The situation
A new asset purchase: description, cost and date put into use
A Plzeň components maker has bought a CNC machining centre for CZK 6.2 million, and its Slovak sister company in Žilina is buying a second one. The auditors will ask how each is depreciated for tax. The controller needs a note per company: the group, the method, the period and when depreciation can start.
The accounting side is decided. The tax side follows different rules in each country and starts from a statistical product code nobody on the team uses day to day. Matching the machine to the right line of the annex, then checking which methods that group allows, is where the hours go.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- Tax depreciation follows statute, not useful life
- Czech and Slovak income tax law each assign tangible assets to depreciation groups listed in an annex to the act, and each group carries a fixed depreciation period. The useful life in the accounts does not change the tax group.
- The product code decides the group
- The annexes classify assets by reference to the statistical classification of products. The first task is to find the code that describes the machine, then the group the annex gives it.
- The method is chosen once
- Czech law lets the taxpayer choose straight-line or accelerated depreciation for each asset, and the choice cannot be changed while the asset is being depreciated. Slovak law restricts which groups may use accelerated depreciation, so check the group first.
- Thresholds and temporary regimes change
- Assets below a statutory input-price threshold need not be depreciated as tangible assets, and Czech law has used temporary extraordinary depreciation in the past. Check the law in force on the acquisition date, not today’s.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Czech s.r.o. bought a 5-axis CNC machining centre in September 2026 and put it into use in October. Which tax depreciation group applies, what are the straight-line and accelerated periods, and can we start depreciating this year? Same question for our Slovak sister company.
You start with
A new asset purchase: description, cost and date put into use
- 01
Describe the asset
Give the type of machine, its cost, the acquisition date and when it was put into use. azta searches the Czech and Slovak income tax acts and their annexes.
Cited research· Free - 02
Find the line in the annex
Open the cited annex in the reader. Ask about the law at the acquisition date to see the version that applied then.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Write the depreciation note
Ask for a note per company with the classification, the method options and the first tax period. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the auditor’s file
Export the note to Word and file it with the fixed-asset records.
Word export· Pro You send
A note on the tax depreciation group, method and start of depreciation
What you get
A note on the tax depreciation group, method and start of depreciation
Depreciation note · draft
CNC machining centre, Plzeň: tax depreciation
Classification. The machining centre falls under the product code for metal-working machine tools. The annex to the Income Tax Act places that code in the depreciation group shown in Annex 1, with the provision relied on.
Method. We propose accelerated depreciation, which brings more of the deduction into the early years. The choice applies for the whole tax life of the asset and cannot be switched later. A comparison of both methods over the period is attached.
Start. Depreciation can begin once the asset is completed and fit for its normal use. The machine was commissioned on 6 October, so depreciation starts in this tax period, with the first-year amount calculated under the rule for the chosen method.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
22 minutes a month
At €75 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 16
- Capacity at your rate
- €1,215
- More tax depreciation notes a quarter
- 2
- Return on Pro
- 3.8×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- The technical description of the asset and its acquisition cost.
- The choice of method, which binds for the life of the asset.
- The depreciation calculation in your fixed-asset register.
Frequently asked questions
- Does azta calculate the depreciation schedule?
- No. It establishes the group, the method options and the start, with citations. The schedule stays in your fixed-asset register.
- Can I see the law as it stood when we bought the asset?
- Yes. Ask about the law at a past date, and the reader shows the version of the provision in force then.
- Can I ask about both countries at once?
- Yes. Ask about the Czech and Slovak companies in one question. Each point is cited to the country’s own act.
