Guide
The words of a Slovenian purchase, from zemljiška knjiga to prijava prebivanja
Contracts, registers, tax notices and permits in Slovenia are written in Slovenian, and on the coast also in Italian. This glossary gives the terms a foreign buyer meets, with an English equivalent and a short explanation taken from the law and from official sources. An equivalent is not an exact match: where the Slovenian institution works differently from yours, we say so.
Verified on 8 October 2026 · 15 sources · 11 min read
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In brief
- The sale is a written private contract (prodajna pogodba). The notary authenticates the seller's signature on the land register consent and, unless asked to draft a notarial deed, does not answer for the contract's content.
- The buyer is recorded as owner in the land register (zemljiška knjiga). The cadastre and the sales register (ETN) are kept by GURS, the surveying and mapping authority.
- On a resale the transfer tax DPN is 2%, owed by the seller unless the contract shifts it; a new build sold by a company pays VAT (DDV) instead.
- Owning costs a municipal charge for building land (NUSZ) and a property tax on buildings (davek od premoženja), which foreigners pay too.
- Before signing, the documents that matter most are the land register extract, the cadastre, the use permit (uporabno dovoljenje) or proof of legalisation, and the energy certificate (energetska izkaznica).
- An EU citizen who stays longer than 90 days registers residence (prijava prebivanja) at any administrative unit.
Buying: contract, deposit, notary
- prodajna pogodba · contract of sale (sale contract). The contract that transfers a property must be in writing (Obligacijski zakonik, OZ, art. 52). In Slovenia it is a private contract, usually drafted by a lawyer, the notary or the agency, not a deed drawn up by the notary.
- predpogodba · preliminary contract. The same rules of form apply as to the final contract, and it is binding if it contains the essential elements of that contract. If one party refuses to sign the final contract, a court can order them to; the action must be brought within 6 months of the agreed date (OZ art. 33).
- ara · deposit. Do not assume it works like a deposit at home (it differs, for example, from the Italian caparra): unless agreed otherwise, the party who paid it cannot walk away by forfeiting it. If the other party defaults, the payer can claim performance, damages and the deposit back, or double the deposit; a court may reduce an excessive deposit (OZ arts. 64 and 65). The deposit becomes a withdrawal fee (odstopnina) only if the parties have agreed a right to withdraw (OZ art. 68). Cash payments above the legal limit are prohibited.
- zemljiškoknjižno dovolilo · land register consent. The seller's statement allowing the buyer to be entered as owner. Only a notary can authenticate the signature on it (Zakon o notariatu, ZN, art. 64).
- overitev podpisa · authentication of a signature. The notary confirms who signed. In doing so the notary does not answer for the content of the contract, and authenticates the seller's signature only after the tax office has confirmed that the transfer tax has been paid.
- notarski zapis · notarial deed. A deed drafted by the notary, who then answers for its content. For an ordinary sale between private parties it is optional, as far as we have been able to verify; it is compulsory for other acts, such as marital property agreements (ZN art. 47).
- notarska hramba · notarial escrow. The notary can hold the price and the documents on an account kept apart from the notary's own assets, beyond the reach of the notary's creditors, and release them on conditions written in a notarial deed.
- nepremičninski posrednik · estate agent. A regulated profession (ZNPosr): the agent must be listed in the register of agents (imenik), which lists 2,888 people. Commission is due only from the party who signed a written brokerage contract (posredniška pogodba) with the agent. The legal cap of 4% was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2025.
- predkupna pravica · right of pre-emption. On agricultural land, and in areas where the state or the municipality holds a pre-emption right under the laws on nature, water, cultural heritage and spatial planning, the sale must first follow that procedure. Waivers of municipal pre-emption are among the documents notaries ask for.
Registers and the cadastre
- zemljiška knjiga (e-ZK) · land register. The court register that records the owner, mortgages and easements. Public extracts are free; the courts' e-portal now asks for an SI-PASS electronic identity to open them.
- vknjižba · entry of ownership. The registration that makes the buyer the owner. The application is usually filed electronically by the notary, a lawyer or the agency; according to the courts' portal, a decision comes a few days after the file reaches the clerk and becomes final in about a month.
- plomba · pending-application mark. The sign in the land register that a procedure is under way on that property. Applications are decided in the order they arrive, so filing secures your place in the queue.
- predznamba · provisional entry. Protects someone whose document is not yet complete, for example while a signature still awaits authentication.
