Slovak Republic Agreement and foreign pension Information 106-04029000

In Slovak Republic, national legislation requires the compulsory payment of social security contributions .The pension insurance covers most workers and the self-employed.

Contributions insure individuals against disability and death and provides for income in the form of a pension once the person reaches retirement age. Separate legislation covers unemployment and sickness.

The legislation is the responsibility of the Slovakian government but administration and payment of insurance pensions is the responsibility of the central pension insurance agency.

Social assistance legislation provides benefits for those with low incomes, generally managed by the local municipalities.

The Agreement with Slovak Republic started one 1 January 2012. There are no previous versions.

For Australia:

Department of Social Services (DSS)

For Slovak Republic:

Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family - Ministerstvo Práce, Sociálnych Vecí a Rodiny

For Australia:

Services Australia

For Slovak Republic:

Social Insurance Agency -Sociálna Poisťovňa

For Australia:

Centrelink International Services (CIS)

Note: the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is responsible for anything relating to double coverage. See Double coverage/Taxation and healthcare.

For Slovak Republic:

Social Insurance Agency -Sociálna Poisťovňa

Under the Agreement with Slovak Republic, information held about customers may be exchanged between the liaison agencies to determine entitlement to payments under the Agreement and under either country’s domestic legislation (Article 20.1).

For more information on bulk data exchange, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

This form is completed by Centrelink International Services (CIS) and sent to Slovakia:

• Australia/Slovak Republic Agreement on Social Security - Liaison (AUS187SK)

For help creating liaison forms, see Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

These forms are completed by Slovakia or the customer and are sent to Centrelink International Services (CIS).

KONTAKTNÝ FORMULÁR - LIAISON FORM (SK/AU3)

• Section 1 - Insured person: provides personal details
• Section 2 - Claimant:
• SUR only: provides personal details about the survivor
• Section 3 - Status of claim for Slovakian Pension: provides details of submitted Slovakian claims, including arrears
• Section 4 - Request for information: details information requested by Slovak Republic
• Section 5 - Information provided: provides information on changes in circumstances
• Section 6 - Request for forms and other documents: request for documents including Australian working life residence and medical assessments
• Section 7 - Transmission of forms and other documents: details documents sent to Australia including claims and Slovakian creditable periods
• Section 8 - Confirmation: certification by the Slovakian competent institution

POTVRDENIE O HISTÓRII POISTENIA V SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKE - CERTIFICATE CONCERNING THE HISTORY OF INSURANCE IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC (SK/AU3A)

• Section 1 - Insured person: provides personal details
• Section 2 - Claimant:
• SUR only: provides personal details about the survivor
• Section 3 - Verification: certification by the Slovakian competent institution
• Section 4/5 - Periods of pension insurance: provides details of individual periods of insurance and totals

Australian disability pensions are not covered by the Agreement. However, the Agreement allows the exchange of existing medical information and to undertake medical examinations on request (Article 20.3). There is no provision for reimbursement. Existing Australian medical information is also sent on request or with Slovakian disability claims.

Forms

Centrelink International Services (CIS) arrange for the Detailed Medical Report (E213) to be completed and sent to Slovak Republic. See Foreign pension medical assessments.

Any enquiries about Double coverage or certificates of coverage should be directed to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website.

The Agreement with Slovak Republic includes Double coverage provisions. Certificates of coverage are used to confirm exceptions.

See Double coverage/certificates of coverage information in International Social Security Agreements.

Any queries about taxation of pensions or the requirement to lodge a tax return should be directed to:

• In the other country - the tax authority in the other country directly
• In Australia - the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) website

For general information on taxation, including issuing Australian Payment Summaries, see the Taxation information in International Social Security Agreements.

Tax treaty

Australia has a double tax agreement with Slovak Republic. Pensions are only taxable in country in which the person is resident. Any tax deductions from one country may be used as a credit against any tax payable in the other country.

Tax deductions

Slovakian pensions over a certain level may be taxed at source (daň z príjmu).

The gross rate of Slovakian pension (before deductions) is maintained.

Slovakian tax year

Slovak Republic generally uses the calendar year (1 Jan - 31 Dec) as the tax year.

Any queries about:

• Health insurance coverage in the other country - the customer should be directed to contact the health insurance authority in the other country, and
• Medicare coverage - should be directed to Medicare, see Medicare Consumers Program Support - Medicare Consumers Section - Medicare Branch.

