Investment Incentive Act Amended to Make the Czech Republic More Attractive to Investors

Investment incentives are available at present not only to investors launching or expanding production, but also to technological centres and strategic service centres. This is so thanks to the amended Act No. 72/2000 on investment incentives and on amendment to certain Acts, signed by the Czech president on 17 May. Taking into account other countries’ initiatives to attract investors, the new piece of legislation also extends the income tax relief period from 5 to 10 years and introduces the concept of strategic investment project.

“The amendment to the Investment Incentive Act is another step towards making the Czech Republic more competitive and attractive to both international and local investors”, says Martin Kuba, Minister of Industry and Trade. “This is for the first time in the history of the Czech Republic that investment incentive legislation recognises strategic investment projects, which – if certain conditions are met – may be given a subsidy of up to 1.5 billion crowns”, adds the Minister.

“In addition to our country’s advantageous location in the middle of Europe, a high-quality infrastructure and skilled workforce, we are now able, thanks to the amendment to the Investment Incentive Act, to offer another significant benefit to investors who consider investing in the Czech Republic”, explains Miroslav Křížek, CEO of the CzechInvest Agency, and he adds: “The provision of investment incentives was subject to strict regulation under previous legislation, but the new amendment shows that new investment projects really is what we want”.

Forms of investment incentives under the new legislation in the Czech Republic

Investors in the processing industry, strategic services and technological centres (existing investors and new entrants alike) can enjoy income tax abatement for ten years, instead of the previous five. The availability of financial support for creating new jobs and for training and re-training remains unchanged, and the same applies to the investment incentive in the form of transferring the ownership of land and the related infrastructure at an advantageous price.

The concept of strategic investment project is an absolute novelty. For capital investments in projects in this category, the level of financial support may be up to 5% of the costs, in addition to the standard investment incentives. This support is available for projects in the processing industry and technological centres. Decisions concerning support to eligible projects will be made by the Government of the Czech Republic.

For more information visit http://www.czechinvest.org.

For more information please contact the CzechInvest Press Centre

Štěpánka Filipová, spokesperson, phone: +420 296 342 538, stepanka.filipova@czechinvest.org

Contact to Ministry of Industry and Trade:

Veronika Forejtová, spokesperson , phone: +420 224 853 291, forejtova@mpo.cz

CzechInvest is celebrating its 20th anniversary!

CzechInvest has been supporting the inflow of foreign direct investments to the Czech Republic for twenty years already. Since its establishment in 1992, the agency has mediated 1,798 investment projects with the total value of more than CZK 715 billion, thanks to which nearly a quarter of a million new jobs have been created. CzechInvest contributes to improving the overall business environment in the Czech Republic and strives to increase the competitiveness of the Czech economy in changing conditions. Since 2004, the agency has also operated as the implementation body for EU structural funds and has regional offices staffed by specialists in every regional capital in the Czech Republic. CzechInvest’s CEO, Miroslav Křížek, was named Manager of the Year 2011 in the Business and Public Services sector.