Změny ve stanovení účetního období při přeměně dle nového zákona o účetnictví

Changes in determination of the accounting period in case of business transformations according to the new Act on Accounting

In this alert, which is part of a series on the upcoming new Act on Accounting, we would like to inform you about a change in the determination of the accounting period for an existing successor company (e.g., in the case of a merger, or demerger) when the decisive date is not set to the first day of the accounting period.

Under the current regulation, in such a case, the existing successor company must close its accounts, prepare financial statements, and file a corporate income tax return for the period preceding the decisive date. These obligations represent additional administrative and time burdens.

According to the newly proposed regulation, the accounting entity involved in the transformation, which does not cease to exist during the transformation, would start accounting for the change caused by the transformation from the decisive date, but its existing accounting period would continue. As of the day preceding the decisive date, it would only prepare interim financial statements and an opening balance sheet as of the decisive date.

Example: The decisive date for the merger is set for June 1, 2025. The successor company A and the dissolving company B have a calendar year as their tax period. The merger will be registered in the commercial register by the end of 2025.

Under the current wording of the Act on Accounting and the Income Taxes Act, the company A must close its accounting books as of May 31, 2025, prepare financial statements, and file a corporate income tax return for the period from January 1, 2025, to May 31, 2025, within a special deadline set by the Income Taxes Act.

According to the proposed wording of the new Act on Accounting, the company A's accounting books would not be closed as of May 31, 2025, and the accounting period would end on December 31, 2025. Since the tax period should newly be linked to the accounting period, company A would file a corporate income tax return for the entire year 2025 within the standard deadline according to the Tax Code.

The obligations of the dissolving company B, i.e., to close its accounting books and file a corporate income tax return for the period up to the decisive date, remain unchanged.

Please note that this alert is based on the current proposals of the new Act on Accounting and the accompanying law.

For any inquiries, please contact the authors of the article or the EY team with whom you collaborate.

Authors:

Ladislava Zamazalová

Jana Svobodová