Are you planning to pause your business activity (živnosť)? Starting August 1, 2026, you will no longer need to personally inform the Social Insurance Agency (Sociálna poisťovňa). The agency will do this automatically, which should make life easier for thousands of entrepreneurs and reduce the risk of fines for missed deadlines.
This change is part of the government's effort to reduce the administrative burden on self-employed individuals (SZČO). Let's look closer at how this will work and who exactly the changes will affect.
What exactly is changing?
Until now, every entrepreneur who paused or resumed their business activity was required to inform their local branch of Sociálna poisťovňa themselves. They had 30 days to do this. If they missed the deadline, they could face a fine.
Starting August 1, 2026, this obligation will disappear. The process will work like this:
You officially pause your živnosť through the relevant authority (for example, the district office - okresný úrad).
Sociálna poisťovňa will automatically receive this information from state registers.
Based on this data, the agency will automatically register the break in your mandatory social insurance.
Within 20 days, you will receive an official notification that the change has been registered.
The same automatic process will apply when you resume your activity. The main goal is to free entrepreneurs from unnecessary paperwork and avoid errors caused by human mistakes.
Who does this apply to, and who is excluded?
It's important to understand that the automation of this process does not apply to all self-employed individuals. There are several key conditions and exceptions.
The new rules will apply to you if:
You are an entrepreneur based on a živnostenské oprávnenie (business license).
Your živnosť is your only type of self-employment.
You will still need to report changes yourself, as before, if:
You paused your activity before August 1, 2026. The old rules with the 30-day reporting period apply to all cases that occurred before this date.
Besides your živnosť, you have other business licenses. For example, if you work as a lawyer, notary (notár), doctor, or other professional based on a special permit (iné ako živnostenské oprávnenie), the automatic notification will not work. In this case, your mandatory insurance will only be paused when you stop all your business activities, and you will need to report this yourself.
What obligations remain?
The cancellation of one obligation does not mean you are completely free from communicating with Sociálna poisťovňa. Several situations will still require you to report personally, and often within much shorter deadlines.
Specifically, you must inform the agency within 8 days about the following circumstances:
Becoming eligible for parental allowance (rodičovský príspevok).
Starting voluntary military training.
Needing to provide personal, round-the-clock care for a sick family member (starting from the 15th day).
Needing to provide long-term care (starting from the 91st day).
The obligation to report also remains if you are taken into custody or imprisoned. Therefore, despite these positive changes, entrepreneurs should continue to pay close attention to their obligations to the state.
