Is a "home-office" a reason to suspend tax control?
Have you heard about the interruption of the tax audit at the request of the audited tax entity? Have you tried to make such a request? Those of you who registered the so-called Lex corona in the spring of 2020 know that during the pandemic, it was possible to request an interruption of the tax audit by a simple request without giving reasons. However, this option lasted only until 30.9. 2020.
From 1.10. 2020, we are experiencing an ever-escalating second wave of the pandemic with a dramatic increase in negative consequences that we did not know during the first wave of the pandemic, and we still do not know when the pandemic will end. However, during the second wave of the pandemic, amendment to Lex Corona haven’t brought the possibility of suspending the tax proceedings.
If you have read our previous article on the topic of an inactive tax administrator from 26.1., you know that the expiration of the legal deadlines for completing the tax audit without any activity of the tax administrator will have a negative impact only on your company. Therefore, it is necessary to consider what options you have in a situation where the tax administrator is passive.
In this situation, it is possible to use only the tools contained in the Tax Procedure Code, which were here before the pandemic and will probably be after the pandemic. Wondering which tool we mean? It is so-called Suspension of tax proceedings under the Tax Procedure Code, which allows the tax administrator to suspend tax proceedings, including tax audits, for a maximum of 30 days, if the tax entity so proposes for important reasons. This period may be extended by the tax administrator for the necessary time.
Important reasons may lie on your part or on the part of the tax administrator, when it is not possible to objectively properly continue the tax audit and especially to provide evidence. Mandatory home-office, mandatory quarantine due to crossing borders or due to positivity for COVID-19, the possibility or impossibility of visiting a state office are examples of reasons to consider. Because such reasons may prevent you, or other persons participating in the tax audit (for example, a witness) from participating in actions during the tax audit. We cannot even name in advance the specific situations that life can bring today, for the purposes of this article.
However, the problem with the Tax Code when interrupting tax control is that the tax administrator cannot (with a few exceptions) interrupt tax control without being proposed by the tax entity itself. It is therefore our advice that you consider filing a motion to suspend tax audit and show the tax administrator that if there are objective obstacles to conducting a tax audit, the solution is to suspend it.
In other words, if the tax administrator also wants to suspend the tax audit, he cannot do so without your proposal.
As part of our many years of experience at VGD, we already have the experience that the tax administrator has granted our proposal to suspend the tax proceedings under the Tax Procedure Code, repeatedly. We will be happy to help you with such a request. Therefore, do not hesitate to contact our tax specialists at VGD, who will be happy to explain the issue to you and help you solve it. For more useful information, follow our website, Facebook or Linked-In.