Amendment to the Act on the Electronic Registration of Sales

The Constitutional Court has decided to cancel certain provisions of the Act on the Electronic Registration of Sales (EET), acting on a proposal from a group of deputies. The major changes and anticipated legislative measures are described below.

What will change and from when will the changes apply?

Cashless sales shall not be subject to electronic registration

With effect from 1 March 2018, the electronic registration of sales will not apply to card payments. According to the Ministry of Finance, traders need not change their IT systems in this regard since nothing prevents them from recording card payments and issuing receipts to customers.

Receipts will not include the trader’s VAT no.

Likewise, the trader’s VAT no. need not be included on receipts with effect from 1 March 2018. However, please note that the seller’s VAT no. continues to be one of the prescribed particulars of invoices (i.e. tax documents) issued for VAT purposes.

Introduction of phases 3 and 4 has been cancelled or postponed

The chart below shows the original schedule for the introduction of the electronic registration of sales:

Phase	Effective from	Activities
1.	1/12/2016	accommodation and catering services
2.	1/3/ 2017	wholesale and detail
3.	1/3/2018	all other activities except for selected craft trans and production activities
4.	1/ 6/ 2018	selected craft trans and production activities

However, the electronic registration of sales will not be introduced in this format since the Constitutional Court of Brno has decided to abolish phases 3 and 4. This shall apply to approximately 300,000 entrepreneurs. In contrast, the first two phases, applying to over 150,000 business, shall apply unchanged.

The Constitutional Court has abolished phases 3 and 4 on the ground that before introducing any generally applicable regulation, legislators should consider its implications, eschewing any acceptance of the proverb, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs”.

The government shall not be able to issue regulations implementing the Act on the Electronic Registration of Sales

According to the Constitutional Court, changes to the electronic registration of sales may only be made by legislation. Thus the government may not issue regulations to exclude certain sales from such registration, either in full or temporarily, or to record certain sales by a simplified procedure.

In this regard, the present government regulations excluding sales made by severely visually impaired persons (permanent exclusion) and by fish sellers during Christmas (temporary exclusion) has been cancelled. This change will not come into effect until 1 January 2019.

What lies ahead?

The Ministry of Finance is expected to prepare a draft amendment to the Act on the Electronic Registration of Sales to be presented to the Government for discussion by the end of February 2018.

The draft amendment to the Act on the Electronic Registration of Sales has not yet been published. However, according to information available to us, it should contain the following:

1. a new introduction schedule for phases 3 and 4 of the electronic registration of sales;
2. the incorporation into law of the government regulation to exclude certain sales;
3. the exclusion of further sales.

We will keep you informed of further developments. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Your WTS Alfery team