Metodika ministerstva financí při posuzování žádostí o investiční pobídky

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MPO) has published information on the procedure for assessing intentions to obtain investment incentives. This information may be particularly relevant for investors currently preparing investment plans and considering submitting an application for investment incentives.

The decision to grant a promise of investment incentives is issued by the MPO, and its issuance is conditional on the prior assessment of the investment plan by so-called concerned authorities, specifically the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of the Environment. These authorities issue binding opinions in which they assess the fulfillment of legal conditions and the contribution of the investment plan to the state. If any of the concerned authorities issue a negative opinion, the MPO cannot issue the decision on the promise of investment incentives.

According to the published methodology, the Ministry of Finance issues a positive opinion if, in addition to the legal conditions, the following criteria are also met. The investment plan must be fully implemented:

• in the manufacturing industry sector, specifically:
  • in a sector with high technological intensity (high-tech) according to Eurostat classification, or
  • in a sector with at least medium-high technological intensity (medium-high-tech) according to Eurostat classification, if the investment plan is implemented in the Moravian-Silesian, Ústí nad Lab, or Karlovy Vary regions and the financial benefit to the state budget over the duration of the investment project, calculated based on the CzechInvest methodology, significantly exceeds the amount of public support (investment incentive amount),
• in a technology center,
• in a strategic services center,
• in a district where the unemployment rate is at least 7.5% and at the same time at least 50% higher than the average unemployment rate in the Czech Republic.

The published information confirms that the success of an investment incentive application depends not only on meeting the formal conditions set by the Investment Incentives Act and related regulations but also on the overall economic and regional benefit of the investment, with practical assessments including requirements beyond the statutory definition. We therefore recommend paying sufficient attention to the preliminary evaluation of the investment plan already in the preparation phase (or before its commencement), but always before formally submitting the investment incentive application.

The Ministry of Finance used an identical or very similar methodology under the previous government. It will be interesting to see whether the new leadership of the ministry will be persuaded to amend the methodology and adopt conditions more favorable to investors.

Authors:

Martin Hladký

Veronika Kruttová