Jana

Updated as of 23. 3. 2020.

The Ministry of Finance extended the deadline for filing tax returns until the 1st of July 2020 (from 31st March 2020). Until then, it is be possible to file a tax return and pay the tax without any penalty, it is not necessary to put in a special request or prove any reasons related to the coronavirus.
Taxpayers who, based on an individual request, are at least partially exempted from the interest on late payment, or have been allowed to delay the tax payment or to pay it in instalments for reasons related to the spread of the coronavirus, are also exempted from the fine for late taxation related to such payments.
VAT payers are not going to be fined for failure to submit a control report, if the obligation to pay it arose in the period from 1. 3. 2020 to 31. 7. 2020.
All taxpayers will be exempted from the first administrative fee for the acceptance of a request for remission of interest on late payment and for acceptance of the request for remission of a fine for failure to submit a control report, provided that the request is submitted before 31. 7. 2020. All taxpayers will also be exempted from the second administrative fee for acceptance of a request for permission to delay a tax payment, or for its payment in instalments, or for amendment of this decision, provided that the request is submitted before 31. 7. 2020.
Tax offices are instructed to accept all requests for postponement, remission of interest on late payment, interest on the postponed tax, and fines for failure to submit a control report in the amount of 10 000 – 50 000 CZK. Requests may be submitted free of charge until 31. 7. 2020.
The extended deadline (1. 7. 2020) for tax returns and tax payments applies to all taxpayers filing income tax returns, both self-employed and non-self-employed. It also applies to those taxpayers who have income from employment, rent or other source of income, or some combination of these. The same applies to businesses: if a businessman submits a tax return and pays the tax at any time before 1. 7. 2020, there will be no fines or interest on late payment. It is not necessary to request anything. However, if the tax return is filed after the extended deadline, fines will be counted from 1. 4. 2020.

Updated as of 25. 3. 2020

Parents of children up to the age of 13 are entitled to attendance benefits for as long as schools and child-care facilities are closed as part of the emergency measures adopted against the coronavirus pandemic.
The benefit will be paid retroactively and for all the days the parent was home with the child, even after the initial 9 days for which it is normally paid. Parents are entitled to this benefit even if the child-care facility closure was ordered by the organizer of such facility and not the government. Two parents can take turns caring for the child and can switch places as many times as they need (until now, it was only possible to switch once in who was home caring for the child).
Applications relating to all sickness insurance benefits, including attendance allowance, may be handled electronically (scanned and sent by email to the employer), even without the insured person’s electronic signature, it is not necessary to deliver them in person or send by post.
The basis for calculating attendance benefits is the average daily income for the decisive period (usually 12 months before the month in which the need for care arose). This is further regulated by three reduction limits, thus creating the so-called reduced daily assessment base. The attendance benefit allowance is paid for each calendar day and amounts to 60 % of the reduced daily assessment base. In reality, for example for someone with an average wage this would amount to approximately 70 % of their net income.
Self-employed people can claim a daily attendance benefit of 424 CZK.
The new law was already discussed and supported by the Parliament and there is no reason why it should not pass, but it still needs to be approved by the Senate and the President. It is advised not to claim this prolonged attendance benefit yet and to wait until the law is approved, which

should hopefully happen soon, and then the benefit will be paid retroactively as well to those who are already home with their children.
Please feel free to contact us in case of any further questions at
karolina.neuvirtova@interexpert.cz

Updated as of 25. 3. 2020

Employees who are in quarantine are entitled to a sickness benefit of 60 % of their wage, companies will be able to claim all this money from the state. The need to quarantine arises if a person returns from a risk country or if a person was in contact with a patient in whom the coronavirus infection was confirmed in a laboratory. This person must immediately notify their GP by phone or other remote means, without personal contact. Their doctor will issue a decision on quarantine and such person should also immediately inform their employer that they have been ordered to quarantine.
In cases where the closure of establishments was ordered directly by the government (restaurants, shops…), employees are entitled to 100 % of their wage and their employers will be able to claim 80 % of this money from the state. Employers will be able to claim this money after the end of the month for which the assistance is being claimed, so for March wages the 80 % assistance money can be claimed at the beginning of April, after the companies pay their employees.
For now, this assistance only concerns March wages and is a part of a government order that has already passed, with methodological details to be finalized this week. It is possible that in the future a similar arrangement will be set up for those who worked in the now-closed companies on agreements to complete a job or other agreements different than regular employment.
Due to the current state of emergency, it is sufficient to deliver all sickness insurance benefits applications to the employer by scanning them and sending via email, even without a verified electronic signature, they do not have to be delivered in person or send by post.
In relation to foreigners residing in the Czech Republic, the latest measures regarding sickness benefits and attendance benefits are subject to the same rules as regular sickness insurance benefits. They are co-ordinated within the EU or they may be subject to bilateral international agreements, where the states mutually recognize the documents issued by the other state, and the foreign document on sickness or attendance benefits serve as a basis for the decision on the entitlement to benefit in the Czech Republic.