For general information on health insurance and Medicare coverage, see Health Insurance/Medicare information in International Social Security Agreements.

Australia does not have a reciprocal health agreement with Slovak Republic.

Pensioners in Slovak Republic may have a health insurance deduction taken out of their Slovakian pension (nemocenské/ zdravotné).

The gross rate of Slovakian pension (before deductions) is maintained.

The official language of the Slovak Republic is Slovakian.

Telephone country code is +421.

Street address

Pan/Pani [title]

FirstName Surname [addressee]

Bratislava 97 [street name + number]

817 99 TRENCIN 1 [post code + city/town]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Rural address

Pan/Pani [title]

FirstName Surname [addressee]

Soblahov [village]

913 38 TRENCIN [post code + district]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Post Office Box address

Pan/Pani [title]

FirstName Surname [addressee]

P O Box 1235 [post office box + number]

811 02 BRATISLAVA 2 [postcode + city/town]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Notes:

• A sorting code/number (following the city name) may be used for larger cities
• Post Office Box may be written as postova schranka, but P O Box is the correct text
• Postcode is aligned left before the name of the city/town. Five numbers, with a space after the third number. All Slovak postcodes begin with 0, 8 or 9. Post codes beginning with 1-7 are Czech Republic post codes

The Slovak Republic does not recognise same-sex marriage or civil unions.

Czechoslovakia dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic on 1 January 1993.

Entitlement to a pension is based on in which country the person’s last employer was registered. Where necessary, claims sent to the Slovak Republic will be sent to the Czech Republic authorities.

For Australia, the Agreement with Slovak Republic (Article 2.1) covers:

• Age Pension

Note: additional child amounts, also known as Overseas Child Component and Additional Child Payment, are not included in the proportional rate calculation. See Rate calculation.

Claims for Australian payments under Agreements use the same methods and processes as domestic claims. See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreement.

Forms to claim an Australian payment in Slovak Republic can be obtained by contacting the Slovakian authorities or Centrelink International Services (CIS). Forms can also be downloaded from the Services Australia website. See Resources for a link.

Forms required

For all payments:

• AUS140SK - Australian pension claim - Agreement with Slovak Republic
• Mod(iA)SK - Income and assets - Slovakian

Forms can be lodged at any Slovakian Social Security office.

Under the Administrative Arrangements, the Slovakian liaison agency will verify the customer’s identity and send the claim to CIS with a completed liaison form including periods of coverage in Slovak Republic and Slovakian pension details. See the Exchange of information and liaison forms in the Social Security Agreement between Australia and Slovak Republic table for the Slovakian liaison form.

If a person is not an Australian resident and in Australia on the date the claim is made, they may use the Agreement to meet the residence rules for claims if, on that date, they are:

• an Australian resident or a resident of Slovak Republic or another Agreement country that accepts claims for Australian pension under another Agreement (Article 12(a)), and
• physically present in Australia or Slovak Republic (Article 12(b))

There are no third country lodgement provisions. See the Claim lodgement matrix table in Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements.

The normal rules for working out the date a claim is 'made' and the start day apply to claims under the Agreement with Slovak Republic. However, the Agreement also allows:

• the date of lodgement of a claim for an Australian payment in Slovak Republic to be used as the date of lodgement in Australia (Article 16.2), and
• the date of lodgement of a claim for Slovakian old age pension to be used as the date of lodgement of a claim for Australian Age Pension (Article 16.3) (FP claim = AU claim) if the customer:
• specifically requests, or
• declares periods of residence in Australia on the Slovakian claim

Note: the Australian claim must be received in CIS within 12 months of the date of lodgement of the Slovakian claim (Article 16.4).

See Claims for Australian payments under International Agreements and Start Day (CLK) for coding assistance.

The Agreement allows:

• totalisation of periods of qualifying Australian residence and periods of coverage in the Slovak Republic to meet any minimum periods to qualify for an Australian pension, for example, 10 years for Age Pension (Article 12.1)
• the total of any non-continuous Slovakian creditable periods to be considered to be continuous to meet any continuous residence requirement to qualify for an Australian pension (Article 12.2)

Notes:

• Overlapping periods are only counted once (Article 12.3)
• Policy advice is that adjoining periods of Australian qualifying residence and Slovakian creditable periods, with a break of up to 3 months in between, can also be considered to be continuous

Slovakian periods of coverage means a creditable period of insurance, substitute period or equivalent period completed under the legislation of the Slovak Republic.

