Even though some states have already responded to the current situation by issuing various regulations and directives, sometimes even by concluding bi- or even multilateral international agreements, the OECD is trying to harmonise the approach. The manual should thus be understood as a kind of an interpretive guideline. In the Czech Republic, the financial administration has so far issued no information or guidelines regarding these issues. The OECD manual thus represents the only guideline for taxpayers on how to approach the assessment of certain situations (with references to the respective articles of the model agreement and interpretive commentary).

Specifically, it deals with the assessment of the conditions of the formation of a permanent establishment arising from the permanent position or a dependent agent in the cases when the employees of a foreign enterprise are, as a result result of the current situation, staying and working in the state where they reside (so-called home‑office). The OECD infers from the existing provisions that unless this regime is commonly used, the emergency measures caused by the COVID‑19 pandemic should not lead to the interpretation that the conditions have been fulfilled (because the permanent/ habitual aspect is not met, the measures are of an emergency and incidental nature). If there exist – primarily domestic – limits for assessing the fulfilment of the conditions (especially regarding time, e.g. when assessing service providing permanent establishments or a construction installation project, etc.), the OECD encourages the states to clearly define how to practically deal with the situation.

The OECD further states in the manual how to approach the interpretation of the place of effective management concept under the circumstances if, as a result of the emergency measures, the management of the company works from various states. And last but not least, the manual also mentions (including the individual approach of certain states) how to reflect the current situation when determining the tax residence of individuals and the taxing right of employment income.

Although the OECD manual provides a valuable guideline, it is necessary to keep in mind that the Czech financial administration has not yet responded to the approach to the interpretation of the international taxation concepts and so it may not fully identify with the approach and the recommendations of the OECD. It is always necessary to take into consideration the particular situation, especially in the case of states with which the Czech Republic has not concluded a double taxation treaty.