Sorting expenses properly is the foundation of records you can actually read. Taxorio works with a fixed set of categories covering the needs of an OSVČ — a self-employed person — from programmers and designers through sales reps to tradespeople. Each category has a code, a clear scope, and a direct effect on how your statements and tax documents come out. This guide walks through all of them, says who each one is for, and explains how Taxorio's AI parser assigns them automatically.
Why the category matters
Tax deductibility in Czechia rests on Section 24 of Act No. 586/1992 Coll., on income taxes. An expense is deductible if it was incurred to earn, secure or maintain taxable income. Putting it in the right category lets you:
- See quickly how much goes on which group of expenses
- Prepare the supporting documents for your tax return and for any tax audit
- Spot areas where there is room to save
- Show the tax office why the expense was justified
The categories one by one
SOFTWARE
What belongs here: software licences, SaaS subscriptions, cloud services, applications. Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, GitHub Copilot, Slack, Figma, Notion, website hosting, domain fees.
Who needs it: mainly IT professionals, designers and marketers — though nearly every sole trader now pays for at least a few subscriptions.
Tax note: an annual subscription paid in December is claimable as an expense in the year of payment when you keep tax records (daňová evidence). Under full accounting it would be spread over time.
HARDWARE
What belongs here: computers, laptops, monitors, keyboards, mice, printers, phones, tablets, cameras, microphones, external drives.
Who needs it: IT specialists, graphic designers, photographers, videographers, podcasters, journalists.
Tax note: hardware up to CZK 80,000 can be claimed in full in the year of purchase. Above that threshold it is tangible fixed assets and has to be depreciated. If you also use the device privately, you claim only the corresponding share — 80% for a work laptop is a common split.
MATERIAL
What belongs here: consumables used directly on jobs — tiles, cement, pipes, cable, paint, fabric, paper, printing ink, timber, metal.
Who needs it: tradespeople, joiners, tailors, printers, artists, ceramicists, photographers running their own lab.
AI tip: the parser recognises builders' merchants and DIY chains (Hornbach, OBI, Würth) and proposes this category on its own.
TOOLS
What belongs here: professional tools and instruments. Drills, saws, welders, multimeters, measuring instruments, garden tools, kitchen equipment for catering.
Who needs it: tradespeople, gardeners, chefs, lab technicians, car mechanics.
Tip: keep TOOLS (equipment for the work itself) apart from HARDWARE (electronics and computing).
FUEL
What belongs here: fuel — petrol, diesel, LPG — bought for business journeys.
Who needs it: anyone who drives for work: sales reps, tradespeople, hauliers, field staff.
Tax note: if you use the flat-rate transport allowance of CZK 5,000 a month you do not claim fuel separately. Claiming actual fuel costs requires a mileage log.
VEHICLE
What belongs here: repairs and servicing, tyres, insurance, road tax, the technical inspection, lease or loan instalments on the car.
Who needs it: the same group as FUEL — anyone whose car is a working tool.
TRAVEL
What belongs here: flights, fares (train, bus, city transport), taxi, Bolt and Uber on business trips, accommodation while travelling for work, conference fees.
Who needs it: consultants, sales reps, speakers, IT professionals attending conferences.
RENT
What belongs here: rent for an office, coworking desk, workshop, warehouse or business premises. When you work from home, the share of the rent matching the floor area used for business.
Who needs it: sole traders with their own premises, an office or a coworking membership.
PHONE
What belongs here: mobile tariff, fixed internet connection, data packages — in proportion to business use.
Who needs it: practically everyone; a phone and an internet connection are basic working tools.
OFFICE
What belongs here: office supplies (paper, pens, folders), work clothing (protective equipment, uniforms), postage and the other small running costs of an office.
Who needs it: practically everyone, to varying degrees.
MARKETING
What belongs here: advertising on Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Ads, website creation, SEO, PR, printed materials (business cards, leaflets), sponsorship, photography for the web and social media.
Who needs it: sole traders actively promoting their services or products.
EDUCATION
What belongs here: professional courses, online learning (Udemy, Coursera), certification exams, professional literature, conference tickets.
Who needs it: IT professionals (AWS, Azure certification), consultants, advisers, anyone investing in their own development.
Tax condition: the training has to relate directly to what you do for a living. A cookery course is not a tax expense for a programmer — it is for a chef.
SERVICES
What belongs here: external services and subcontracting — platform fees (Upwork, Toptal), coaching or mentoring connected with the business, partial work bought in from suppliers, and other professional services with no category of their own.
Who needs it: everyone; this is the near-universal category.
INSURANCE
What belongs here: business risk insurance, professional indemnity, insurance of property used for the business, vehicle insurance if you are not recording it under VEHICLE.
Who needs it: sole traders carrying higher liability risk — IT consultants, architects, doctors, lawyers, tradespeople doing construction work.
LEGAL
What belongs here: legal services — solicitor, notary, drafting and reviewing contracts, legal advice, court and administrative fees connected with the business.
Who needs it: sole traders dealing with contracts, disputes or legal protection.
ACCOUNTING
What belongs here: accounting and tax advice, bookkeeping or tax records kept by an external accountant, preparation of the tax return, audit.
Who needs it: anyone who has their books or taxes handled by a professional.
REPRESENTATION
What belongs here: entertainment and gifts to business partners — client lunches, hospitality, presents.
Watch out: this category is not a tax deductible expense. Section 25(1)(t) of the Income Tax Act excludes representation, and Section 72(4) of the VAT Act denies the input VAT deduction on it. Taxorio keeps these documents in your records but leaves them out of the tax base — which is exactly why they have their own category rather than sitting in OTHER.
OSVČ LEVIES
What belongs here: your own social security and health insurance contributions, and income tax paid.
Watch out: these are not tax deductible either — Section 25(1)(g) and (s) of the Income Tax Act. Recording them here keeps them visible in your cash flow without letting them distort the tax base.
OTHER
What belongs here: anything that fits nowhere above — administrative fees, duty stamps, workplace safety costs, and the rest of the odds and ends.
Tip: if you notice a lot of documents of the same kind piling up in OTHER, tell us — it may be a category Taxorio ought to add.
How the AI parser assigns categories
Taxorio parses uploaded documents automatically. Photograph a receipt or upload a PDF invoice, and the system:
- Reads the text from the document
- Identifies the supplier — Hornbach → MATERIAL, Shell → FUEL, Amazon Web Services → SOFTWARE
- Analyses the line items — "Adobe Creative Cloud" → SOFTWARE, "Bosch drill" → TOOLS
- Proposes a category, which you confirm or change with one click
You can also set a default business-use percentage per category in Settings — 80% for FUEL, 60% for PHONE — and Taxorio applies it when the document is confirmed, including in bulk confirmation. That way the split you always make is made once, not on every receipt.
The result is that sorting expenses takes minutes a month instead of an afternoon with a pile of paper.
Taxorio scope: Taxorio provides invoicing and income/expense records for Czech sole traders. It is not full accounting or personalised tax advice. For an unsupported or unusual case, verify the treatment with a Czech accountant or tax adviser before filing.