Personal income tax (DPFO) for the self-employed (OSVČ)

The self-employed tax base

Personal income tax (DPFO) for the self-employed (OSVČ) is based on the partial tax base from business activity (§ 7 ZDP). The tax base is the difference between income and expenses from self-employment. An OSVČ chooses one of two methods for claiming expenses:

• Actual expenses — you record your real costs (invoices, receipts). You have to keep tax records or statutory accounting.
• Flat-rate expenses — you claim expenses as a percentage of income (80%, 60%, 40% or 30%, depending on your field). Simpler paperwork: you don't have to document receipts for income-tax expenses, you only record income and receivables (§ 7 odst. 8 ZDP). Your right to a VAT deduction is not affected by this in any way — income tax and VAT are two separate taxes, and a VAT payer using flat-rate expenses claims the deduction as usual.

How Taxorio calculates the tax base

Taxorio processes data from issued invoices (income) and recorded expenses (costs) for the calendar year.

• With actual expenses: tax base = sum of paid income − sum of tax-deductible expenses.
• With flat-rate expenses: tax base = sum of income × (1 − the flat rate).
• A foreign-currency invoice enters income at the amount that actually arrived, converted at the CNB rate on the day of payment (§ 38 of the Income Tax Act); the VAT on the document stays fixed in crowns at the rate on the day of supply, so the whole exchange-rate difference is income. The same figure appears on the card, in the income book (the Foreign amount and CNB rate columns), and on line 101 of the return — this is covered in a separate help article on invoicing abroad.

You'll find the result under Taxes & insurance → Income tax. The card opens with the answer — an indicative tax for the chosen year, with a note that it excludes insurance, child credits, deductions and advances paid. If you pay advances based on a tax you entered, or you enter the advances you paid, it shows instead how much you will pay or what your overpayment is — for the current year as a running figure (“so far”), because more income and advances will change it. The tax office refunds an overpayment only on request; otherwise it stays for your next advances. You can expand the whole calculation chain (income → expenses → tax base → rounded down to whole hundreds → rate → taxpayer credit) under the How we got there link.

XML income tax return (DPFDP7)

On the PRO plan, Taxorio generates a DPFDP7 XML file per the Financial Administration's current XSD schema — ready to upload straight to the MOJE daně portal (mojedane.cz) and file electronically, with no numbers to copy out by hand. The file includes:

• Total income and expenses from self-employment (actual or flat-rate) — including the lines of Annex 1 for your main activity.
• The partial tax base under § 7 and the tax calculation at the progressive rate of 15% / 23%.
• The basic taxpayer credit (CZK 30,840) — it fills that in for you, you don't need to add it yourself.
• Income tax advances paid on line 85 — only if you entered them on the card in the “Paid in advances so far” row.
• With actual expenses, receivables (line 5) and debts (line 7) in the tax records table (Annex 1) — see below.

You'll find the export under Taxes & insurance → Income tax. On the FREE plan you can download the income and expense book — a ZIP for your accountant: the income and expense files, a list of unpaid documents, PDFs of issued invoices, scans of received documents and a short README (what the columns mean and what the book doesn't contain, such as income without an invoice). The ZIP is prepared in the background and stays available for an hour; the DPFDP7 XML itself is part of the PRO plan.

Taxorio counts business income only from invoices issued in Taxorio. Cash or e-shop sales without an invoice aren't in the figure — add them to your income yourself. An invoice paid in cash counts like any other.

Tax ID and birth number in the return

The file carries your name, address and the tax office branch. Taxorio fills the tax ID (DIČ) into line 01 only if you have it in Company details (VAT payers and identified persons). A non-VAT payer usually has no tax ID — the separate income tax registration was abolished in 2024 and the return identifies you by your birth number. Taxorio neither asks for it nor stores it: in MOJE daně, after loading the file, click Úprava ve formuláři (Edit in form) and enter your birth number in lines 01 and 02. Without it the tax office rejects the filing. The card reminds you of this when you download.

