Tax & Legal Update
VAT refund also for irrecoverable receivables from non-payers?
In response to an older ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the Enzo Di Maura case (C-246/16), the amendment to the VAT Act effective from 1 April 2019 has extended the scope of VAT refund also for irrecoverable receivables from non…
Assessing agent’s dependence in the context of permanent establishment
The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) has described the key defining features of a dependent agent for the purpose of assessing whether a permanent establishment of a foreign entity has started to exist in the Czech Republic. Among its conclusions…
May ECOFIN: digital taxation and changes to black list
At its May 2019 session, the Economic and Financial Affairs Council approved changes to the EU black list. Ministers also exchanged opinions on the taxation of the digital economy before the upcoming debate at the G20 summit in June.
EU Copyright Directive finally adopted
In mid-May, the EU directive regulating copyright in the digital single market was published in the European Union’s Official Journal. The final and concrete extent of the new rights and duties will only be known once Czech legislators adopt the…
CNB to crack down on sales of bonds to non-professional clients
The Czech National Bank (CNB) issued Supervisory Benchmark No. 2/2019 on acquisitions of investment instruments by clients or investment funds, tightening the rules of acquiring complex investment instruments (namely corporate bonds) by so-called…
TACR announcing TREND support programme, project applications accepted until 11 July
On 15 May 2019, the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR) announced the first call under the TREND programme supporting industrial research and experimental development. This is an opportunity mainly for projects focusing on the development…
Pitfalls of quick fixes: proving transport and chain transactions
In the May issue of Tax and Legal Update, we covered the first two changes arising from the draft 2020 amendment to the VAT Act. The amendment also contains important changes as regards proving transport to another member state and chain…
2019 VAT amendment: treatment of meal vouchers
In the March issue of Tax and Legal Update, we looked into whether meal vouchers meet the definition of a voucher for VAT purposes. The question of how to treat meal vouchers following the implementation of the Vouchers Directive in the amended VAT…
Major changes to tax procedure rules ahead
The Ministry of Finance has released for intra-departmental comments an extensive amendment to the Tax Procedure Code. Its impressive 130 points will affect many old ways. For instance, the ministry proposes to change the system of charging interest…
Rules of profit distribution for joint stock and limited liability companies…
Late in March, the Supreme Court issued a decision significantly diverging from its previous case law concerning the rules of profit distribution for joint-stock and limited liability companies (capital companies). The case law had mostly been…
Office for Personal Data Protection imposes fine for excessive keeping of copies
Last year, the Office for Personal Data Protection dealt with a case of an employer who kept excessive copies of employee documents. This is common practice among employers who, for safety’s sake make copies of all such documents. Nevertheless, this…