News in brief, June 2023

DOMESTIC NEWS
 

• An amendment (No. 152/2023) to the Construction Act and some related laws was published in the Collection of Laws.
• Communication on the Treaty between the Czech Republic and the Republic of Colombia on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion in the field of income taxes (Collection of International Treaties No. 39/2015) was published in Financial Bulletin No. 7/2023.
• The government approved an amendment to the Excise Duty Act restoring the excise duty rate on diesel fuel to the original rate of CZK 9.95 per litre, effective from the first day of the month following the promulgation.
• The amendment to the Investment Incentives Act has passed the first reading in the Chamber of Deputies. Among other things, it proposes to abolish the obligation of each investment incentive having to be approved by the government.
   

FOREIGN NEWS
 

• The EU finance ministers have agreed on further revising the directve on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC8). The amendment will introduce reporting obligations for crypto-asset service providers and crypto-asset operators. They will be required to report exchange transactions and transfers of reportable crypto-assets made by their customers. The amendment also covers other areas such as the exchange of binding assessments concerning natural persons or the limitation of the information obligation for intermediaries of cross-border arrangements who are bound by professional secrecy. For more information, please see here.
• Legislation for the Fit for 55 package was published in the Official Journal, which also includes Regulation 2023/956 of 10 May 2023 introducing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
• The European Commission published a proposal for a major reform of customs rules.
•  On 28 June 2023 and 12 September 2023, respectively, the European Commission will discuss a common EU-wide system for withholding tax (FAST) and a common set of rules for EU companies to calculate their tax base (BEFIT).
• The G7 meeting endorsed the completion of work on Pillar 1 (changing the distribution of taxation rights in favour of market countries), with the understanding that the countries associated
• in the OECD Inclusive Framework could conclude the respective multilateral agreement by the end of July 2023.