Latest news, September 2019

DOMESTIC NEWS IN BRIEF

• An act amending certain laws in connection with providing support to the exercise of shareholders’ rights was published in the Collection of Laws under No. 204/2019.
   
• Regulation No. 219/2019 Coll., on the percentage share of individual municipalities in part of the country-wide gross income from value added tax and income tax, was published in the Collection of Laws.
   
• Government Decree No. 220/2019 Coll., on the maximum number of applications for residence permits for more than 90 days for the purpose of carrying out business activities, applications for long-term residence for investment purposes and applications for employee cards that can be filed with embassies, was published in the Collection of Laws.
   
• The Ministry of Industry and Trade along with the Ministry of Finance have prepared a trades package including ten goals with specific tasks and related deadlines. These primarily relate to family businesses, business start-ups, legislation, taxes, prescribed forms, statistics, enforcement proceedings and building permit procedures.
   
• The government approved an amendment to the Tax Procedure Code, whose objective is, among other things, to increase taxpayers’ electronic communication with the tax authority. To taxpayers who will file their tax returns electronically, the deadline for submitting income tax returns will be extended by one month, and taxpayers applying for a refund of overpaid tax electronically will receive their refunds more quickly. The amendment also abolishes the duty to file tax returns electronically for taxpayers who voluntarily have established data boxes.
   
• The Ministry of Finance is preparing an amendment to the Income Tax Act to allow the use of cash instead of meal vouchers to help businesses and employees use the tax credit for meals in a new, simpler way.
   
• First negotiations between Czech and German representatives (from Saxony and Bavaria) have taken place in connection with the aim to strengthen cooperation in combating VAT fraud. The working group discussed the practical applications of the direct cross-border exchange of VAT-related information, the arrangements of which were signed by the Czech Republic and Germany in the first half of 2019.
   
• The financial administration has been focusing on inspecting the providers of accommodation services through electronic platforms. Within its analytic activities, the financial administration obtains information about taxpayers’ income and is thus able to verify whether they have fulfilled their tax liability, by comparing it with the appropriate tax returns. When differences are identified during these analyses, taxpayers are usually called to file regular or additional income tax returns.

FOREIGN NEWS IN BRIEF

• The Polish Ministry of Finance plans to reintroduce a retail sales tax (Ustawa o podatku od sprzedaży detalicznej), as the CJEU has reversed the European Commission’s decision that the tax constitutes state aid incompatible with EU internal market. The tax is to be collected on retailers’ and retail chains’ monthly turnover (excluding electronic sales) of at least 17 million zlotys.  Turnover of 17 to 170 million zlotys would be taxed at 0.8%, turnover in excess of 170 million zlotys at 1.4%. The act will enter into effect on 1 September 2019 and the tax will apply to turnover from that date.
   
• In its second reading, the Bulgarian parliament passed the procedural regulation for tax and social security. The bill contains obligatory requirements for transfer pricing documentation, and implements the Directive on Tax Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the European Union.
   
• Hungary implemented in its laws the Directive on Tax Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in the European Union and DAC 6.
   
• A prejudicial question was referred to the Court of Justice of the EU in the case of Société Générale SA v Ministre de l'Action et des Comptes publics, concerning rules for the compensation for the double taxation of dividends.
   
• Three prejudicial questions were referred to the Court of Justice of the EU in the case of State of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, concerning requests for information exchange between states and its scope.
   
• EU legislation regulating cross-border offerings of undertakings for collective investments was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It aims to promote a more integrated single market for investment funds by removing barriers to cross-border offerings of undertakings for collective investment.