To be able to use the totalisation provisions, a person who is not an Australian resident at the date of lodgement must have at least 12 months Australian WLR in Australia of which 6 months must be continuous (Article 12.4(a)). Note: unlike WLR for rate, this period cannot be rounded.

No minimum WLR is required if the person is an Australian resident at the date of lodgement (Article 12.4(b)).

The Agreement with Slovak Republic (Article 13.1) refers to the overall rate calculation contained in the Social Security (International Agreements) Act 1999 (S12(1)) but specifically excludes additional chid amounts.

This means:

• customers paid under the Agreement who are outside Australia are paid a proportional rate according to their Australian working life residence (WLR), and
• the Rate Limiter/Limited Rate applies

The Agreement with the Slovak republic does not include the proportionalisation of any Slovakian pension in the income test (Randisi concession)

Although a person may be qualified for an Australian payment or portable outside Australia, if the customer has no WLR the rate of payment outside Australia will be nil.

Note: in some circumstances their partner’s WLR may be used. See Working Life Residence (WLR).

When a person is paid a proportional rate under an Agreement, Rent Assistance (RA) cannot be paid. Other add-ons such as Energy Supplement and Pension Supplement are payable under normal add-ons portability rules. See Portability of Add-ons.

Examples of when a customer is paid a proportional rate includes (but not limited to):

• permanently overseas
• temporarily overseas longer than 26 weeks for age pension
• former resident transferring to the Agreement for portability

Returns to Australia

The proportional rate continues to apply for the first 26 weeks of a temporary return to Australia (Article 12.2).

If there is no change to the country of residence, any movement is considered temporary and a review is set to automatically change the rate after a continuous period of 26 weeks. If a delegate determines that a person has changed their country of residence, coding the information on the Country of Residence (CRES) screen will automatically apply the correct rate calculation.

For returns to Australia before 9 June 2018, manually code the Temporary Return to Aust Ind on the Residence Savings (RSS) screen.

Customers in Australia under the Agreement are paid a direct deduction rate (Article 12.3). That is, all Slovakian payments covered by the Agreement, including social welfare payments, are not assessed as income but will be deducted dollar-for-dollar from the maximum rate of the Australian payment before the application of the income or assets test.

Departures from Australia

The inside Australia rate continues to be paid for the first 26 weeks of a temporary departure from Australia (Article 12.4).

Payments exempt under the Agreement are generally exempt for autonomous customers (section 8(8) (zc) Social Security Act 1991).

See Assessment and exempt payments in the Rules for Slovakian payments table.

Under the Agreement, provided the customer remains qualified, Australian Age Pension is payable indefinitely in any country provided the person remains a resident of Australia or Slovak Republic (Article 5.1).

There is no portability for a permanent departure to a third country for a customer paid under the Agreement.

If necessary, a customer receiving an autonomous payment covered by the Agreement may be able to transfer to the Agreement if they are in Slovak Republic when their normal portability period expires. The portability under the Agreement then applies, see Portability.

Note: the customer must meet the transfer requirements.

Once a customer transfers to the Agreement, they are then considered to be paid by virtue of the Agreement and all provisions of the Agreement apply, including rate of payment. See Rate calculation.

See Transfer to international social security agreements.

A person who has sufficient Australian qualifying residence (or an exemption) can only transfer from the Agreement to autonomous if they are an Australian resident and in Australia.

On return to Australia, system processing will automatically transfer to from the Agreement to autonomous if the person is an Australian resident who has only used the Agreement to extend their portability while outside Australia.

Customers who transfer to autonomous may be affected by the former resident provisions if they leave Australia again within 2 years of becoming an Australian resident. See Former resident provisions.

For Australian payments made into bank accounts outside Australia. See Overseas Bank Account Details (OBAD).

• Starobný dôchodok- Old Age Pension (AGE)
• Invalidný dôchodok - Disability Pension (INV)
• Pozostalostné dávky - Survivor benefits (SUR)
• Vdovský/Vdovecký (Widow/er)
• Sirotský (Orphan)

The requirement to claim Slovakian pensions applies to Slovakian AGE, INV and SUR.

Note: the requirement to claim SUR only applies to widows/ers. Customers may voluntarily claim SUR for other family members using the SUR claim pack. See Claim forms and processes.

Contributions paid by employers on behalf of employees. May also include deemed periods for study and military service.

The Eligibility and coding of foreign pensions tab has information on Slovakian payments that are subject to CFP legislation.

