News in Brief, October 2022

DOMESTIC NEWS

• The financial administration reminds payers of road tax who have paid prepayments for 2022 that the prepayments were abolished by the amendment to the Road Tax Act effective from 1 January 2022.
• An amendment to the Excise Duty Act extending the reduction of excise duty on 1 litre of diesel oil by CZK 1.50 until the end of 2022 has been published in the Collection of Laws under Number 286/2022. The reduction of excise duty on petrol by CZK 1.50 per litre ended on 30 September 2022.
• The chamber of deputies has approved an amendment to the Act on International Cooperation in Tax Administration, which introduces a reporting obligation for operators of digital platforms from 2023 (DAC 7). The bill will now be discussed by the senate.
• The financial administration has published information on the one-off child allowance of CZK 5,000. This is tax-exempt income that will not be included in the limit of CZK 68,000 for a spouse's own income.
• A treaty between the Czech Republic and Qatar on the avoidance of double taxation in the field of income taxes and on the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance has been approved by parliament and signed by the president.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' information on negotiating a treaty between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Senegal on the avoidance of double taxation in the field of income taxes and on the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance has been published in the Collection of International Treaties under No. 32/2002.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' information on the denunciation of the treaty between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands with regard to the Netherlands Antilles in relation to Sint Maarten has been published in the Collection of International Treaties under No 29/2002.

​FOREIGN NEWS

• Even though initially expected, the draft directive on minimum tax did not make it onto the agenda of the ECOFIN meeting on 4 October. If member states fail to reach agreement at this or a future meeting, two options remain. The first is so-called enhanced cooperation that will be used if at least nine member states request the procedure and agree that unanimity cannot be reached within a reasonable time. This procedure has been used successfully only twice in the past, but not in tax matters. The second option is the unilateral adoption by member states wishing to comply with the obligations under the OECD Inclusive Framework. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain have already issued a joint declaration that they will proceed with the implementation of the minimum tax.