Tax & Legal Update
GFD information on transfer of heat and cold to 10% VAT rate
In its information effective from 1 January 2020, the General Financial Directorate (GFD) draws attention to the rules of determining the date of supply for the delivery of heat and cold. It provides examples how to technically solve the settlement…
Double taxation treaty with Korea in effect from January
A new double taxation treaty, which entered into force at the end of 2019, replaces the original document from 1992. Concerning tax withheld at the source, it applies already to income paid or credited at 1 January 2020, hence requiring a very rapid…
New environmental challenges for businesses
At the end of 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced another wave of calls within the Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness Operational Programme (OPPIK) focusing on energy savings and the efficient use of energy. The new…
Amendment to VAT Act for 2020: EC explains call-off stock arrangements
At its January session, the deputies’ chamber will discuss the amendment to the VAT Act introducing quick fixes in its second reading. Most neighbouring countries managed to implement the quick fixes before 1 January 2020. At the end of December…
Tax rate package published in Collection of Laws on New Year’s Eve
Just before Christmas, the Chamber of Deputies overruled the Senate and passed the original version of the tax rate package, which was then published on 31 December 2019 under No. 364/2019 and amends certain tax laws in connection with a plan to…
CJEU: German withholding tax on dividends paid to pension funds contrary to EU law
The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) issued a ground-breaking judgment concerning German withholding tax on dividends paid to foreign pension funds. According to the court, the withholding tax restricts the free movement of capital and is therefore…
Operation of ATMs not VAT exempt
In the Cardpoint (C-42/18) case, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that services comprised of the operation and maintenance of ATMs, including their replenishment and software and hardware installation, are not ‘transactions concerning…
Financial administration’s employee bonuses for additionally assessed tax criticised…
The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) commented on the possible bias of tax officers who had assessed additional tax for errors concerning research and development allowances. Early in 2016, the financial administration issued rules on awarding…
Breaches of corporate representation rules and their consequences
In practice we often see that according to the entry in the Commercial Register, at least two statutory representatives should act jointly on behalf of a company, while in reality, contracts are signed by just one of them. Is a contract executed in…
SAC: tax-exempt sale of shares covered by tax-exempt dividend payment an abuse of…
In a November judgement, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) confirmed that a transaction consisting of a tax-exempt sale of shares with the subsequent payment of the purchase price using a tax-exempt dividend had no economic grounds other than…
Purchased IT services from a transfer pricing perspective
In a transfer pricing case, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) opined on the role of comparative analysis in evidentiary proceedings. The court, among other things, accepted the technique of assessing the adequacy of costs by comparing the total…