649,874 – this is the number of “databoxes or data boxes” currently in operation within the Czech Republic.
Is yours among them?
The officials in the Czech Republic have decided that data boxes are compulsory for all legal entities, ie. limited liability companies, here referred to as a “SRO”. Why is this regulation important?
Some years ago foreign citizens were not allowed to obtain property like flats, lands and buildings directly. So, many investors decided to establish SROs and purchased realities through them. Now is the law different and even physical entities (ie. individuals from any country) are allowed to purchase real estate in CR. However, thanks to the previous legal situation foreigners who have been running their own SROs must comply with all current obligations – to set up “Data Inbox” (datová schránka) among them. The Ministry of Interior has taken the initiative and assigned a data box automatically to each SRO. The representative of the company (in Czech ‘jednatel’) receives the login and password via registered post addressed to his domicile as listed in a register. The addressee must take over this document in person. No Power of Attorney is accepted in this case.
Don’t neglect your databox
This poses a potential threat. After 10 days of unsuccessful delivery the document is considered as accepted and the data box is activated. From then on, all official documents from the Fiscal Office and other authorities such as courts, land registries, social and health offices, etc. are sent into this inbox.
The following data box story is a warning case of negligence:
A foreign investor established a SRO company in the Czech Republic long before the data box was started. Living abroad he did not take over the documents with login when this project came alive. Unfortunately there happened to be a minor debt and a creditor filed a suit against the SRO. All respective documents were sent into the data box. The investor did not even know about the situation. The legal action, judgement, appeal terms – all these ended up in the electronic inbox. After a full three years the investor found out that there was a seizure of his property in process. The r executor was about to settle the claim by selling the assets.
Although the amount of the claim was not justified, the investor lost the case due to missing all the appeal terms and negligence. In the end his SRO had to pay incomparably more than the original minor debt.
Fortunately it is not difficult to avoid this.. If you own an SRO and cannot come in person to apply and pick up the access details, you may choose a Representative, who needs to have a verified PoA from you and then he can make his own access to the data box. He can set it up in a way that either the Representative or you can be alerted when new messages come into the inbox. There are companies which will monitor your databox for a monthly or yearly fee. If you would like to know more about it, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
Updated/Aktualizováno: May 21, 2015,
