Start-up Act: A new framework for innovative entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic could see its own ‘Start-up Act’ as early as the next parliamentary term. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is preparing a draft legal framework designed to offer young, innovative companies clear rules and bring Czech conditions more in line with those in countries such as Spain and Portugal.

Key points of the proposal:

• Definition of a start-up – clear and uniform across the entire market
• Transparent methodology – rules for assessing companies applying to be included in the scheme
• Reduced red tape – measures to make doing business faster and simpler
• Support for investors – legal provisions more favourable to capital investment

The discussion also covers rules on employee share schemes (ESOPs). Whilst these were passed by the Chamber of Deputies in June this year, the Senate has referred them back. As Zuzana Nötstaller points out in an interview with e15, the current proposal still requires fundamental amendments:

“Among other things, there is a need for a systematic reassessment of the timing of taxation on employee shareholdings so that it corresponds as closely as possible to, or approximates, the actual generation of monetary income, and to simplify and harmonise the rules – similar to the approach in Austria.”