Inactive company and taxes - when to file a zero tax return?

There are over 500,000 registered legal entities in the Czech Republic, but 20% of them are not actually doing business. The number of "dormant companies" has declined in recent years, but their owners should beware. What about the tax return for an inactive company with no income? Find out in this article.

CORPORATE INCOME TAX RETURNS: WHAT IF YOUR COMPANY HAS NO INCOME?

You have set up a company with the intention of doing business in the future or your business plan has failed. Similar reasons lead to an alarming statistic that results from an analysis by the consulting firm Dun & Bradstreet - one in five Czech companies is not actually doing business. But that doesn't mean it is not subject to tax obligations.

The law is clear and there is no exception for corporations - you must always file a tax return for the company. As the managing director of an inactive limited company or the statutory body of a dormant company limited by shares, you are obliged to file an income tax return even if your company did not report any activity or income in the past year. In addition, you must also publish your accounts in the Companies House.

HOW AND WHEN TO FILE A ZERO COMPANY TAX RETURN?

You can find the corporate income tax return form for the previous calendar year in the My Taxes portal. Send the completed return to your local tax office by the due date:

• by 1st April,
• by 1st May for electronic submission,
• by 1st July if a tax adviser, lawyer or company registered with the Chamber of Tax Advisers files the return on your behalf on the basis of a power of attorney.

IF YOU DON'T FILE A RETURN, YOU COULD FACE PENALTIES

Always inform the tax office about your zero, otherwise the officials will not know about the company's inactivity. If you forget to file your return and do not send it in by the deadline, the tax office will ask you to file it and give you an alternative deadline.

If you fail to submit your tax return even after being requested to do so, the tax office may impose a fine for non-compliance with a non-monetary obligation pursuant to Section 247a of the Tax Code 280/2009 Coll. We recommend that you take the time to fill in the form or have it prepared - it is definitely worth it, as the penalty for failure to file can be up to CZK 500,000.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER TAXES?

If your company is inactive, it will not avoid other obligations depending on which taxes it is registered for:

• If you are a VAT payer and have no outputs, you must file a zero VAT return (after a while the tax authorities will deregister you).
• If you are registered for road tax, you should file a nil return or send a general letter. This will state that you have not incurred any tax liability in that year.
• The same procedure should be applied in the case of withholding taxes or payroll taxes.

DON'T WASTE TIME ON FORMS AND RELY ON EXPERTS

Do you need to file a zero return for your company and don't know what to do with it? Contact us and we'll sort it out for you.