Slovakia’s tax rate on beer is low and there is no duty on wine, although sparkling wine is taxed at €0.80 per litre. Duty on spirits is higher but still below the EU average. Tobacco duty is well below average and the Slovakian smoking ban allows owners of bars and restaurants to accommodate smokers in separate sections. Cigarettes cannot be bought from machines but there is no display ban. Nor are there any restrictions on where and when alcohol can be advertised.

Slovakia’s approach to social freedoms is sounder than most, but it is far from perfect. Although smoking is only partially banned indoors, vaping is prohibited wherever smoking is banned. E-cigarette advertising and sponsorship is banned, as are cross-border sales. Slovakia is also one of only four EU member states where it is illegal to drink any quantity of alcohol before driving. Until January 2017, this zero tolerance approach also applied to cyclists on cycle lanes but the law has since been changed to allow cyclists to consume one pint of beer (ie. the blood alcohol concentration limit has been raised to 0.05%).

In a further act of mild liberalisation, the government legalised domestic distilling in January 2019. Slovakians are now permitted to produce up to 25 litres of ethyl alcohol in their own home each year – enough to produce around 50 litres of spirits – so long as they use homegrown fruit and register with the government. These drinks cannot be sold to others.

In May 2017, Slovakia introduced a specific tax of €73.90 per kg on ‘smokeless tobacco’ to cover new heat-not-burn products. This rose to €76.70 in February 2019. There is currently no excise tax on e-cigarette fluid.

With thanks to Radovan Durana, Institute of Economic and Social Studies