News

Intended amendments to the tax regulation

The Upcoming Amendment to the Tax Code A package of regulations amending tax legislation has been released by the Ministry of Finance for external comment proceedings. The package includes a draft amendment to the Tax Code which is set to come into effect on 1 January 2017.

The amendment will namely affect the following issues:

• Confidentiality

The obligation to maintain confidentiality will newly not apply to information obtained while administering taxes, provided that the information is published while a provider of a public aid or a provider of a small-scale support is fulfilling its information disclosure duty.

• Wire Transfers Made by Payment Cards

The Tax Code will newly stipulate the tax authority’s obligation to ensure that technical conditions are in place for receiving tax payments made by payment cards. In using this kind of payment, the payment date will be the date on which a payment order is submitted to the tax authority (ie the moment a payment card is used at the tax authority’s terminal).

• Deferment

The tax authority will be newly allowed to modify the set deferment period at the tax entity’s request, or to modify and add other conditions applicable to it after the deferment has been approved. In doing so, it will not, however, be bound by the tax entity’s proposal – it will be allowed to deviate from it. New guidance will also be expressly provided on interest on deferred amounts which will not accrue if the tax entity would not incur default interest either.

• Elimination of Assets from Tax Execution

It will be newly possible to perform an execution also during proceedings on the proposal to eliminate assets from tax execution provided it concerns perishable assets.

• Dissolution of a Legal Entity at the Tax Authority’s Instigation

The reporting duty towards registry courts, trade licensing authorities and other state administration authorities will newly apply to the tax authority if, in performing its activities, it notices that the conditions for (i) dissolving a legal entity, (ii) revoking or suspending a trade licence or (iii) revoking the licence based on which the tax entity was registered have been met. The reporting duty will further apply to situations in which the tax authority notices that the tax entity conducts business without the necessary licence.

• Interest from Tax Deductions

The planned changes also include specifying the legal regulation of interest from tax deductions. Tax entities will newly accrue the interest after six months have passed from the deadline for filing of the tax return or from the date on which the tax return was actually filed if it was filed after the deadline. The entitlement to interest will newly not be limited only to the retention of excess deductions as part of the procedure to eliminate doubts but it will accrue whenever a deduction is retained for a period exceeding the stated six months. However, the legal regulation is still at odds with the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the Supreme Administrative Court. 

• Complaints against the Tax Authority’s Actions

The amendment also affects the handling of complaints filed against the tax authority’s practice or against an inappropriate behaviour of a tax authority’s official. An obligation imposed on the tax authority to resolve the complaint before the control procedure is finished, if the contested practice or behaviour is related to such control procedure, is abolished by amendment.

The Upcoming Amendment to Criminal Legislation

An amendment to criminal legislation is currently being read for the third time in the Chamber of Deputies. The amendment makes punishable preparation of the crime of tax, fees and similar mandatory payments evasion. The provisions related to the crime are further extended so as to include cases where the crime is committed in conjunction with an organised group operating across multiple countries. The amendment also abolishes the inclusion of the crime of tax evasion in a group of crimes non-prevention of which is punishable. The amendment is set to be further debated later this month.

Táňa Čapková +420 246 042 297 tcapkova@deloittece.com

Jiřina Neumannová +420 246 042 430 jneumannova@deloittece.com