An individual's tax ID is CZ + birth number, not the company ID (IČO). A VAT payer or identified person whose tax ID has the form of the company ID can't download the return until they fix it in Settings → Company details; for a non-VAT payer such a tax ID is simply left out of the file. Taxorio doesn't prepare returns for an s.r.o. or a.s.

Tax records table in Annex 1

If you claim actual expenses, you keep tax records and fill in their table in Annex 1. From your documents in Taxorio we fill in the balances at the start and end of the year on two lines (you'll see the figures on the card):

• Line 5 Receivables — issued invoices unpaid at the end of 31 December. A VAT payer reports them without VAT (§ 5(9) of the Income Tax Act), everyone else in full. An unpaid credit note reduces its own unpaid invoice; any excess over the invoice is a debt. An unpaid credit note on an invoice that has already been paid is a debt too. A credit note you have already refunded doesn't reduce the invoice — it lowered your income on the day of the refund. Proforma invoices and documents for a received payment don't count.
• Line 7 Debts — received documents unpaid at the end of 31 December, in full including VAT. An unpaid received credit note reduces its own unpaid expense; on an expense you have already paid it is a receivable instead. A credit note the supplier has already refunded doesn't reduce the expense. Your own social and health insurance and income tax (the Self-employed levies category) are not debts here.

What counts is the earlier of the issue date and the date of taxable supply: an invoice issued in January for work done in December belongs to the balance at 31 December. The start of the year is the balance at the end of 31 December of the previous year and should match the end of the year in last year's return. It is calculated from documents dated before 1 January — receivables from issued documents, debts from received ones. If Taxorio has no earlier documents of that kind, the line is zero when you started your business in that year; otherwise Taxorio leaves it empty and the card asks you to fill it in in EPO.

The figures come only from documents in Taxorio. Loans, advances, VAT payable and documents outside Taxorio are not included — add them in EPO and compare the result with the actual balance at 31 December. Fill in tangible assets, inventory, reserves and wages; cash, bank balances and other assets are optional on the form. The card counts invoices that have been open for more than a year separately — they are often paid, just not marked. With flat-rate expenses the table isn't filled in.

Which years we issue the return for

The Financial Administration only issues the DPFDP7 form once the tax period has ended, and its structure description explicitly states which periods it applies to. Taxorio follows this: it only offers the XML for years for which a current form exists — right now, 2024 and 2025. The return for 2026 will only be filed with the form issued in 2027.

If you pick a year outside this range, the card shows a notice instead of the button and lists the periods it supports: for the current year, “We will produce the … return after the new year”, for others, “We cannot produce a return for …”. One click switches you to the nearest year we support. You can still download the income and expense book either way.

What you have to add yourself

Taxorio doesn't cover the entire return. The card flags this with the line “Four things to add before filing” (five with actual expenses — the tax records table is added) — add these to the DP7 form yourself, in EPO:

• Family credits — for children (§ 35c), for a spouse, and disability credits (§ 35ba). Taxorio fills in the basic taxpayer credit itself. From 2027 the tile is called Other tax credits and also lists the student credit, the childcare credit and the sales-recording credit (§ 35bc–35be) — Taxorio doesn't compute those either.
• Deductions — mortgage interest, pension and life insurance (§ 15).
• Donations — per the confirmation from the recipient.
• Income tax advances paid (§ 38a) — if you entered them on the card, the XML carries them on line 85; otherwise add them yourself.
• Tax records table (actual expenses only) — we fill in receivables and debts from your documents in Taxorio; add loans, advances, VAT payable and documents outside Taxorio to them, and fill in assets, inventory, reserves and wages.

Beyond these, also add any other income outside your business (employment, rental, capital income).

Side activity alongside employment

If your Settings say your business is a side activity because you are employed, the card calculates the tax without the taxpayer credit — your employer applies it to your salary every month. The figure on the card is only the extra tax your business adds. (If the state pays your insurance, that is not employment and the card counts the credit.)

