People stand in line at the branch of the Financial Office for Prague 1. In the foreground are tax return forms.
Prague – Entrepreneurs for whom the state has set up a data box by law must file their tax returns electronically this year, not in paper form. Today, the Financial Administration drew attention to this on its website. The obligation to file tax returns electronically already applied to owners of data boxes in the past, but starting this year, the state has made it mandatory for all business persons to set them up.
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The Financial Administration pointed out that according to the Act on Electronic Transactions, all persons with a mandatory data box are obliged to submit tax returns exclusively electronically. If they file a return in paper form, the tax authorities can assess it as if no return had been filed and subsequently impose an appropriate fine.
At the same time, it is not necessary to submit the tax return only via the data box. Self-employed people can also use other forms of electronic submission, for example through the Moje daně portal, which can be logged in with a data box, using a bank identity or an ID card with a chip. It is also still possible for a tax advisor to file a tax return on behalf of self-employed persons.
As of February 19, the Financial Administration has accepted approximately 223,000 tax returns, of which 189,000 are from natural persons. Electronically submitted returns accounted for 44 percent of all returns for natural persons and the vast majority of returns for legal entities.
This year, paper tax returns must be submitted by April 3, electronic tax returns by May 2. In the case of using the services of a tax advisor, the deadline for submission is July 3.
From this year, data boxes are also mandatory for self-employed persons, associations and other legal entities. In total, their number will increase by 2.2 million to roughly 3.9 million by March. The mailbox will be set up automatically by the Ministry of the Interior. On the other hand, the use of a data box for private natural persons will remain voluntary, as the deputies canceled the obligation in the law at the last minute.
According to the consulting firm Dun & In the last three months, Bradstreet canceled the business license of over 40,000 entrepreneurs. The reason was primarily the mandatory introduction of data boxes. Applications are often submitted by seniors who are no longer in business. “Most of the time, these people have not been in business for a long time and live in the belief that they have already canceled their business. At the same time, for example, they have only registered with the tax office or the social security administration and the health insurance company,” Jan Kubišta, head of the trade office in Jihlava, said on the city's website about typical cases.< /p>