- GURS (Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije) · the surveying and mapping authority. It keeps the real estate cadastre, the sales register and the generalised values, all of which can be consulted online.
- kataster nepremičnin · real estate cadastre. The cadastral register of plots and buildings kept by GURS, with a public online viewer. It does not always match the land register, or what a seller describes: compare the two before you sign.
- parcela · parcel (plot). The unit of land in the cadastre, identified by its number within a cadastral municipality (katastrska občina). Boundaries can be fixed by dedicated cadastral procedures.
- etažna lastnina · condominium ownership. The division of a building into separate units that can be owned and sold one by one. Apartments that have not been set up as separate units cannot be sold separately and, under the short-let rules, count as one establishment.
- ETN (evidenca trga nepremičnin) · real estate market register. GURS records the price of every sale contract. Prices exclude the transfer tax and include VAT where it applies; our guide to real sale prices explains how to read them.
- posplošena vrednost · generalised value. The mass valuation GURS assigns to every property. It is not a market price, and, following a 2016 Constitutional Court decision, it is no longer the basis for the transfer tax.
- uporabna površina · usable floor area. The area of the rooms, without balconies, terraces or cellars. ETN prices per square metre and the reduced VAT thresholds are measured on it, which is why they are not comparable with the commercial area of Italian listings.
Taxes and charges
- FURS (Finančna uprava Republike Slovenije) · the tax administration. It assesses the transfer tax, the property taxes and income tax, and issues tax numbers.
- davčna številka · tax number. A non-resident buying a taxable property must apply for one with form DR-02 at any tax office before becoming the owner. A representative with a power of attorney (pooblaščenec) can apply for you.
- DPN (davek na promet nepremičnin) · real estate transfer tax. 2% on the price of a resale. It is owed by the seller; the buyer can take it over by contract, but if the buyer does not pay, the tax office still pursues the seller. The return is filed within 15 days of the contract.
- DDV · VAT. A building sold by a VAT-registered seller before first occupation, or within two years of it, pays VAT instead of DPN: 22%, or 9.5% for a home for permanent residence of up to 120 m2 in an apartment building or 250 m2 in a single-family house, measured on the usable area of the habitable rooms. If a private person sells a new house, the sale is subject to DPN, which the seller owes by law: the buyer pays it only if the contract says so.
- NUSZ (nadomestilo za uporabo stavbnega zemljišča) · charge for the use of building land. Set by each municipality in an ordinance (odlok), assessed and collected by FURS, and owed by the direct user, owner or tenant. Buyers of a new apartment can ask for an exemption for 5 years.
- davek od premoženja · property tax on buildings. Paid by foreign owners too, even when the property is let, on a points-based value at progressive rates. Owners who live there permanently deduct the value of 160 m2; a non-resident's second home does not. First owners of a new building are exempt for 10 years.
- dobiček iz kapitala · capital gain. On resale the gain is taxed at 25% in the first 5 years of ownership, then 20% and 15%, and 0% after 15 years. The transfer tax on the purchase counts in the cost if, under that contract, the person now selling paid it.
- dohodek iz oddajanja premoženja v najem · income from letting property. Income from long-term letting is taxed at a final 25% on the rent minus a flat 10% for costs, non-residents included.
- sobodajalec · private host. A private individual who lets rooms or homes to tourists, with annual caps under the hospitality act ZGos-1 (short-term rental rules).
Building, permits and land
- gradbeno dovoljenje · building permit. The permit to build, under the building act (Gradbeni zakon, GZ-1).
- uporabno dovoljenje · use permit (occupancy permit). Required before using a building that needed a building permit. If it is missing, the price should account for the time needed to regularise the building.
- legalizacija · legalisation. Regularisation of works built without a permit or not in accordance with one. Under GZ-1 the application must be filed by 31 December 2030, and the works are judged by the rules in force when they were built. There are simplified routes to a use permit for older buildings: the objekt daljšega obstoja, a building of long standing built with a permit (GZ-1, art. 147), single-family houses (art. 149) and much older buildings (art. 150).
- energetska izkaznica · energy performance certificate. Compulsory in every sale listing, houses included, with a fine for the owner who omits it. It is valid for 10 years; without condominium ownership it is issued for the whole building.
- namenska raba · land-use designation. What the municipal spatial plan allows on a plot. Certificates of land use are among the documents notaries ask for.