Claim packs available: AGE/INV/SUR.

Claim packs for Slovakian payments can be issued through the Foreign Pension System (FPS

Specific requirements for Slovakian claims

The customer is to complete and provide the following.

All claims:

• ŽIADOSŤ O DÔCHODOK Z DÔCHODKOVÉHO POISTENIA SLOVENSKEJ REPUBLIKY - CLAIM FOR PENSION BENEFITS FROM THE PENSION INSURANCE SYSTEM OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC (SK/AU2)

SUR only:

• death certificate

Requests for Additional Information

Where information provided with the claim for Slovakian pension is incomplete, Slovakia will send requests for information in Slovak direct to customers.

Return of foreign pension claim

Under the Administrative Arrangements, Slovakian forms can be lodged in Australia at any service centre.

• All foreign pension claims and supporting documentation must be scanned, and
• The original foreign claim form and copies of supporting documentation must be sent in paper form via internal mail to International Services (CIS). See Processing a foreign pension claim

Centrelink International Services (CIS) only

CIS will complete the following and attach to the foreign pension claim to send to the Agreement country. See Agreement Liaison Detail (ALD) for method of transmission.

All claims:

• Australia/Slovak Republic Agreement on Social Security - Liaison Form (AUS187SK)

For help creating and completing the liaison form, see: Agreement liaisons, NZ CICs and exchange of information.

INV claims:

• E213 variant and copies of Australian disability information.

Enquiries about claims for Slovakian payments in Slovak Republic or a third country should be directed to the Slovakian social security authorities. See Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies in the Social Security Agreement between Australia and Slovak Republic table.

Slovakian payments may be paid by direct deposit in Australia.

Any queries about the non-payment of Slovakian pension should be directed to the Slovakian pension authorities, see Authorities, Institutions and Liaison Agencies in the Social Security Agreement between Australia and Slovak Republic table.

Customers receive payments every 3 months in arrears. Coded as Freq: 'MTH'.

Note: customers may receive a Christmas Bonus (vianočného príspevku) in early December. Policy is that any bonus paid is exempt from the income test. See Assessment and exempt assets.

Payments are made in AU dollars. However, foreign income must be recorded in source currency - Euro. Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

Slovakian payments are generally increased for cost of living (CPI) in January each year.

For more information on bulk exchanges of information with other countries, see International Data Exchange Program and auto-indexation of foreign pensions.

Slovakian AGE/INV/SUR are:

• ordinary income in all cases except direct deduction if paid under the Agreement in Australia (Article 13.3)
• each member of a couple is deemed to receive half of the total amount received by the couple (Article 13.5)

Note: the 26 week temporary departure and return provisions apply (Article 13.2 and 13.4).

See also Other known payments.

Amounts that are treated as a direct deduction under an Agreement are exempt from the income test (section 8(8)(zc) Social Security Act 1991).

Note: payments that are exempt from the income test are included in a direct deduction rate, for example, under an Agreement rate calculation or for Special Benefit.

There are no exempt payments under the Agreement with Slovak Republic.

Note: due to the non-standard amounts and uncertainty of payments, policy is that Slovakian Christmas Bonus (vianočného príspevku) is exempt from the income test.

The Eligibility and coding of foreign pensions tab has detailed information on the coding Slovakian payments covered by the Agreement.

The Agreement includes embargo provisions (Article 19.1) but they are not used.

Arrears debts for customers and their partners are raised under s1228A Social Security Act 1991 and recovered via normal methods under the Act. See Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears.

Note: where an arrears period is not provided, the arrears period end date can be assumed to be the end of the month prior to the date on the notice.

A contravention debt may also occur if the customer does not advise of the grant of their Slovakian payment within their notification period. See Foreign pension coding.

Life certificates (Potvrdenie o žití) are issued by Slovak Republic every 3 months.

Slovakian life certificates can be certified by an officer of Services Australia.

For general information about helping customers with life certificates, see Assisting customers to maintain an existing foreign pension.

Customers in Australia are sent notices at grant and will receive an annual statement each year.

Payments are made in AU dollars. However, foreign income must be recorded in source currency - Euro. Official statements provide the foreign currency amounts.

Note: amounts recorded in source currency on the Foreign Pension Details (FPD) screen must not be changed to the AU dollar amount.

For help with coding:

• other generic benefits paid by the Slovakian Government (including by funds not covered by the Agreement), see Foreign pension coding
• any other income received from Slovak Republic, see Foreign income and assets