Final Word from Thursday, December 1, 2016
As of today, Finance Min. Andrej Babiš will have the power to close down any of tens of thousands of businesses. The law on the EET online sales-reporting system gives the tax and customs authorities the power to suspend or close operations for "especially serious" violations of the EET law. Babiš can define "especially serious" himself, and there is no appeal allowed. Likewise, the new law on the origin of assets that takes effect today allows Babiš to confiscate 100% of a person's undeclared income if the taxpayer hinders the discovery process in a "serious" way. Any politician, oligarch or manager of a state company (such as ČEZ) who has a secret trust fund could have 100% of the contents confiscated for failing to report it. These two laws took effect two days after Bohuslav Sobotka and other MPs gave final legislative approval to a conflict-of-interest law targeted directly at Babiš. The first Social Democrat Babiš hangs shall be the one who gave him the rope. [Czech Republic court offshore company]
Glossary of difficult words
retaliation - the action of harming someone because he or she has harmed you; revenge;
to hinder - to make it difficult for someone to do something or for something to happen;
discovery - (law) the compulsory disclosure, by one party to an action to another, of relevant testimony or documents.