Tax & Legal Update
New rules and duties for real property intermediaries
To protect consumers and enhance the quality of real property services, the government approved a new bill on real property intermediation and on changes to the Trade Licensing Act. Persons interested in the purchase/sale/lease/acquisition of the…
Brexit implications for Czech financial sector
The Czech Republic is preparing for a hard Brexit, as the deadline for the United Kingdom leaving the EU is approaching. Earlier this year, the government proposed a bill on Brexit designed to mitigate the impact on British citizens and corporations…
EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement
The EU and Japan's Economic Partnership Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019, eliminating the majority of existing tariff and non-tariff measures pertaining to the delivery of goods and the provision of services, enhancing mutual…
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…