FIVE TIMES ABOUT CZECHS
Tax cheating on decline
New, EU–influenced tax–collection system takes maiden voyage
March 31 marks the day businesses that do not use the services of tax advisers are obliged to
submit tax reports and subsequently pay their taxes.
Better collection
The Finance Ministry reported in mid–February that the level of unpaid taxes, including debt still
outstanding from previous years, fell in 2003 for the first time in the country's 11–year history to
109.2 billion Kc, a 1.7 billion Kc drop from 2002. Fertile ground for tax evasion
Despite the rise in payments, a study conducted last fall by Charles University found that one in four
citizens is a tax cheat. Among the most–frequent cases of tax evasion are hidden incomes or
untaxed labor. More than two–thirds of the tax arrears concern VAT, and one–third are from income
taxes.
Awareness of dissenters increases
But the youngest know least about communist–era movement
According to a survey of 1,042 respondents published by the CVVM agency
March 22, 38 percent of Czechs said they did not know enough about
Charter 77 to assess its activities, down from 51 percent in 1993.
Questionable influence
Although Czechs may know more than ever about those who resisted totalitarianism,
a closer look at the survey suggests that an information gap
still exists between the dissident movement and society as a whole. And
then there is this wrinkle: The largest number of those who felt they were not informed about the
Charter, 61.8 percent, were in the 15–29 age group. Deputy Education Minister Jaroslav Mullner
admitted that teachers frequently neglect modern history. "They are sometimes not able to manage
controversial topics; they are not used to it," he said, adding that the ministry is creating some teaching
aids on modern history with the help of contemporary historians.
Looking for a stage
Bowie and McCartney are booked, but where will they play? It
has been billed as a blockbuster summer for music with stars like David
Bowie, Carlos Santana and Paul McCartney scheduled to take the stage
at Prague's new T–Mobile Park.
Tickets have been sold and posters printed. Even the official
Santana.com Web site lists a July 23 show at the Prague 11 venue.
But just where these concerts will take place remains a mystery.
The desire of Interkoncerts Europe, the company that booked the acts,
to build its own arena, with the backing of a major corporation, has yet to result in even a construction
permit, say authorities at Prague 11 Town Hall.
Unemployed rejecting community work to lose benefits
PRAGUE – Long–term unemployed people who refuse to do community work could be
deprived of state social benefits, according to an amendment to the bill on social benefits
which the Chamber of Deputies approved today. Entrepreneurs can face up to
two–million–crown fines for employing illegal workers. Besides, they can be fined for the violation of
equal treatment or for discrimination at work as well as for sexual harassment, which has already
been defined in the new Labour Code. The bill is to regulate the use of children in advertisements,
which will have to be approved by the respective labour office. Moreover, it specifies conditions for
the employment of foreigners, who can be employed only if the post cannot be filled with Czech
applicant, and it must be approved by the labour office, too. The bill also regulates the work of private
job mediators.
CzechRep, Germany, Poland to connect national road networks
ZITTAU– Transport ministers of the Czech Republic, Germany and Poland signed here a trilateral
agreement on the building of a road to connect transport networks of the three
countries. Construction of the road will start on May 1, said German Transport Minister Manfred
Stolpe. The road and the border crossing should be completed in 2007. Talks on and preparations of
the project had been dragging on for more than 13 years.
