Report on the Coordinated Audit Tax and subsidy support for climate and energy policy in the Czech and Slovak Republics

Report ID: 296

On the basis of a Cooperation Agreement between the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic and the Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic, both SAIs carried out a coordinated audit on tax and subsidy support for climate and energy policy in their respective countries.

The aim of the audits was to verify whether the support in the Czech and Slovak Republic is set up to contribute effectively to the fulfilment of objectives in selected areas of climate-energy policy while maintaining the long-term sustainability of public revenues. Selected areas were the transport sector and photovoltaic support.

 The theme of coordinated audits has been selected on the basis of the fact that both Member States, based on common European legislation, apply different support systems at national level in selected areas of climate and energy policy, aiming to meet the basic climate and energy objectives of the European Union  by 2020.

The EU has set ambitious climate-energy policy objectives, the successful enforcement of which includes a set of measures, including various financial instruments. Each EU Member State can choose its own procedures and tools to achieve the objectives. This gives space for comparing the effectiveness and efficiency of the instruments chosen between the individual countries. Based on the achieved indicator values, the Supreme Audit Institutions compared the quality parameters of the support and evaluated their impacts on the achievement of the EU and national targets. The coordinated audit of the SAO CR and the SAO SR again proves that both institutions attach great importance to international comparisons.

For comparison purposes, financial values and indicators were compared in euros. Amounts in Czech crowns were converted into euros at the exchange rate of the CNB as at 17 September 2019, i.e., according to the CNB € 1 = CZK 25.88.

Source: https://www.nku.gov.sk/documents/10272/1542112/2020+-+Tax+and+subsidy+support+for+climate+and+energy+policy+in+the+Czech+and+Slovak+Republics.pdf

Gemeinsamer Bericht über die Prüfung von EUROFISC – ein multilaterales Frühwarnsystem der Mitgliedstaaten zur Bekämpfung des Mehrwertsteuerbetrugs

Report ID: 319

Das derzeitige Mehrwertsteuersystem in der Europäischen Union (EU) ist betrugsanfällig. Davon sind alle EU-Mitgliedstaaten (Mitgliedstaaten) betroffen. Für die Rechnungshöfe der EU besteht daher ausreichend Grund, sich mit diesem Thema zu befassen. Wegen der  uropäischen Dimension dieses Betrugs halten die Rechnungshöfe außerdem eine Zusammenarbeit bei ihren Prüfungen für erforderlich. Dementsprechend wurde in den letzten Jahren eine Reihe koordinierter Prüfungen durchgeführt.

Mit der jetzigen Prüfung zu EUROFISC setzen die Rechnungshöfe von Österreich, Deutschland und Ungarn die Tradition der Zusammenarbeit bei der Prüfung der öffentlichen Einnahmen fort. Die koordinierte Prüfung wurde in den Jahren 2013 und 2014 von jedem Rechnungshof im eigenen Land und gemäß seinem eigenen Mandat durchgeführt.

Jeder Rechnungshof hat auf der Grundlage seiner Prüfungserkenntnisse einen nationalen Bericht verfasst. Darüber hinaus haben alle drei Rechnungshöfe den vorliegenden Bericht3 gefertigt, der – gestützt auf die Prüfungsfeststellungen – die gemeinsamen Schlussfolgerungen und Empfehlungen enthält.4 Der Prüfungszeitraum umfasste die Jahre 2011 bis 2013.

Die beteiligten Rechnungshöfe prüften nicht das Netzwerk EUROFISC als solches. Ihr Prüfungsziel bestand darin, zu klären, wie EUROFISC in ihrem jeweiligen Mitgliedstaat umgesetzt worden war, und zu untersuchen, welche Verbesserungsmöglichkeiten auf EU-Ebene bestehen. Die drei Rechnungshöfe arbeiteten eine Reihe von Fragen aus, die unter anderem statistische und Evaluierungsaspekte umfassten. Auf dieser Grundlage führten sie die Prüfung durch. Anhand der Antworten der Verwaltungen identifizierten die Rechnungshöfe Probleme, die sowohl auf nationaler Ebene als auch auf EU-Ebene angegangen werden müssen.

Quelle:ttps://www.bundesrechnungshof.de/en/veroeffentlichungen/products/sonderberichte/pdf-ab-2015/2015-sonderbericht-eurofisc-ein-multilaterales-fruehwarnsystem-der-mitgliedstaaten-zur-bekaempfung-des-mehrwertsteuerbetrugs-1

Joint Report on the Results of Parallel Audits of Excise Duty Administration in the Slovak Republic and in the Czech Republic

Report ID: 344

Legislation in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia on excise duty and its administration complies with EU legislation and exceeds EU requirements substantially. Differences have been discovered between Slovak and Czech excise duty regulations: in the Czech Republic, verification of the economic stability of applicants for permits and mandatory labelling and dyeing of several mineral and some other oils contribute to effective excise duty administration; in Slovakia, the distribution of excise stamps is simpler than in the Czech Republic and less of a burden on excise duty administrators. In the fight against excise duty evasion, supervising the movement of raw tobacco or tobacco materials, the implementation of the institute of a transport fuel distributor, and keeping a registry of merchants of consumer packaged alcohol appear to be a good practice in the fight against excise duty evasion. Excise duty revenues in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia grow more slowly than other tax revenues

In August 2015, The Supreme Audit Institutions of  Czech Republic and Slovakia agreed to conduct parallel audits aimed primarily at excise duty administration an signed an Agreement for this purpose. The topic of the parallel audits was chosen because both EU Member States follow common European legislation on this matter, thereby providing an opportunity to ascertain how European legislation is applied on a national level, how the excise duty administration system is set up, and how the system in Slovakia and the system in the Czech Republic differ.