- OPN (občinski prostorski načrt) · municipal spatial plan. In Koper the new plan was still awaiting state opinions and council approval at the last public update we found: do not buy a plot on a promise of building rights.
- kmetijsko zemljišče · agricultural land. Sold through a procedure of its own: the offer is published for 15 days on the notice board of the administrative unit and on eUprava, then the sale must be approved, and holders of a pre-emption right come first.
Living there: residence, health, tax residence
- prijava prebivanja · registration of residence. An EU citizen who stays longer than 90 days obtains a registration certificate (potrdilo o prijavi prebivanja) at any administrative unit (upravna enota), with a valid ID, health insurance (the European Health Insurance Card is enough), sufficient means and a purpose. The registration certificate is valid for 5 years. Once you settle, you must register your permanent address (stalno prebivališče) within 8 days.
- ZZZS (Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije) · the health insurance institute. On a temporary stay the European card covers urgent and necessary care in public facilities and contracted private ones, not planned treatment or childbirth.
- OZP (obvezni zdravstveni prispevek) · compulsory health contribution. Since 1 January 2024 it has replaced the complementary insurance for those insured in Slovenia.
- davčni rezident · tax resident. Whoever spends more than 183 days a year in Slovenia, or has their habitual abode or centre of interests there, is taxed on worldwide income: worth knowing before you plan half the year by the sea.
What we do not know yet
5
Anything we have not yet found in a reliable source is listed here, rather than passed off as certain.
- Whether a notarial deed (notarski zapis) is compulsory for some sales between private parties, for example with payment in instalments or by proxy.
- Whether authentication of a signature by secure video link before a notary is already operational: the law provides for it, but it applies only from a date set by ministerial order.
- The exact cut-off date in article 150 of GZ-1 for the presumption of a building and use permit.
- How a foreign buyer without Slovenian residence obtains the SI-PASS identity needed for land register extracts.
- The amounts of NUSZ and of the property tax in the coastal and Karst municipalities.
Questions
Is the Slovenian notary like the Italian or German one?
No. In Slovenia the sale is a private contract and the notary's compulsory task is to authenticate the seller's signature on the land register consent, without answering for the content. The notary answers for the content only if asked to draw up a notarial deed. That is why an independent lawyer is worth having: the checks a notary makes in Italy or Germany are the buyer's job here.
What is the difference between DPN and DDV?
DPN is the 2% transfer tax on a resale, owed by the seller unless the contract shifts it. DDV is VAT, due instead of DPN when a VAT-registered seller sells a building before first occupation or within two years of it, at 22% or, for smaller homes for permanent residence, 9.5%.
Why does etažna lastnina matter when buying?
Because only an apartment set up as a separate unit in condominium ownership can be sold on its own. If a house with several apartments has not been divided, you can buy only the whole, and under the short-let rules it counts as a single establishment.
Is the generalised value (posplošena vrednost) the market price?
No. It is GURS's mass valuation for tax and statistical purposes and is no longer the basis for the transfer tax. What houses actually sold for is in the ETN register, which GURS also keeps and publishes.
Which documents should I ask for before signing?
A current land register extract (owner, mortgages, easements, any plomba), the cadastre entry, the use permit or proof of legalisation, the energy certificate, and, where relevant, the land-use designation and waivers of pre-emption rights. Check that land register, cadastre and the house in front of you describe the same thing.
Do I need a Slovenian tax number to buy?
Yes. A non-resident must obtain one with form DR-02 at any tax office before becoming the owner; a representative with a power of attorney can apply on your behalf.
Sources
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- Ministry of Justice: acquisition of property by foreigners
- Obligacijski zakonik, art. 33: preliminary contract (unofficial consolidated text)
- Obligacijski zakonik, art. 65: deposit and non-performance (unofficial consolidated text)
- Notarska zbornica Slovenije: Notaries Act, consolidated text 2022
- Notarska zbornica Slovenije: custody of documents and money
- Courts of Slovenia: entry in the land register
- FURS: real estate transfer tax (DPN)
- FURS: VAT rates, 15th edition, October 2026
- FURS: brochure on the taxation of real estate, 8th edition, September 2026
- FURS: entry of a natural person in the tax register (form DR-02)
- e-uprava: legalisation of buildings
- e-uprava: use permit
- e-uprava: buying agricultural land
- infotujci.si (Ministry of the Interior): registration of residence for EU citizens
- ZZZS: temporary stay in Slovenia
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