Opposition MPs will jointly file a complaint with the Constitutional Court
against a law pushed through by ANO, the Social Democrats and the
Communists to tax church restitutions.
The law which would tax money being paid out to churches for property
seized by the Communists, which the state can no longer return, is to come
into force at the beginning of 2020. The complaint was signed by 62
right-wing deputies.
The tax bill was vetoed by the Senate as “unconstitutional” but the
veto was later overturned by the lower house and the bill was signed into
law by President Zeman. Its supporters argue that the sum being returned to
churches is “overinflated”, critics argue it is wrong, in principle, to
tax stolen property on its return.
Aside from returning land and property, the restitution law approved in
2013, counts on paying church organisations 59 billion crowns divided into
annual payments over a period of 30 years. If taxed, the pay-outs would be
reduced to 48 billion.