The tax office is sending 2,031 pieces of Apple brand consumer electronics for sale. Interested parties can participate in the auction through the Application of Electronic Auctions (APED), where the entire series of auctions takes place online. The offer includes iPhone mobile phones, iPad tablets, MacBook computers and AirPods headphones, while the total estimated value of these goods reaches almost 45 million crowns.
The state got hold of these goods thanks to a large-scale control and enforcement action codenamed “Hunter” that took place at the end of 2024. It revealed a domestic company that imported more than 100 million crowns of electronics from the United Arab Emirates within two months without paying VAT on them to the state, as the Financial Administration stated in a press release.
The fraud consisted of the company concealing the purchases on tax returns and pretending on paper to make a fictitious sale to another state, thereby deliberately undercutting the value added tax.
“A large part of the assessed tax will be paid from the subsequent sale of the goods in the auction,” said Václav Žemlička, director of the Financial Office for the capital city of Prague. The publication of the case is also intended to serve as a warning to other entities that would try to avoid tax obligations, as the financial and customs administration components are actively monitoring risky commodities. The whole matter is already being dealt with by the Police of the Czech Republic and other law enforcement agencies.