Final Word from Wednesday, July 12, 2023

There is of course no Czech law requiring businesses to accept payment cards such as MasterCard and Visa, but there is big summer push to change this. Pres. Tomáš Prouza of the SOCR retailers' union told TV Nova that when he sees a sign saying "cash only," it is a clear signal for him that there is something wrong in terms of paying taxes. This assignment of collective guilt is effective for pushing the agenda of banks but in fact falls short in terms of the tax-evasion argument, because uncontrollable cash payments would still be allowed. When ODS Chair Petr Fiala was campaigning for the 2021 parliamentary elections, he promised to abolish the EET online sales-reporting system because it created the impression that all small businesses wanted to cheat on their taxes. If Fiala now supported mandatory acceptance of payment cards, it would make it appear that the real reason he canceled EET was that it addressed the tax-compliance issue without guaranteeing more revenue for the banks. [ Czech Republic ANO credit association ]