What a VAT payer must do in 2026
Value added tax — DPH in Czech — is one of the more demanding parts of the Czech tax system, and missed filings are punished with fixed statutory fines. This article sets out what you have to do once you are a VAT payer in 2026: when registration becomes compulsory, what changes on your invoices, and which filings are due and by when.
When you become a VAT payer
Compulsory registration
Since 2025, compulsory registration under Section 6 of the VAT Act works on a two-threshold system, measured over the calendar year:
| Turnover threshold (calendar year) | VAT payer from | Deadline to apply |
|---|---|---|
| 2 000 000 Kč | 1 January of the following year | within 10 working days of crossing it |
| 2 536 500 Kč | the day after you cross it | within 10 working days of crossing it |
Example: if your turnover passes 2 000 000 Kč during 2026 but stays below 2 536 500 Kč, you file the registration application within 10 working days and you become a VAT payer on 1 January 2027. This replaced the older rule, under which the start date depended on the month in which you crossed the threshold.
Turnover counts the consideration for supplies with a place of supply in the Czech Republic, except supplies exempt without the right to deduct. Proceeds from the sale of fixed assets are not counted.
Voluntary registration
You can register voluntarily even below 2 million Kč. It tends to pay off in three situations:
- Your customers are VAT payers — they deduct the VAT on your invoices, so it makes no difference to them whether you charge it. For you it means you can reclaim the VAT on your own purchases.
- You have high input costs — you buy hardware, software or services with VAT and want to reclaim it.
- You trade within the EU — registration can be an advantage when you supply services to other member states.
What changes once you are registered
Becoming a VAT payer changes both how you invoice and how you keep records.
1. You charge VAT on your outputs
Every invoice you issue becomes a tax document and must show VAT. Two rates apply in the Czech Republic in 2026:
- 21% (standard rate) — most goods and services
- 12% (reduced rate) — food, medicines, books, accommodation services, construction work for housing and other defined items
Your invoices also need extra mandatory details: the DIČ (tax identification number) of the supplier and of the customer where the customer is a payer, the VAT rate, the taxable amount and the VAT amount.
2. You reclaim VAT on your inputs
At the same time you gain the right to deduct VAT on purchases made for your business. That is the main benefit of registration: the VAT you pay your suppliers is set off against the VAT you collect from your customers.
Your liability for the period is output VAT minus input VAT. If the result is positive, you pay the difference to the tax office. If it is negative — an excess deduction — the tax office refunds it.
3. You keep VAT records
A VAT payer must keep detailed records of every taxable supply received and made. The records have to hold everything needed to compile the VAT return and the control statement.
Filing the VAT return
Tax period
A VAT return is filed for each tax period, which is either:
- Monthly — compulsory for payers with turnover above 10 000 000 Kč and for new payers in the year of registration and the following calendar year
- Quarterly — available to payers with turnover for the previous calendar year up to 10 000 000 Kč, at the earliest from the second calendar year after the year of registration (§ 99a of the VAT Act)
The return is due by the 25th day of the month following the end of the tax period. The tax itself falls due on the same date.
Electronic filing
The VAT return and the control statement are filed electronically only (since 2016); sole traders have in addition had a data box by law since 2023. The return goes in as an XML file in the DPHDP3 schema, through one of:
- your datová schránka (data box)
- the EPO portal (electronic filing for the Financial Administration)
- Portál MOJE daně
You do not have to key the return in by hand. If you keep your invoices and receipts in a tool that produces the DPHDP3 file from your own records, you only upload it to the Financial Administration portal, which removes a round of retyping.
The VAT control statement
The control statement (kontrolní hlášení) is a detailed breakdown that replaced the old extract from VAT records. It reports individual transactions and the Financial Administration uses it to cross-match invoices between trading partners.
Who files it and when
- Legal entities — monthly, by the 25th day of the following month
- Individuals, including OSVČ (sole traders) — within the deadline for the VAT return, so monthly or quarterly according to their tax period
What goes into it
The control statement has three parts:
- A. Supplies on which you must account for the tax — taxable supplies made, over 10 000 Kč including VAT reported individually, below that reported in total
- B. Taxable supplies received with a right to deduct — invoices received over 10 000 Kč including VAT reported individually, below that in total
- C. Control totals reconciling the statement to the VAT return
Failing to file the control statement carries a fine of 10 000 Kč (if you file only after the tax administrator asks you to), 30 000 Kč (if you miss the substitute deadline as well) or 50 000 Kč (if you never file it). For individuals and quarterly payers these fines have been halved since 2023 — 5 000, 15 000 and 25 000 Kč.
