Onkológia 1/2016

Basic concepts and problems of withholding tax for health-care providers

Collaboration of health care providers, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies or individual healthcare workers with pharma industry underwent a strong regulation. Especially the economic aspects of the relationship of health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry are restrictive regulated by many legislative standards (such as the Law on medicines, Advertising Act or the Income Tax Act) and other regulations, such as. Code of Ethics AIFP /EFPIA. Most of these measures essentially narrows, or specifies the legitimate possibility of cooperation of the pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare community. Since this cooperation represents a significant positive contribution in many ways, the objective was not the prohibition of abovementioned, but rather a precise definition of boundaries of such cooperation (to establish transparent and verifiable rules). In particular the Income Tax Act introduced not only many restrictions for healthcare providers, but also administrative and fiscal obligations that require active steps from them, applicable on the general healthcare community, not only on a small number of subjects. New legal concepts and terms were introduced in connection with the transfer of values (from the pharmaceutical industry towards healthcare providers). No new tax duties were introduced, but rather new way of pecuniary income taxation was imposed on a particular group of taxpayers (health care providers), if such income comes from the pharmaceutical industry: withholding tax. Moreover, withholding tax is imposed explicitly also on income in-kind, although in an altered mode. And thus - since January 2015 the result of the physician’s participation in educational activities could not only be the new expertise, but also concern how to identify variable symbol for the payment of withholding tax, the taxpayer’s personal account number, account prefix and the correct form.

Keywords: withholding tax, holder, service provider, pecuniary income, benefits in kind