The Czech Chamber of Deputies overrode a Senate veto and again passed a tax package that rises VAT rates by 1 percentage to 15 and 21 percent, starting Jan. 1. The bill is currently in the hands of the President Václav Klaus. The center-right government coalition won support of 102 lawmakers; it needed 101 votes to push the bill through.
If the package did not make it through the Lower House, the previously approved change uniting the VAT rates at 17.5 percent would be valid in January. In addition to the VAT hike, the package includes a 7-percent tax increase for high-income earners, decreases the flat tax write-offs for self-employed people and abolishes tax deductions for employed pensioners. It also increases the tax on property transfers.
