Anti-crisis tax package: reduction of VAT and road tax
The chamber of deputies passed an anti-crisis tax package involving, apart from the long-discussed tax loss carry-back, a reduction of the VAT rate on selected services as well as a reduction of certain road tax rates. The bill is now to be discussed by the senate.
Tax loss carry-back is discussed in separate article. A reduction from a 15% VAT rate to 10% shall apply to accommodation services, entrance fees for cultural and sports events and to sports centres (including ski lift passes), saunas and other similar facilities.
As financial assistance to businesses operating in agriculture, the government proposes to shorten the deadline for a refund of overpaid excise duties on ‘green diesel oil’. Overpayments should be refunded within 40 days of the last day of the deadline for filing a tax return or within 15 days of the day of issuing a payment assessment or an additional payment assessment where the tax administrator commenced a procedure to remove doubt or a tax inspection.
For road tax, the government proposes to reduce rates applicable to cars with a maximum permitted weight higher than 3.5 tons by 25%. The new rates should already become effective for the 2020 taxable period, including the determination of prepayment amounts.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the government also proposes to extend the definition of an extraordinary event to allow municipalities to exempt certain real property from real estate tax.
The tax package also covers the Act on International Cooperation in Tax Administration: it proposes the possibility to postpone, by a governmental decree, the deadline for meeting obligations associated with the automatic exchange of information with another member state, in line with the European Commission’s proposal to postpone deadlines for reporting selected cross-border arrangements (DAC 6) and for exchanging information about financial accounts (DAC 2). The current legal regulation does not allow any postponement of deadlines.
The anti-crisis governmental tax package will be discussed by parliament in a state of legislative emergency and should become effective on the date it is promulgated in the Collection of Laws.