Municipal Court in Prague: tax returns declaring lower tax may not be filed after deadline
The deadline for filing an additional tax return is the end of the month following the month in which a taxpayer learned that the tax concerned had been determined incorrectly, irrespective of whether an additional tax return declares a lower or higher tax. What will happen when the taxpayer files an additional tax return after the set deadline? The Municipal Court in Prague claims that tax returns declaring a lower tax may not be submitted after the deadline at all.
There are generally two basic deadlines for filing additional tax returns: the first is the end of the month following the month in which the taxpayer learned that they should file an additional tax return, and the second is the end of the lapse period for determining a tax. In case file no. 9 Af 1/2018, the Municipal Court dealt with an additional tax return to decrease tax filed after the first deadline. The court agreed with the tax administrator who dismissed the additional tax return in question on the grounds of late filing. According to the court, the taxpayer’s entitlement to file an additional tax return declaring a lower tax extinguishes as soon as the set deadline expires.
With respect to the matter at hand, the court held that the entitlement to file an additional tax return for a lower tax will extinguish even if only one of the two deadlines has expired. In the case of an additional tax return for a higher tax, the situation is different: the taxpayer must and not only may file an additional tax return. This duty lasts over the entire period for assessing tax, and any default results in sanctions under the Tax Procedure Rules. The court did not agree with the taxpayer’s argument that the situation had been so complex that a special opinion had to be obtained whether to file an additional tax return.
In practice, to determine the moment from which the first deadline begins to run can be quite complicated. In the case in question, however, it was quite simple, according to the court: it was the date on which a decision constituting the grounds for filing an additional tax return was delivered to the taxpayer’s legal representative. The case is yet to be discussed by the Supreme Administrative Court. However, the Municipal Court’s judgment makes it clear that no one should procrastinate when filing an additional tax return and that all should make sure that the appropriate deadlines are met, just as with ordinary tax returns.