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Latest news - September 2017

Last month’s tax and legal news in a few sentences.

  • At its August meeting, the CNB Bank Board adjusted interest rates, increasing the two-week repo rate to 0.25% p.a. The two-week repo rate is used as a basis to calculate default interest under the Civil Code, i.e. as per Government Decree No. 351/2013 Coll. The default interest is determined depending on the moment the default occurred, thus amounts to 8.05% p.a. for the entire period of default where the default occurred before 31 December 2017. The CNB two-week repo rate is also taken as a basis by tax administrators when determining default interest under Section 252 of the Tax Procedure Rules. In this case, the default interest is calculated starting on the fifth working day following the due date up to the payment date (including that date) and corresponds, per annum, to the CNB repo rate effective on the first day of the respective calendar half-year increased by 14 percentage points. Thus, for the period of default from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2017, default interest under the Tax Procedure Rules amounts to 14.05% p.a. 
     
  • On its website, the General Financial Directorate published information aiming to acquaint the public with changes in the application of VAT by company shareholders resulting from the adoption of Act No. 170/2017 Coll., amending certain tax legislation.
     
  • The senate approved a bill according to which insolvency cases will be allocated to judges using an automatic and random system. The government originally proposed to apply this system to all court proceedings, but the chamber of deputies limited its application via an amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules. The bill has yet to be signed by the president.
     
  • It is likely that non-profit organisations will not have to be recorded in a register to obtain publicly beneficial status. Today, the senate approved an amendment to the Civil Code in a wording by which the chamber of deputies replaced the controversial government bill on the publicly beneficial status. The amendment has yet to be approved by the president.
     
  • The senate intends to increase state contribution to employers for wages paid to employees with disabilities to CZK 12 000 a month. The contribution nowadays amounts to CZK 9 500 a month and the chamber of deputies approved its increase to CZK 10 500. The senate’s version of an amendment to the Act on Employment will be discussed by deputies at their September session. 
     
  • The Senate approved an amendment to the Act on International Cooperation in Tax Administration aiming to fight tax evasion on an international basis and imposing a duty on multinational companies to inform about their financial situation in individual countries in which they operate. The amendment has yet to be approved by the president.
     
  • The chamber of deputies and the senate will be allowed to mutually amend changes to constitutional and electoral legislation to achieve consensus on their wording. Deputies would therefore no longer have to approve senate-proposed changes of amendments they themselves want adopted. This is the intention of the Act on Principles of Negotiation and Communication between the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, approved by the Senate today.