Czechia considers stop to double taxation on solar + storage projects

Czechia’s Economic Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has backed proposals aiming to accelerate the construction of solar power plants.

In a discussion of amendments to the country’s Building Act, the committee, which is key permanent body within Czechia’s lower house of parliament, supported plans to increase the threshold for the payment of electricity tax from a current 50 kW to 100 kW. It also backed a proposal to prevent double taxation when installing battery energy storage systems at the same site as solar plants.

Jan Krčmář, executive director of Czech solar association Solární Asociace, explained to pv magazine that the association has been discussing with the current government how to streamline the permitting process for solar power plants since the government’s formation late last year. 

The association has been advocating for raising the limit above which PV owners have to pay electricity tax to 100 kWp and, in collaboration with Czech battery association AKU-BAT CZ, avoiding double-charging for batteries.

“The Ministry of Industry as well as the Finance Ministry both agreed, and we worked out a wording that was now passed in the economic committee of parliament,” Krčmář told pv magazine. “Once the committee recommends certain amendments and laws, it is very likely that these will be passed and enforced.”

The proposals still have to go through several stages before becoming law, including a second, third and final reading in parliament before being passed to the senate. Krčmář predicted the law could be passed sometime later this year, before becoming valid as of next year.

From pv magazine Global.