The audit questions on which the parallel audits were based were agreed jointly. The parallel audits aimed to compare the performance of the excise duty administrators while taking into account qualitative and quantitative indicators and identifying weaknesses in the excise duty administration process. Answers to the following audit questions in particular should have been sought:

- Have excise duty administrators in the Czech Republic and Slovakia been attaining comparable values of qualitative indicators while incurring comparable costs?

- Has implementation of the EMCS1 resulted in more effective excise duty administration and has been spending on its implementation effective?

- The joint final report on the audit results was drawn up in accordance with ISSAI 300 - Fundamental Principles of Performance Auditing

Source: https://www.nku.cz/assets/publikace-a-dokumenty/ostatni-publikace/spolecna-zprava-kontrola-spotrebni-dane-cr-sr_en_1.pdf

Administration of Value Added Tax in the Czech Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany Follow-up Audit Report

Report ID: 345

VAT is an audit area which is very suitable for tax audit cooperation because it is the only tax harmonised within the EU. The Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic (hereinafter “Czech SAI”) and the Federal Court of Auditors – Bundesrechnungshof (hereinafter “German SAI”) conducted a first ever parallel audit in the field of VAT in 2006. The report was published in 2008 (The report si also published in the catalogue at https://intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/report-on-the-results-of-the-parallel-audit-of-the-administration-of-value-added-tax-in-the-czech-republic-and-in-the-federal-republic-of-germany).

The follow-up audit of the administration of VAT in the Czech Republic and in Germany was carried out on the basis of an agreement between the two SAIs. During previous parallel audits, suspicious cases of intra-Community transactions were detected. Some of them merited further review. On the basis of audit findings the two SAIs produced recommendations on VAT management.

The follow-up audit was conducted to evaluate the action taken in response to these recommendations and to review the suspicious cases selected. In addition, the two SAIs decided to examine the following matters in their parallel audit mission:

• review of selected cases of intra-Community transactions between taxpayers from the Czech Republic and Germany that were not resolved during the previous parallel audit,

• review of selected cases of intra-Community transactions between taxpayers from the Czech Republic and Germany that were classified as high-risk cases,

• audit of the tax administrations’ procedure in the field of international assistance for the recovery of VAT claims,

• VAT audits of large companies.

The cooperation of the two SAIs within the parallel audits of the administration of VAT achieved the objectives set by the German and Czech SAI. The two SAIs developed a deeper understanding of the applicable systems in the Czech Republic and Germany in the fields of:

• intra-Community transactions

• risk management of VAT, especially concerning the selection of risk prone transactions

, • recovery of VAT claims, and

• VAT audits of large tax entities.

Due to mutual cooperation, differences of strategies to detect VAT fraud cases and in the above mentioned areas of VAT administration in the Czech Republic and Germany were revealed. Audit findings were compared and on their basis best practices were identified. Furthermore, the SAIs hope that the results achieved may encourage stakeholders to enter into discussions about approaches and strategies within and among Member States as well as with the EU Commission.

Source: https://www.nku.cz/assets/publications-documents/other-publications/paralelni-kontroly-spravy-dph-cr-srn-2010.pdf

Bericht über die von NKÚ und BRH durchgeführte koordinierte Prüfung der MwSt. im Rahmen der Mini-One-Stop-Shop-Regelung

Report ID: 346

Die Obersten Rechnungskontrollbehörden (ORKB) der Tschechischen Republik und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland arbeiten bereits seit vielen Jahren erfolgreich auf dem Gebiet der Umsatzsteuer zusammen und haben auch zwei koordinierte Prüfungen durchgeführt. Die beiden ORKBn beschlossen, sich erstmals mit dem Thema E-Commerce und Umsatzsteuer zu befassen, wobei sie aktuelle wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen aufgriffen und eine gemeinsame Prüfung durchführten. Prüfungsgegenstand war die Besteuerung von digitalen Dienstleistungen, die von EU-Unternehmen an private Verbraucher in der Europäischen Union erbracht werden. Die Prüfung umfasste den Zeitraum vom 1. Januar 2015 bis zum 30. Juni 2017.

Ziel der Prüfung war es, zu untersuchen:

- wie die Steuerbehörden der beiden Länder ihrer EU-Verpflichtung zur Umsetzung des MOSS nachgekommen sind;

  - aufkommende Schwierigkeiten bei der Umsetzung; und

 - inwieweit das MOSS-System geeignet ist, die Erhebung der Umsatzsteuer sicherzustellen. Beide ORKBn fassten ihre Erkenntnisse in nationalen Berichten zusammen und verfassten auf dieser Grundlage den gemeinsamen Bericht.

Bericht auf Englisch: https://intosai-cooperativeaudits.org/catalog/report/report-on-the-coordinated-audit-carried-out-by-nk-and-brh-on-vat-under-the-mini-one-stop-shop-scheme

Quelle: https://www.nku.cz/assets/publications-documents/other-publications/joint-report-vat-under-moss-scheme-2019-de.pdf