Jobs, deposits and invoices: contracts with customers for craftspeople

A craftsperson working for households usually makes a contract for work (zmluva o diele) with a consumer. If it is agreed at the customer’s home, it is an off-premises contract and the customer may withdraw within 14 days — with exceptions for urgent repairs, made-to-measure products and services started at the customer’s express request. A deposit must be recorded, and a VAT payer accounts for VAT on it on the day it is received.

Key points

A contract made at the customer’s home is an off-premises contract (Section 14(2) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll.).

The consumer may withdraw within 14 days, or within 30 days after an unsolicited visit (Section 20).

Exceptions: urgent repairs at the express request (Section 19(1)(h)), made-to-measure goods (point (c)), a service fully performed with consent (point (a)).

If a service started during the withdrawal period at the customer’s request, on withdrawal they pay a proportionate price (Section 21(5)).

VAT payer: the tax liability on a deposit received arises on the day it is received (Section 19(4) of the VAT Act).

Construction work between two VAT payers: domestic reverse charge (Section 69(12)(j)).

The contract: what belongs in it

The law does not require written form for an ordinary job, but disputes about scope and price are hard to resolve without it. A sensible minimum:

the exact scope of the work (what is and is not included in the price — materials, waste removal, travel),
the price or how it is determined, and what happens with extra work,
the start and completion dates,
the deposit — its amount and purpose (e.g. buying materials),
how the work is handed over,
for a consumer, information on withdrawal and on liability for defects.

A job agreed at the customer’s home

If you agree the contract at the customer’s premises — during a site visit in their flat or on their land — it is, under Section 14(2) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll., a contract concluded away from business premises. The consumer can then withdraw without giving a reason within 14 days; if it was an unsolicited visit, within 30 days.

The exceptions in Section 19(1) are important for craftspeople:

Situation	Withdrawal	Provision
The customer called you out for an urgent repair or maintenance and expressly asked for it	no (only for that repair, not for other services or parts)	point (h)
A product made to the customer’s specifications or made to measure	no	point (c)
A service fully performed before the period ended, with the express consent of a customer who knew they would lose the right to withdraw	no	point (a)
A service started at the customer’s request but not completed	yes, but the customer pays a proportionate price for the work done	Section 21(5)

Ask for consent to start work before the withdrawal period ends expressly and in a provable way, ideally in writing in the contract.

Deposits

Recording the sale. A deposit received in cash or by card on the spot is a sale under the Sales Recording Act — it is recorded in eKasa.
VAT. If you are a VAT payer, the tax liability on a deposit received before the supply arises on the day the payment is received (Section 19(4) of the VAT Act). If you do not make the supply within 15 days of receiving it, you issue an invoice for the payment received; if you supply sooner, you issue a regular invoice straight away.
An advance invoice (zálohová faktúra, pro forma) is only a request for payment, not a tax document.

Construction work for another VAT payer

If you are a VAT payer and you carry out construction work, supply a building under a contract for work or supply goods with installation that fall under Section F of the CPA classification, for another Slovak VAT payer, the domestic reverse charge (prenesenie daňovej povinnosti) applies (Section 69(12)(j) of the VAT Act). You invoice without VAT with the wording “prenesenie daňovej povinnosti” (reverse charge) and the customer accounts for the tax. It does not apply to supplies to households.

Complaints about the work

Contracts for work to make an item to order for a consumer are subject to the rules on consumer sales (Section 648 of the Civil Code). Liability for defects lasts two years from handover. When a complaint is made, you issue a confirmation with a period for remedying the defect, which must not exceed 30 days; a longer period is possible only for objective reasons beyond your control (Section 622(3) of the Civil Code). The customer chooses first between repair and replacement; a price reduction and withdrawal come into play if repair is not possible or the defect recurs.

For services (not making an item), the confirmation of a complaint about a service must state a period for remedying the defect of no more than 30 days (Section 4(1)(j) of Act No. 108/2024 Coll.).

What to do

Use a written contract or at least an order stating scope, price, deadline and deposit.

For a job agreed at the customer’s home, give them the withdrawal information and the model form.

If work is to start immediately, get the customer’s express written consent to starting before the withdrawal period ends.

Record a deposit taken in cash or by card in eKasa; as a VAT payer, account for VAT on it.

When a complaint is made, issue a confirmation with a repair period of no more than 30 days.