Tax & Legal Update
SC: Threats to employer reason for immediate termination
“If I do not get the centre manager job, I will see to it that the employer cannot draw subsidies and goes bankrupt”, an employee threatened his superiors. When the employer found out, they immediately terminated his employment. The validity of this…
SAC: transfer of tax labilities by operation of law possible in spin-offs
Contrary to its previous case law, the Supreme Administrative Court agreed to the possibility of tax labilities being transferred by operation of law also in demergers by spin-off, when the company being demerged is not dissolved. The court cited a…
Regional court: tax exempt sale of shares financed by a tax exempt dividend is abuse…
The Regional Court in Brno recently dealt with the sale of shares by individuals – natural persons financed by a tax-exempt dividend payment, concluding that the case involved an abuse of right. The court upheld the additional assessment of 15%…
SAC: liability for unpaid VAT not to take precedence over denying an entitlement to…
The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) in its recent judgement held that (customer’s) liability for VAT unpaid by the supplier does not universally take precedence over denying (the customer’s) entitlement to VAT deduction – which has undesirable…
SAC: difference between receivable’s nominal amount and purchase price may be…
According to the recent Supreme Administrative Court judgement, the difference between the nominal value of a receivable and its purchase price upon its transfer may be viewed as a factoring consideration, which is subject to value added tax.
New case law on offsetting
Offsetting is widely used in the business sphere to settle debts. By offsetting, a creditor’s and a debtor’s mutual debts of the same kind (usually monetary) cease to exist. The Supreme Court has recently issued two decisions bringing several…
CJEU on transport: excise duty regime not relevant
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in its December judgement (C-414/17) regarding Czech company AREX CZ dealt yet again with the issue of allocating transport in a chain of transactions. This time, it concerned fuel subject to excise duty and its…
Regional Court opposed to tax administrator’s approach to R&D allowance
The Regional Court of Justice in Hradec Králové in judgment No. 52 Af 18/2016 dealt with a case where a tax administrator challenged a research and development (R&D) allowance claimed by a taxpayer. The court in particular opined on the moment of…
Early termination penalty subject to VAT?
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in its judgement C-295/17 (MEO – Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia SA) dealt with the question whether a fee received for early termination of a contract is subject to value added tax.
Brexit: time for a deal running short
Although the exit agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU is ready, it has not yet been ratified. The key vote in the British parliament lies ahead: if the deal is not passed, there will most likely be a no-deal Brexit. In this uncertain…
No deregulation for investment funds
In 2019, we expect further regulatory changes in the investment fund sector, mainly concerning reporting and stress testing. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is now finalising guidelines on stress test scenarios for money market…