Disclaimer: This article is informational and does not constitute tax or legal advice. Amounts and rules change — always verify the current state at financnisprava.gov.cz or with a licensed Czech tax advisor.
Ask any self-employed foreigner in the Czech Republic what surprised them most in their first year and the answer is often the same: the monthly insurance advances. Long before you owe a koruna of income tax, you are already paying social security and health insurance every single month — and for many new freelancers those advances are the single largest recurring cost of the business.
2026 is an unusually complicated year to explain, because the minimum social advance changed in the middle of it. This guide gives you the exact numbers for main and side activity, explains the July cut and why it happened, and shows you how to handle any overpayment. Once you are done here, you will know precisely what should be leaving your account each month.
The Two Separate Systems
As an OSVČ you pay into two independent systems, each with its own institution, its own rules, and its own annual reconciliation:
- Social security (pension and, optionally, sickness insurance), administered by the Czech Social Security Administration (ČSSZ).
- Public health insurance, administered by your chosen health insurer (VZP is the most common).
Both are paid as monthly advances during the year, then reconciled once a year through your přehled (summary report) — one for social, one for health. The advance is a floor: you never pay less than the minimum, but if your profit is high you pay more.
If the whole system is new to you, our overview of health insurance for self-employed foreigners and the broader freelancing in the Czech Republic guide give you the wider context.
How the Advances Are Calculated
The headline minimums exist because the law sets a minimum assessment base tied to the average wage. The actual rates applied are:
- Social security: 29.2% of the assessment base, where the assessment base is 55% of your profit.
- Health insurance: 13.5% of the assessment base, where the assessment base is 50% of your profit.
For context, the two reference figures for 2026 are the average wage of 48,967 CZK and the minimum wage of 22,400 CZK. When your profit is low, these percentages would produce a tiny payment — so the minimum assessment base kicks in and sets a floor. That floor is exactly what changed in July.
The July 2026 Cut — What Changed and Why
Here is the headline for 2026: the minimum monthly social advance for main activity was 5,720 CZK from January to June 2026, and dropped to 5,005 CZK from July 2026 onward.
The reason is a legislative change — Law No. 90/2026 Coll. — which returned the minimum assessment base from 40% of the average wage back down to 35%. Crucially, the change was made retroactive to January, even though the lower advance only appears in payments from July. That retroactivity is what creates the overpayment situation we cover below.
The minimum health advance did not change: it is 3,306 CZK for the whole of 2026. Only the social side moved.
Main vs Side Activity — a Big Difference
Whether your self-employment is your main activity or a side activity dramatically changes what you pay. Your OSVČ counts as a side activity (vedlejší činnost) if, alongside it, you are also employed, drawing a pension, on parental leave, or studying (under the age of 26). Otherwise it is your main activity (hlavní činnost).
For side activity the numbers are much gentler:
- The minimum monthly social advance is just 1,574 CZK.
- No social insurance is due at all if your annual tax base from the side activity stays below the 2026 threshold of 117,521 CZK.
- For health insurance there is no minimum advance on side activity — it is paid from your actual assessment base (i.e. from real profit), settled through the annual přehled.
This is why employed foreigners who freelance on the side often pay very little in advances during the year — sometimes nothing on the social side until the annual reconciliation.
The 2026 Numbers in One Table
| Advance | Main activity — Jan–Jun 2026 | Main activity — from Jul 2026 | Side activity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social (pension) | 5,720 CZK / month | 5,005 CZK / month | 1,574 CZK / month (none if annual base < 117,521 CZK) |
| Health insurance | 3,306 CZK / month | 3,306 CZK / month | No minimum — paid from actual profit |
| Voluntary sickness insurance | from 243 CZK / month | from 243 CZK / month | from 243 CZK / month |
| Combined minimum (main, social + health) | 9,026 CZK / month | 8,311 CZK / month | — |
Sickness insurance (nemocenské pojištění) is voluntary for the self-employed, with a minimum of 243 CZK/month. It is what lets you draw sickness and maternity benefits, so many freelancers planning a family opt in — but it is your choice.
Your First Year: You Pay the Minimum
In your first calendar year of business as a main activity, you pay the minimum advances — you have no prior year's profit for the authorities to base a higher advance on. So a freelancer starting in 2026 as a main activity is looking at the minimums in the table above: the combined social-plus-health floor is 9,026 CZK/month in the first half of the year and 8,311 CZK/month from July.
From the second year on, your advances are recalculated from your last filed přehled, so a profitable first year means higher advances the year after — plan your cash flow for that step-up.
The Overpayment From the July Cut
Because Law No. 90/2026 lowered the minimum retroactively to January, anyone who paid the higher 5,720 CZK in the first half of 2026 has effectively overpaid on the social side. You have a few ways this resolves:
- Offset it against future advances, reducing what you pay in the coming months.
- Request a refund from your district social security administration (OSSZ). A refund is paid out within 60 days of the request.
- Let it reconcile automatically in your annual Přehled for 2026, where the correct full-year amount is calculated and any overpayment credited.
There is no downside to any of these routes — the money is not lost. If you want it back in hand sooner rather than at the annual reconciliation, the refund request is the fastest path.
Deadlines — Do Not Miss the 8th
Social security advances are due by the 8th day of the following month — the advance for a given month must be paid by the 8th of the next. Health advances follow a similarly tight monthly rhythm. Miss a payment and penalty interest starts accruing, so the safest approach is a standing order plus a reminder. The final, exact amounts are always squared up in the annual přehled.
For every filing and payment date across the year, keep our tax deadlines calendar to hand.
Know Your Number, Automatically
The advances are simple in theory and easy to get wrong in practice — a mid-year rate change, different rules for main and side activity, and a hard monthly deadline are exactly the kind of moving parts that cause missed payments. Taxorio tracks your advance-payment obligations and their deadlines so you never miss the 8th-of-the-month payment, and it keeps your income and expenses in shape for the annual přehled at the same time.
To see your own figures right now, run the free social and health advances calculator, and if you are weighing the flat-rate regime as an alternative, compare it with the flat-rate tax calculator and the income tax calculator. When it is time to actually issue invoices and stay on top of every deadline, Taxorio does the tracking for you. New to all of this? Start with our step-by-step guide to getting your trade licence as a foreigner.