Send a paper, get a fine or Five rules of electronic communication with the state

1. Do I have to communicate with the state exclusively electronically?
In general, you do not have to communicate with the state exclusively electronically. In certain cases, the obligation to communicate electronically (but not exclusively by data mailbox) may be established by special procedural rules. A typical example is communication with the tax administrator when filing a tax return, but in addition to the data box, electronic filing on the Tax Portal can be used.

2. What is the risk if I do not? And not only in connection with tax returns, but also other tasks (e.g. registration of a child for school)?

If the prescribed form is not followed, you may be fined. However, since the electronic form (or the obligation to send documents by data mailbox) is not universally established for all communication with public authorities, the sanctions vary according to the individual types of communication. For example, in the case of a tax return, a fine of CZK 1,000 is imposed for failure to comply with the electronic form, which may be increased up to CZK 50,000 if the failure to remove a defect in the filing makes it seriously difficult to administer taxes (Section 247a(2) of the Tax Code), but the tax administrator will ask you to correct the defect before imposing the fine.

3. Does the state have to communicate with me only electronically?

Yes, public authorities are obliged to primarily deliver to accessible data boxes. However, the authorities do not have to deliver the document to the data box if the nature of the document does not allow it or if the document is delivered by public notice or on the spot. In rare cases, the law may therefore prefer service by post. On the other hand, tax authorities and courts must always deliver the document to your accessible data box.

4. What is the penalty for not doing so? I have two active mailboxes, yet the county office, for example, communicates with me by sending me a letter “to collect with my ID”.

Public authorities repeatedly violate this obligation (see, for example, the Ombudsman’s statement here). However, please note that if you accept the document, it is deemed to have been duly delivered. The Czech courts have established that a document is properly served even if it is delivered by post and the addressee accepts it, even if the document should properly have been delivered to a data box.

5. How to proceed when the state does not comply with what it is supposed to? And what is the penalty for that?

If you do not familiarise yourself with a document sent by post, but the authority considers it to have been delivered and there are legal consequences attached to its delivery, you should first ask the authority that issued the decision to cancel it. It is also possible to claim compensation from the relevant ministry if you have suffered damage as a result of the decision annulled by the authority (compensation for damage caused by an incorrect official procedure). It is therefore possible not to accept the paper envelope and, if a court dispute arises, to prove that the message was not delivered to the data box (as the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic itself confirms here).

Even if the document was delivered to you by post and the authority was obliged by law to deliver it to a data box, it is recommended that you read the document and respond to its contents. Only then should you ask the administrative authority to serve you exclusively by data box in the future. To do otherwise could result in the annulment of the decision by the authority in question, or in litigation for compensation for any damage that may have been caused by the unlawful decision.

The text was originally published on the server  peníze.cz.