The draft bills were published last Friday after Finance Minister Dušan Mramor announced the measure at the beginning of October as part of efforts for a more balanced budget for next year.

The financial services tax act, which introduced a 6.5% tax, was adopted in late 2012 and entered into force in March 2013.

The tax is levied on all transactions involving deposits, withdrawals, transfers, cheques and other payment instruments.

Services for loans, guarantees, cash transactions and insurance brokerage are also subject to the tax, but stock market and investment fund transactions are exempt.

The state annually collects around EUR 40m, but banks and financial institutions have responded to it by raising the fees for their services.

A survey conducted this spring by Banka Slovenije, the central bank, showed that in ten payment services categories the fees even increased by more than the rate of the new tax.