypto assets, blockchain, and digital finance. This approach fails to capture the complexity of the field and increases the risk of adopting unworkable solutions that could hinder the development of the innovative financial sector in Slovenia. 

Inadequate Differentiation Between Digital Assets 

The draft fails to distinguish between different types of digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, digital securities, tokens, and stablecoins. This oversimplified treatment creates further legal uncertainty and deviates from international best practices, which clearly recognize these distinctions. 

Taxation Without Consideration of Holding Period 

The draft proposes a uniform 25% tax rate on all types of digital asset disposals, regardless of the holding period or actual use. This diverges from international practices, where capital gains are often tax-exempt after a certain holding period (e.g., Germany, Portugal, Croatia, Luxembourg). We believe it would be sensible to revisit the baseline of the 2022 proposed Law on Debureaucratization of Taxation of Virtual Currency Realization (ZDUOVV), which proposed a lower tax rate and exemptions up to a certain threshold. 

Potential Legal Uncertainty and Administrative Burden 

Currently, the taxation of virtual currencies is fragmented across several laws (ZDoh-2, ZDDPO-2, ZDDV-1, and ZDFS), resulting in legal uncertainty and administrative complexity. The proposed law adds to the confusion by introducing new definitions and requirements rather than simplifying the existing framework, potentially increasing the administrative burden on individuals and businesses. 

We believe that developing a clear, predictable, and innovation-friendly tax framework for digital assets is essential to maintaining the competitiveness of Slovenia’s economy. This process must involve expert stakeholders and international insights to deliver a solution that fosters innovation rather than stifling it. 

You can read more about our proposals for a stable and competitive business environment HERE.