On the PRO plan, Taxorio generates the control statement as an XML file in the DPHKH1 schema from the invoices and expenses you have recorded, so the figures do not have to be retyped. You upload the file to the Financial Administration portal yourself and remain responsible for what it contains.
The EC Sales List
You file an EC Sales List (souhrnné hlášení) only if you supply services or goods to persons registered for VAT in another EU member state. The default frequency is monthly, by the 25th day of the following month. Quarterly filing is possible only if both conditions hold: (1) you are a quarterly VAT payer and (2) you supply services only, not goods, to other member states. A single consignment of goods moves you to monthly filing for the rest of the year. Identified persons always file monthly.
Before you invoice an EU customer, check that their DIČ (VAT ID) is valid in VIES, the VAT Information Exchange System run by the European Commission. Taxorio runs the VIES check when you enter a client with a foreign VAT ID and flags a number that does not validate.
Reverse charge
In some cases the obligation to account for the tax moves from the supplier to the customer. This is the reverse charge mechanism (Section 92a et seq. of the VAT Act). It applies mainly to:
- construction and assembly work
- supplies of gold
- supplies of immovable property in defined cases
- note: B2B services to a business in another EU state do not fall under the domestic § 92a — the place of supply is where the customer is, under § 9(1) of the VAT Act (the invoice still carries “daň odvede zákazník”)
Under the reverse charge the supplier shows no VAT on the invoice; the customer accounts for the VAT and, where they have a full right to deduct, reclaims it in the same return. The invoice must carry the wording "daň odvede zákazník" (tax to be paid by the customer) and the DIČ of both parties.
Records and archiving
As a VAT payer you must keep tax documents for 10 years from the end of the tax period in which the supply took place. The records must be organised so that both the return and the control statement can be compiled from them.
They should cover:
- tax documents received — invoices from your suppliers
- tax documents issued — your own invoices
- internal documents, for example under the reverse charge
- documents correcting the taxable amount — credit notes
Keeping the records electronically makes this much easier: invoices and expenses sit in one place, categorised and ready if the tax office asks. In Taxorio you also see income, expenses and VAT on the dashboard as you go.
Deadline calendar for a VAT payer
| Filing | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return + payment of the tax | monthly payer | by the 25th day of the following month |
| VAT return + payment of the tax | quarterly payer | within 25 days of the end of the quarter |
| Control statement | OSVČ, according to the tax period | within 25 days of the end of the period |
| EC Sales List | when trading with EU businesses | by the 25th day after the end of the month or quarter |
Taxorio shows the upcoming filing dates in its tax calendar, and you can look the same dates up in the tax deadline overview.
Common mistakes
- Filing the control statement late — an automatic fine of 1 000 Kč applies where you file late without being asked to by the tax office (the first such delay in a calendar year is waived automatically, § 101j of the VAT Act).
- A wrong customer DIČ — the statement will not cross-match and the tax administrator may come back to you.
- The wrong VAT rate — 21% where 12% belongs, or the reverse, carries the error straight into the return.
- Deducting from an incomplete document — the document must carry every statutory detail, otherwise the deduction cannot be claimed.
- Registering late — if you cross the threshold and do not register on time, you will owe the VAT retrospectively.
Good records and a tool that reads the data straight from your invoices prevent most of these. The rest comes down to working with verified customer details — through ARES for Czech businesses and VIES for EU ones — and checking your figures before you file. If you are still below the threshold, the turnover tracker shows how close you are.
Official sources
- Sections 6 and 92a of Act No. 235/2004 Coll., on VAT
- Financial Administration of the Czech Republic — VAT control statement
- VIES — checking a VAT ID for EU purposes
An identified person does not file a Czech VAT control statement; in Taxorio the VAT return workflow follows the VAT profile you have set.
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.