In late December 2008, the parliament passed numerous tax law amendments together with the State Budget Act for 2009. The amendments take effect on 1 January 2009. The major amendments regarding corporate income tax are summarized below. (a) Tax rate. The general corporate income tax (CIT) rate is increased from 15% to 20%. (b) Dividends. The withholding tax on dividends is increased from 15% to 20%. The condition for the participation exemption is amended, so that it does not apply to a part of distributed profit subject to 0% rate or other incentives, except for companies in the free economic...