Loophole in the Law: How the World Hockey Championship Organizers Increased Ticket Sales

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This year’s World Hockey Championship pleased the organizers for reasons other than the gold medal and record attendance. The sales, which the Czech Ice Hockey Association has so far refused to disclose, must have been high in themselves, yet the organizers managed to increase them. And that through a loophole in the law. The newspaper MF Dnes drew attention to the case.

At first, the association sold tickets without VAT. Before the championship, precisely on October 1, 2023, he founded the company CZ.HOCKEY s.r.o., with the understanding that this company will sponsor activities related to the World Ice Hockey Championship and marketing activities, including ticket sales. The new company took over the rights from the original PRO-HOCKEY CZ, writes the newspaper.

The newly formed company immediately began selling tickets. According to the law, companies must register for VAT within 15 days of the following month after their turnover exceeds two million crowns. In the case of CZ.HOCKEY, the company registered for VAT only in November and received registration as a VAT payer on December 1. From the beginning of the sale, there was of course the greatest interest in tickets.

“In the meantime, if the company does not register itself and voluntarily – which it can do, but it does not have to – it really did not pay VAT and waited for the legal limit for compulsory registration to be exceeded. My conclusion is that they used the VAT Act, which allows this,” explained Michal Šmerhovský, a member of the Chamber of Tax Advisors.

MF Dnes asked the police officers from the economic crime department about the progress of the hockey association. According to them, the activity of CZ.HOCKEY is not illegal in any way. The union did not comment on the situation.

WC in hockey 2024

The World Hockey Championship was held from May 10 to 26, 2024 in Prague and Ostrava, and the Czechs won the gold. The hockey championship returned to the Czech Republic after nine years. Current news can be found in the special for the World Cup in Hockey on Seznam Zprávách.