The government approved additional measures related to COVID‑19 known colloquially as Lex Corona III, which amends Act No. 67/2020 Coll. on Extraordinary Financial Measures in Response to the COVID‑19 Pandemic as amended by Act No. 75/2020 Coll.
We expect parliament approve the government’s draft in the coming days.
This amendment has introduced a number of additional finance-related changes in response to the spread of COVID‑19.
A deadline for income tax refunds to taxpayers who filed tax returns during the pandemic has been defined. Refunds will be returned within 40 days from the end of the calendar month in which the tax return was filed. If a tax return was filed in which the taxpayer was seeking a refund in the period from 1 January 2020 to the beginning of the pandemic, the tax administrator will provide this refund within 40 days from 31 March 2020 (i.e. by 11 May 2020).
Taxpayers whose revenues decreased by at least 40% compared to the same period during the previous calendar year are now allowed to not pay advance income tax payments due during the pandemic. This applies to the periods immediately following the periods in which the taxpayer reports reduced revenues. In this case, a taxpayer must submit a statement to the tax administrator as to the fact that they meet such conditions at least 15 days in advance of the end of the payment term for such advance income tax payment. This form of paying advance payments should be first applied to advance income tax payment due in May 2020.
The obligation to pay advance motor vehicle tax due during the pandemic beginning in April 2020 will be cancelled. This tax obligation will then be settled within the period for filing motor vehicle tax returns for 2020, specifically until 31 January 2021.
The deadline for using the funds raised from tax allocation to help mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic will be extended until the end of 2021. Initially, recipients of a portion of paid tax were obliged to use these funds during the pandemic.
To mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic, taxpayers are also allowed to deduct unused tax losses for tax periods ended in 2015-2018 from the tax base reported on their tax return where the last day of the period for filing such tax return falls between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020. The maximum deductible amount is €1 million.
Provisions concerning forgiveness for missed deadlines, tax audits, tax proceedings, levying penalties for failure to pay a tax obligation on-time and failure to pay an income tax obligation under an amended tax return were further clarified in terms of terminology.
VAT payers who are subject to termination of their VAT registration as a result of repeated failure to file tax returns or control reports or the repeated failure to pay VAT during the pandemic will not be published on the Financial Directorate’s website.
Municipalities have the ability to use revenues from local development fees to cover ordinary expenditures during the pandemic.
Please find the full text of the law in the following document:
Lex Corona III (Slovak only)
Other useful documents:
