Information for Tax Advisers from EU

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR TAX ADVISERS FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION
CONCERNING PROVISION OF TAX ADVISORY SERVICES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The new Act no. 170/2004 Coll. which has entered into force on May 1, 2004., amended Act no. 523/1992 Coll. (on tax advisory services and the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic) which together with the Act no. 18/2004 Coll. (on recognition of professional qualification) deals with the terms and conditions of access of Tax Advisers from the EU Member States to the carrying on of the Tax Adviser’s profession in the territory of the Czech Republic. In the following text we would like to inform the applicants from the EU Member States, who are interested in the carrying on of the Tax Adviser’s profession in the Czech Republic, about the conditions and procedure in connection with recognition of their professional qualification of Tax Advisers in the Czech Republic.

The issues of access of the Tax Advisers – nationals of a Member State of the European Union (and also Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland), providing tax advisory services in a Member State of the European Union (or Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) – to the market of the Czech Republic is generally dealt with by the Act no. 18/2004 Coll. (on recognition of professional qualification), with a special reference to the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. (on tax advisory services and the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic), as amended. Both the Acts deal with the access conditions of these persons for the market of the Czech Republic and with the process of recognition of their professional qualification.

Art. 8a(1) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. states that tax advisory services can be provided in the Czech Republic under the terms specified in the Act also by a national of a Member State of the EU acting as an established Tax Adviser or as a guest Tax Adviser. Since not all terms and conditions of the access of Tax Advisers – EU nationals – to the market in the Czech Republic are dealt with by the Act no. 523/1992 Coll., the terms and conditions not dealt with by the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. shall be governed by appropriate provisions of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll.

According to Art. 8b(2) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll., the recognising body shall be the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as “the Chamber”). The Chamber is at the same time also the body which issues to its members the necessary documents for proving their qualification requirements on other Member States and is obliged, pursuant to the Act no. 18/2004 Coll., to cooperate administratively with appropriate bodies of other EU Member States (handing over of information in this field). 

Nationals of a Member State of the European Union can provide tax advisory services in the Czech Republic, if the legal conditions are met, either as established Tax Advisers or as guest Tax Advisers, and the difference between these two ways is in the duration of the time period for which the Tax Adviser from the EU countries intends to provide tax advisory services in the Czech Republic. Guest Tax Advisers may only provide tax advisory services in the Czech Republic on a temporary or occasional basis. Also the conditions of commencing provision of tax advisory services in the Czech Republic differ for both the ways. Both the groups of Tax Advisers are authorised to use the Tax Adviser’s title in the Czech Republic, and thus also a guest Tax Adviser is a Tax Adviser within the meaning of Art. 11(2) of the Act no. 337/1992 Coll. (on administration of taxes and fees with all rights and obligations).

The right to provide tax advisory services in the Czech Republic shall be acquired by an established Tax Adviser through enrolment into the List of Tax Advisers, and by a guest Tax Adviser it shall be acquired on the day of registration in the List. The activities of both the established Tax Advisers and guest Tax Advisers in the territory of the Czech Republic shall be governed by the laws of the Czech Republic, without limitation to the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. Guest Tax Advisers shall similarly be subject to the Statutes and all Rules issued by the Chamber.

Diplomas, certificates and other documents of professional qualification as well as professional experience shall be recognised pursuant to Act no. 18/2004 Coll.

ESTABLISHED TAX ADVISER

Nationals of a Member State of the EU shall file an application for recognition of professional qualification to the Chamber (possibly to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, which shall forward it to the Chamber without any unnecessary delay - Art. 22(1) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll.). The application shall include (pursuant to Art 8c(2) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll.):

• First name and surname
• Birth number, if there has been assigned any, otherwise date of birth
• Address of residence
• Place of business, including all states in which tax advisory services are provided and time of their provision
• Commercial name, if different from the first name and surname of the applicant
• Administrative identification number, if there has been assigned any
• State citizenship
• Mailing address in the territory of the Czech Republic

Furthermore it is necessary that the application should be accompanied by appropriate documents which are to be submitted in an original copy, certified transcript or certified copy, any documents issued in a foreign language shall be translated into the Czech language (in the case of any doubts, the Chamber is authorised to require their certified translation into Czech).

The matter concerns the following documents:

• Identity document of the applicant
• Certificate of professional qualification (see below) or Certificate of professional experience (see below)
  Art. 22(4) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll. states that a formal qualification document must clearly state its degree and the duration and contents of education and preparation to be evidenced by such a document must result from it.
• Certificate of settlement of the fee at an amount of CZK 2000 (Account number: CZ9501000000001095470287) 
• Certificate of insurance coverage concerning liability for damage caused in connection with provision of tax advisory services in the Czech Republic, concluded in such a manner that the amount of insurance fulfilment should be proportional to possible damage that can be reasonably supposed.

The Act no. 523/1992 Coll. does not state in what manner the applicant proves provision of tax advisory services in a Member State of the EU, that is why it is necessary to apply Art. 22(5) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll., which specifies that “The document confirming the carrying on of a concerned activity shall be a document issued by the competent authority or institution of the Member State of origin, if the concerned activity is a regulated activity in its territory or if it is subject to supervision of the administration authority. If the concerned activity is a non-regulated activity in the Member State of origin, the carrying on of the concerned activity shall not be subject to supervision by the administration authority and the competent authority or institution does not issue such a document, it is possible to use as a document confirming the carrying on of the concerned activity also the document evidencing the carrying on of the concerned self-employment activity by the applicant, a document issued by the applicant’s employer any other document evidencing that the applicant has been carrying out the concerned activity in the Member State of origin. The document of the carrying on of the concerned activity shall include the data necessary for the assessment of the application for recognition of professional qualification, especially the data of duration, contents and form of the carrying on of the concerned activity.“

Assessment of qualification presumptions - Art. 8b of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll.

Pursuant to Art. 8b(1), in view of facilitation of access to provision of tax advisory services in the Czech Republic, in accordance with the Act 18/2004 Coll., the diplomas, certificates and other documents of professional qualification as well as professional experience shall be recognised.

Professional qualification shall mean, pursuant to Art. 3(a) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll., a competence to the carrying on of a regulated activity evidenced especially by a certificate of formal qualification, certificate of competence or document of carrying on of the concerned activity.

Certificate of formal qualification (Art. 3(a) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll.) shall be formed by a diploma, certificate or another document issued by the competent authority or institution of the Member State of the EU or a similar document issued by the competent authority or institution of the country which is not a Member State of the EU, or a set of such documents, acquired by the applicant after completion of education and professional preparation, which

1. shall comply with the requirements of the law regulation of the Member State of origin specifying the condition of professional qualification for the carrying on of the regulated activity and thereby making the person in question professionally qualified for the carrying on of the regulated activity in the Member State of origin, or
2. shall confirm completion of education and preparation which have prepared the applicant in the appropriate professional field for the carrying on of the concerned activity in that country, if the concerned activity is not a regulated activity in the Member State of origin.

Certificate of competence is a document which does not form a part of the certificate of formal qualification and which certifies the completion of a short-term educational course in the Member State of origin or is issued by the competent authority of the Member State of origin on the basis of the ascertainment of personal competence, abilities or knowledge, if required by a law regulation of the Member State for the carrying on of a regulated activity.

Pursuant to Art. 8c of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll., the recognition of qualification and enrolment into the List can be applied for by nationals of a Member State, if

1. they have acquired a professional qualification for provision of tax advisory services in another Member State, if the latter requires professional qualification for provision of these services, or
2. they have provided, for a period of 2 years during the immediately preceding 10 years from the day of submission of the application, tax advisory services in another Member State, if that State does not require any professional qualification for provision of these services.

Thus the Chamber shall, in accordance with the Act no. 18/2004 Coll. (Art. 8(1)),  recognise professional qualification of such an applicant pursuant to subparagraph (a), if the applicant is a holder of a certificate of formal qualification (i.e. university degree), which is at least of the same degree as or one degree lower than the certificate of formal qualification required in the Czech Republic, which means that the matter concerns evidencing of the completion of at least one-year postgraduate studies (after the General Certificate of (Secondary) Education).

On the basis of Art. 20 of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll. (and  Art. 5(1) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll.), the applicant shall attach to the application a document issued by the competent body of the Member State of origin, which evidences his or her integrity (such a document is the Extract from the Criminal Register or a corresponding document issued by the competent authority of the Member State of origin, which evidences that the requirements on integrity for the provision of tax advisory services are complied with) and which is not older than 6 months.

According to Art. 5(1)(c) and (d) of the Act no. 523/1992 and in accordance with Art. 26(2) of the Act no. 18/2004 Coll., the applicant must attach to his or her application an affidavit conforming the fulfilment of the conditions of Art. 5(1)(c) (i.e. he or she does not have, in the Czech Republic, any employment,  position or activities in combination with which the law regulation does not permit doing business) and (d) (i.e. does not have any labour-law, service duty or other similar relationship to a state authority or local government authority, whose competence includes inspection and decision making in the matter of taxes in the Czech Republic).

The Chamber of Tax Advisers is obliged to decide about the application within 90 days from the day of submission of a complete application, including all documents necessary for the assessment of the application. In especially complex cases it shall decide within 120 days. In the case of determination of the condition of passing a complementation examination such a decision shall state the terms and conditions for the passing of such a complementation examination.

