Postponement of the deadline for approval of financial statements
Numerous companies are currently finishing work on compiling financial statements and have posed the question at the deadline by which it is necessary to approve the regular financial statement compiled for the finished calendar year 2019. The Act on commercial corporations fixes a deadline of 6 months after the close of the accounting period whose end is rapidly drawing near.
In connection with the special measures for alleviating the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, Act No. 191/2020 Coll. on certain measures towards alleviating the effects of the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic has taken effect and has been referred to in short, among the professional public, as Lex covid justice.
This Act brings, among others, numerous changes for legal entities, especially the possibility to conduct a meeting of bodies by means of video conference, an extension of the tenure of body members and an extension of the deadline for approving financial statements.
Provisions concerning financial statements can be found in Section 21 of this Act. If the legal deadline for approving the regular financial statement of a limited liability company, joint-stock company or cooperative should expire less than three months after the end of the special measures, but on 31st December at the latest. Thus the provisions of the Commercial Corporations Acts are not used. If we were to assume, therefore, that the special measures will end by the end of June, it is suitable to plan the calling of the annual general meeting, which will decide on approving the financial statement by the end of September.
The special measures during the epidemic, for the purposes of this Act, are understood as the crisis measures pursuant to the Crisis Act passed by the government during the state of emergency, special measures issued in 2020 by the Ministry of Health or the Regional Hygiene Station in keeping with the Act on the protection of the population and prevention of the rise and spread of the COVID-19 disease caused by the new SARS CoV-2 coronavirus.
In this connection we remind you that the deadline for filing legal entity income tax for the 2019 calendar year ends, pursuant to the Act, as soon as 1. 7. 2020 in numerous cases. The Chamber of Tax Advisors has been negotiating with the Minister of Finance and the General Financial Directorate as to a possible postponement of the end of the deadline and further pardoning of penalties as is the case in returns whose filing term was 1. 4. 2020.
The COVID III guarantee scheme for subjects with a maximum of 500 employees
The COVID III program was approved by the government on 18th May and is intended for self-employed persons and corporations employing over 500 employees. Loans will be provided by cooperating commercial banks, Českomoravská záruční a rozvojová banka (Government bank, ČMZRB) will provide the guarantees.
A guarantee is provided for up 90 % of the principal of the guaranteed loan for businesses with up to 250 employees and up to 80 % of the principal of the guaranteed loan in businesses with 250 to 500 employees. The maximum amount of the guaranteed loan must not exceed CZK 50M and the guarantee period is up to 3 years at the most. Similarly to previous COVID programs, the loans have to be designated for payment of operational costs such as salaries, rent, energy payments, payment of supplier-purchaser invoices, purchase of supplies, materials.
According to the information provided by ČMZRB, entrepreneurs can already commence loan negotiations with their banks.
It will be possible to draw loans from the program within a week to 14 days. ČMZRB now has to launch calls. It can be applied to by commercial banks, with which ČMZRB will subsequently sign agreements.
