The lower house of Parliament in the Czech Republic has finally approved the government’s plan to abolish the real estate tax, which buyers were obliged to pay the state. News that the government intended to abolish the tax early in the pandemic hurt sales, since it meant buyers would have to come up with another CZK 400,000 for a CZK 10 million apartment or house. Assuming the popular bill is approved by the Senate and is signed by the president, the law will take effect on all sales that took place after December 1, 2019. Getting rid of the tax was the idea of Finance Minister Alena Schillerova, who at the same time proposed ending the ability of consumers to use interest payments on mortgages as a tax write-off. She didn’t get her way on this in Parliament, however, as the proposal didn’t receive the necessary support.
