What is meant by "economic benefit" within the meaning of the RVPS Act?
The term "economic benefit" is used in the RPVS Act, as well as in the Act on the Prevention of Legalization of Proceeds from Crime and on the Prevention of Terrorist Financing.
What is meant by the term "economic benefit"? This term is not defined in either of the above-mentioned acts and is not used or defined in any other legal regulation. Does this term refer to business income or net profit (understood as the difference between business income and business expenses)?
OPINION OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC:
In the case of the term "economic benefit," , the Ministry of Justice bases its interpretation on the interpretation contained in the interpretative opinion of the Public Procurement Office No. 1/2016, which concerns the definition of the final beneficiary, as the definition of the final beneficiary, including the term economic benefit, was also known in the previous legislation. According to this opinion, economic benefit is the right to performance in the form of a share of the turnover (from business or other similar activity) of a legal entity or natural person (entrepreneur), amounting to at least 25%. At the same time, however, a second condition must also be met, namely that the natural person would not have obtained (or could not have obtained) the performance in question under market conditions. This means that if a natural person (directly or indirectly) obtained at least 25% of the entrepreneur's turnover without providing adequate consideration (e.g., supplying goods or services), that natural person must be considered the final beneficiary. Consideration is deemed adequate if its value was within the normal range of comparable performances available on the market at the time when the claim arose. Consideration is not deemed adequate in particular if there is a clear economic imbalance between the performance received and the value of the consideration. A clear economic imbalance is considered to exist in particular where the value of the consideration is more than half the value of the performance received.
