NEWS | DIRECT TAXES December 2019 Judgment of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic on withholding tax on licence fees The Supreme Court of the Czech Republic dismissed a cassation appeal of a taxpayer who failed to withhold tax from the payment of a licence fee. The Court held that the payment for a licence fee under a sub-licence agreement concluded between Czech tax residents should have been subject to withholding tax, as the final beneficiary of the licence fee was a tax non-resident, with its registered office in Russia. In addition, the Court could not see any reason for differentiating between taxation of regular repeated payments, the amount of which depends on the production value, and taxation of a one-off (first) payment for a licence. Amendment to the Income Tax Act introducing shorter depreciation periods for buildings for employee accommodation was adopted In late November 2019, the members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved an amendment to the Income Tax Act which introduces a shorter depreciation period for buildings primarily used to accommodate employees for companies and cooperatives with more than 49 employees and partially exempts such employee in-kind income. The effective date of the amendment is 1 January 2020. Valéria Morťaniková Matúš Falis
[email protected] [email protected] Lenka Brunovská
[email protected] Notice of a taxpayer who is a healthcare professional The Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic issued a new template form related to in-kind benefits received by healthcare professionals from the pharmaceutical company. The notice is filed by a taxpayer who is a healthcare professional providing medical care as a natural person – non- entrepreneur.