In the case of the Chamber’s decision requiring the passing of the complementation examination, the applicant shall subsequently submit an application for the complementation examination, and on that day the proceedings in the matter of complementation examination shall start running, pursuant to Art. 5(3) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. The complementation examination shall be held in the Czech language and only in those fields necessary for the provision of tax advisory services (i.e. pursuant to Art. 5(6) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. especially the knowledge from the field of financial, administrative, civil and commercial laws, finance and economy as well as accounting issues), whose knowledge is not proven by the applicant through certificates of compliance with qualification presumptions for advisory services.

The results of the complementation examination shall be decided about by the Examination Board, the details concerning its contents and course, as well as enunciation of results and their delivery shall be governed by the Examination Rules. No fee shall be collected for the complementation examination. Should the applicant fail to pass the complementation examination, he or she can sit for it again, but only after six months counted from the end of the month when the examination was terminated. In such a case a new application for qualification recognition shall be submitted.

The applicant, who has proven the fulfilment of the qualification presumptions and passed the complementation examination shall be enrolled by the Chamber into the List, not later than by the end of the month following after the month in which the applicant has passed the complementation examination. At the same time the Chamber shall issue a certificate of enrolment into the List to the applicant.

Should the applicant fail to properly prove his or her qualification presumptions, not even within a specified substitutive deadline (at least 60 days), or fail to pass the complementation examination, the Chamber shall decide about refusal of enrolment into the List, and in its Decision it shall state the reasons for such a refusal to the applicant, and shall instruct the latter about the right to file an action against such a Decision at the Regional Court in Brno, pursuant to the Act no. 150/2002 Coll., of the Administrative Rules of Court.

GUEST TAX ADVISER

Guest Tax Advisers may only provide tax advisory services in the Czech Republic on a temporary or occasional basis, after fulfilment of the prescribed conditions, and he or she shall announce such a fact to the Chamber.

Such an announcement shall be submitted in Czech and shall include, pursuant to Act no. 523/1992 Coll.:

• First name and surname of the announcing Tax Adviser
• Birth number or date of birth, if there has been assigned any
• Address of residence
• Place of business
• Commercial name, if different from the first name and surname of the announcing Tax Adviser
• Administrative identification number, if there has been assigned any
• State citizenship
• Presupposed time of provision of tax advisory services in the territory of the Czech Republic
• Mailing address in the territory of the Czech Republic
• Applicant’s photograph

Together with the announcement, the announcing Tax Adviser shall submit the following documents (in an original copy, certified transcript or certified copy, any documents issued in a foreign language shall be translated into the Czech language; in the case of any doubts, the Chamber is authorised to require their certified translation into Czech):

• Identity document
• Certificates of professional qualification  or Certificate of professional experience
• Certificate stating that the announcing Tax Adviser performs the concerned activity in the Member State in accordance with its law regulations
• Certificate of settlement of the fee at an amount of CZK 2000 (Account number: CZ9501000000001095470287)
• Certificate of insurance coverage concerning liability for damage caused in connection with provision of tax advisory services, concluded in such a manner that the amount of insurance fulfilment should be proportional to the presupposed time of provision of tax advisory services in the territory of the Czech Republic and possible damage that can be reasonably supposed.

The same condition of professional qualification as in the case of established Tax Advisers shall be fulfilled by guest Tax Advisers, i.e. it is necessary to prove that:

1. they have acquired a professional qualification for provision of tax advisory services in another Member State, if the latter requires professional qualification for provision of these services, or
2. they have provided, for a period of 2 years during the immediately preceding 10 years from the day of submission of the application, tax advisory services in another Member State, if that State does not require any professional qualification for provision of these services.

The announcing Tax Adviser who has submitted an announcement fulfilling the law requirements and has proven the compliance with qualification presumptions through submission of appropriate documents, shall be forthwith registered by the Chamber into the List, and the Chamber shall issue a certificate of registration into the  announcing Tax Adviser, where the term of validity shall be stated.

Should the Chamber have reasoned doubts about the authenticity of the documents submitted, it can ask the competent authority of the Member State, in which the documents have been issued, for confirmation of their authenticity.

Should the announcing Tax Adviser fail to submit his or her qualification presumptions, not even within the specified substitutive period of at least 60 days, the Chamber shall decide about the refusal of registration into the List and shall announce the reasons for such a refusal to the announcing Tax Adviser.

Pursuant to Art. 7(5) of the Act no. 523/1992 Coll., the Chamber shall inform the competent body of another Member State, in which the Tax Adviser provides tax advisory services, about the deletion of such a Tax Adviser from the List for all reasons other than the death of the Tax Adviser. In the same way the Chamber shall inform such a competent authority of another Member State about the suspension of the provision of tax advisory services. No time deadline is specified by the Act no. 523/1992 Coll. for the fulfilment of these obligations.  

Application Form for recognition of professional qualification