Draft amendments to various tax laws were approved by the parliament in the first reading on 17 November 2015. If adopted by the parliament in the final reading, the amendments will enter into force from January 2016.

The modifications are summarized below:

The draft amendments introduce a single date rule for:

(1) Filing tax returns and (2) Payment of taxes by legal entities.

Accordingly, the deadline for filing tax returns and for payment of taxes is to be the 15th day of the month following the end of the relevant tax period. Relevant annual tax returns must be filed in due time and final taxes must be paid by the 15th day of the reporting month.

The single date rule will apply to the following taxes:

(1) Withholding tax on dividends; (2) Advance corporate income tax; (3) Annual corporate income tax; (4) Environmental pollution tax; (5) lottery and gaming tax; and (6) Hydrocarbon resources tax.

The draft amendments also propose to increase the threshold of annual real estate tax up to which legal entities are not required to pay advance real estate tax from EUR 435 to EUR 500; change advance corporate income tax reporting proportions if advance corporate income tax is calculated based on the results of previous tax periods;  and change the advance corporate income tax return filing deadlines.

In particular, if advance corporate income tax is calculated based on the results of previous tax periods, (i) the first advance corporate income tax return must be filed before the 15th day of the third month of the first quarter of the relevant tax year; and (ii) the second advance corporate income tax return must be filed before the 15th day of the third month of the third quarter of the relevant tax year.

However, if advance corporate income tax is calculated on the basis of forecast results, only one advance corporate income tax return needs to be filed, before the 15th day of the third month of the first quarter of the relevant tax year. Advance payments of corporate income tax must be made before the 15th day of the third month of the relevant quarter, irrespective of the calculation method chosen.