Newly submitted bills

• Amendment to the VAT Act in the Chamber of Deputies

The governmental proposal for the amendment to the VAT Act (Parliamentary publication no. 887) was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies for discussion and approval in the first reading during September 2009. The amendment responds to EC Directives on VAT adopted in 2008 that include, among other things, Council Directive 2008/8/EC, Council Directive 2008/9/EC and Council Directive 2008/117/EC, pursuant to which EU Member States are expected to implement the new rules into national regulation by 1 January 2010. This concerns mainly a change in the rules for determining the place of performance of services, a change relating to the submission of summary reports and a change in VAT reimbursement for Czech taxpayers in other EU Member States and for taxpayers from other EU Member States in the Czech Republic. Pursuant to the amendment, summary reports are required to be submitted electronically only by means of a data message with a verified electronic signature as of 1 January 2010. Other proposals for changes to the VAT Act, such as the implementation of a specific tax base for related parties and changes in schedules to the VAT Act determining whether performance is subject to a reduced VAT rate, were included in the amendment. Changes in the VAT Act will result in the need to set-up accounting systems and data processing for VAT reporting.

• The Act on Financial Administration of the Czech Republic and the Act on Customs Administration

A parliamentary proposal for the amendment of the Act on Financial Administration of the Czech Republic (Parliamentary print no. 844) and an accompanying act regulating related legislation (Parliamentary print no. 845) have been submitted to the Chamber of Deputies. In addition, a parliamentary proposal for a new Act on Customs Administration (Parliamentary print no. 846) and an accompanying act on related legislation (Parliamentary print no. 847) have been submitted. The laws should trigger a reorganisation in the area of financial administration so that a centrally-managed system of bodies is subordinated to the MF, headed by a directorate with nationwide competence (to be created from part of the current Central Financial and Tax Directorate and designated for this purpose as the General Financial Directorate). The General Customs Directorate will be created on a similar principle. The new system is expected to become the basis for creating a Single Collection Point (SCP) in the future. The government has issued its standpoint on the draft amendments and recommended making slight changes. A proposal for an expression of consent to the draft acts in the first reading has already been submitted in connection with the submission.

It is assumed that the proposals will be scheduled for the last meeting of the current Chamber of Deputies in September, but the draft amendments have not been placed on the agenda so far and therefore it is uncertain whether they will be discussed in the near future.