What Tax Changes Will Affect Us Before the End of 2019, and What Else Awaits?

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  • Expansion of the VAT record-keeping obligation from 1 January 2019

An amendment to the VAT Act, effective as of 1 January 2019, has expanded the record-keeping obligations of taxpayers with an obligation to maintain more detailed records of transactions that are not included in your tax return, recapitulative statement, or even your control statement.

  • Abolition of the levy for chain stores

In a shortened legislative procedure, MPs have approved the abolition of the special levy for chain stores. The decision to abolish the law came as a result of a European Commission arrangement that ordered the law to be suspended until such time as the effects of the particular reason are known. Levies already paid will be treated as advance income tax payments.

  • Child tax bonus

As of 1 April 2019, the tax bonus for children under 6 years of age has been doubled.

  • Act on Dispute Resolution Rules for resolving taxation disputes

The approved Act on Dispute Resolution Rules, which regulates the dispute resolution procedure in matters of avoiding double taxation on income (which we discussed in more detail in the Q4 2018 Newsletter) will come into force on 1 July 2019. It will apply to proceedings initiated on the basis of an application for the avoidance of double taxation filed after 30 June 2019 for tax periods starting after 31 December 2017.

  • Amendment to the Social Fund Act

Among other things, the bill to amend the Social Fund Act proposes to expand the possibility of using social fund resources for each case of providing a recreation allowance under the Labour Code, rather than only for recreation allowances provided beyond the scope of the Act. The aim of this change is to help employers who are obliged to pay such allowances and for whom the provision of these allowances is very costly (as an example, the legislator mainly mentions employers in the education and health sectors).

  • Amendment to the Building Act

An amendment to the Building Act is currently being prepared, intending to supplement the Act on Local Taxes and Local Fees for Municipal Waste and Minor Construction Waste, as well as the Income Tax Act and the Local Development Fee Act. Among other things, the proposed amendment looks to change the definition of building land for the purposes of real estate tax, while the construction of housing and small structures shall be defined directly in the Local Tax Act. The proposed effective date of the amendment is 1 July 2021.

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