The lower house of the Czech Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, discussed amendments to the Czech Republic's tax regime during their continued first meeting on 27 November 2013. The proposed changes were already voted for by the upper house, the Senate, earlier and were submitted to the lower house for approval after its creation.
The proposal for withholding tax exemption on dividends paid by Czech corporations to residents of EU, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland was not approved by the Senate. It is anticipated that the lower house will confirm the decision made by the Senate earlier and no changes to the current regime with respect to withholding taxes are expected. The holding period requirement for local individual tax residents to avoid capital gains tax will be prolonged from 6 months to 3 years.
Impact on investors: No changes to withholding taxation relevant to foreign investors are to be expected. Foreign investors are also not subject to capital gains tax - the 3-year holding period will have an impact only on individuals, which are tax residents of the Czech Republic.