General national economic measures
*small business relief or other financial support
*interest free crisis loans
*income support for employees
*income support for freelance workers
* loan repayment holiday
*mortgage payment holiday
*tax returns and or VAT returns suspended/delayed
For an overview of economic measures see the Ministry of Finance page here
More information:
-The value of the national stimulus package in 2020 was the third highest of all EU member countries in terms of GDP (just behind Germany and Italy). The Government announced a direct aid of €3.6b and an indirect aid package of €32.7b to businesses in the form of guarantees, with a focus on SMEs and independents.
-Moratorium on the repayment of loans and mortgages signed before March 2020.
-Income tax deferrals were possible on a case-by-case basis until July 1 2020 and some employer tax and social contribution deadlines were extended by four months. Losses incurred in 2020 could be carried back for two years (previously no loss carrybacks). Businesses were also able to apply to cancel income tax prepayments, defer payments (for VAT or income tax), and extend the deadline for filing corporate income tax returns.
-There was also support for companies who had had to close their operations. Companies who were forced to close their premises due to government orders were entitled to postpone their rents.
-The government payed part of the salaries of employees who were kept at home instead of laid-off. Government support included compensation of payments to employees in quarantine, payments to employees of businesses subject to the mandatory closure, support for reduced working hours and support payable to employees taking care of children during school closure.
-All self-employed, receiving income only from their business, were given a six-month holiday in the payment of health and social insurance. There was also a compensation bonus to support self-employed persons with the amount of CZK 25,000 (around 923€) when a number of conditions were met.
a) it is a self-employed person according to the pension insurance law,
b) the activity performed is the principal activity (under clearly defined conditions it may also be an ancillary activity),
c) the decrease in gross sales during the period from January to March 2020 was at least 10% compared to the period from January to March 2019 (if a business was set up after January 2019, the comparison counted for the first 3 months period after setting up the business),
d) the entity achieved at least CZK 180,000 (6,650€) of gross income in 2019 or at least CZK 15,000/month (around €550) in case the business was set up after January 2019.
National measures specific to the music sector or to culture in general
- A €40m package specifically for live music was agreed. Neither labels, pubishers or artists were directly included. The main recipients were festivals, concert organisers, clubs and venues.
- Artists could claim a benefit of up to EUR 1.000 per month through the other programmes that were not specific to the music industry.
- VAT on tickets was reduced from 15% to 10%.
Health measures
Covid-19 measures and restrictions in the country can be found on the government's website.
Measures taken by local collecting society organisations
-The neighbouring rights society INTERGRAM was unable to give advances. INTEGRAM created a crisis fund (about 80.000 EUR in total, only available for performers, not producers): here.
- The copyright society OSA distributed extraordinary support for specific composers and enabled the deferral of payments.
Support from national radio and other media
Czech music companies worked on launching a "Support local artists" campaign to push local radio stations to play more Czech music.
Business and other expected losses
Still under evaluation.
For more info:
Platforma - Czech Association of Independents