On 15 May 2009, the Chamber of Depu¬ties of the Parliament of the Czech Republic approved an amend¬ment to the Income Taxes Act, which still needs to be approved by the Senate and the President before it becomes effective.
Taxation Rates. The existing tax rates for personal and corporate taxation will not be changed in 2009 or 2010.
Taxation of income from foreign employment. According to the pro¬posed amendment employees receiving income from a state with which the Czech Republic has concluded a double taxation avoidance treaty may also use the “exemption” method instead of the “credit” method if it is more advantageous.
The tax on the taxpayer’s other income would then be calculated using a tax rate determined from the tax base that has not been reduced by the exempted income from abroad. The parliamentary proposal implies retroactive application of the provision for 2008.
Depreciation Periods.  Assets acquired by a taxpayer between 1 Janu¬ary 2009 and 30 June 2010 that fall within the first and second depreciation groups will be depreciated over a shorter period.
Taxpayers who want to depreciate assets pursuant to the above-mentioned proposal must be the first owner of the respective asset. The depreciation will be charged monthly, beginning in the month following the month in which the respective asset is acquired provided that depreciation requirements are met.
For assets falling into the second depreciation group, in the first 12 months of deprecia¬tion, the taxpayer will be able to recognise 60 percent of the respective asset’s value as an expense, and the remaining 40 percent will be claimed in the following 12 months.