Historical Development of Real Property Tax Regulation in the Territory of Slovakia in the period of 1918 - 2005

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state (1918) meant not only a geopolitical change for the territory of Slovakia, but also caused economic changes, which were reflected in the subsequent gradual changes in the legislation in force in the territory of the newly established state. One of the areas that have so far been little explored in detail and comprehensively in a historical context is the area related to the application of real property tax legislation in the territory of Slovakia. After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the original Austro-Hungarian legal system of real property taxation was adopted in this area, which was subsequently only partially amended until the major reform of direct taxes in 1927. The system thus adopted lasted in principle until the period after the end of World War II, followed by a significant political and economic change, which triggered a fundamental revision of the legal system (including real property taxation) after 1948, but especially after 1952. The established system of socialist conception of taxation was gradually transformed only after 1989. In this study the authors deal with the historical legal development of real property taxation in the period 1918–2005 in the territory of Slovakia in the geopolitical and economic historical context. Using standard scientific methods and available historical sources, the aim of the authors was to identify approaches to the concept of real property taxation in particular historical periods with reflection on legislation then in force. The authors have identified that real property tax legislation in the territory of Slovakia has historically been gradually simplified (unification and elimination of multiplication of tax obligations), concluding that the fundamental changes in the legislation were triggered by a change in the concept of taxation, which was historically linked to the political economic system applied in a particular historical period.