You still file one return for all your income, though. The XML file carries only your business income and the taxpayer credit, so the tax in it differs from the card. In EPO, add your salary on lines 31–35 and the tax withheld on line 84, from your employer's annual income certificate. The credit then counts only once and the amount left to pay comes out roughly as the tax on the card. Together, your salary and business may push part of the base into the 23 % rate — then you will pay more. If you didn't sign the tax declaration with your employer, the credit wasn't applied to your salary and you will pay less. The card flags this next to the XML download with the finding “Your salary is not in the file”.

DPFO filing deadlines

• By 1 April — the basic deadline for an OSVČ filing the return itself.
• By 1 July — the extended deadline, if a tax advisor or attorney actually files the return for you (§ 136 odst. 2 písm. b) of the Tax Procedure Code). Since the return for 2020, you no longer need to submit the power of attorney in advance — it's enough for it to reach the tax administrator no later than at the same time as the return. The older rule of "deliver the power of attorney by 1 April" no longer applies.
• Electronic filing (through the Moje daně portal or via a data box) extends the basic deadline by a month, to 1 May — for 2026 that's 3 May 2027 (1 May falls on a Saturday).

Income tax advances

The Income tax card has a row “Tax advance now” — much like the monthly advance on the Insurance card. It shows how much one advance is (for example “CZK 18,300 half-yearly”) and which return it follows (§ 38a of the Income Tax Act). You get a reliable figure once you copy the tax from line 74 of your return: click Edit (for an estimate My tax is different, with no data Enter) and fill in the single field “Tax from your … return (line 74)”. Right below it you see what advance that gives.

• Up to CZK 30,000 you pay no advances. Above CZK 30,000 and up to CZK 150,000 you pay two advances of 40% each (15 June and 15 December); above CZK 150,000, four of 25% each (15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December).
• Each advance is rounded up to whole hundreds of crowns (§ 146 odst. 2 of the Tax Procedure Code). A tax of CZK 45,678 gives 2 × CZK 18,300.
• The 15 March advance follows the return for the year before last, because the deadline for last year's return has not passed by March — even if you filed it earlier. If you pay quarterly, the row therefore shows the advance from the return for the year before last until 15 March, and the field asks for that tax.
• Other income under § 10 (for example from selling assets) doesn't count towards the last known tax (§ 38a odst. 1), so if your return included it, work out the tax for advances again without line 40 (taking off 15% isn't enough because of tax credits) and enter that — Taxorio doesn't take it off line 74.
• Did your return also include a salary from which a Czech employer withheld tax advances? Below the field, tick “The return also included a salary from employment” and choose how much of the tax base it made up (§ 38a odst. 5, § 38h). At 50% or more you pay no advances; at 15% to less than 50% you pay half. Don't count a salary from a foreign employer or an agreement taxed by withholding (DPP) — it doesn't reduce your advances. If your Settings say your business is a side activity alongside employment, the box is already ticked.
• Without an entered tax, the card only shows an estimate from your records, marked “≈”, with a note that what counts is the tax in your last return. Below the threshold it says “Probably none” — only the tax from your return gives certainty.
• The year after the flat-rate tax: your last known tax is the flat-rate tax (§ 38lh) = months in the regime × the tax portion of the payment. The card asks which band the tax was settled by (after a notice of a different flat-rate tax amount, the band from the notice) and whether you were in the regime all year: for a full year, band 1 gives no advances, band 2 gives 2 × CZK 23,900, band 3 gives 2 × CZK 44,800; if you closed or paused your business, enter the number of months (6 months in band 2 = CZK 29,778, no advances). If you still paid the monthly flat-rate payments that year (band limit exceeded, VAT registration), pick the fourth option; if you filed a tax return for that year, enter the tax from line 74.
• Flat-rate taxpayer who became a VAT payer: you stay in the regime until the end of the year of registration (VAT payer from 1 January: until the end of the year before). The following year you pay advances under § 38a — the calendar shows them even if you haven't switched to the standard regime in Settings yet. For your last year in the regime you file a tax return, and the flat-rate payments you made go on line 86 — only their tax portion (CZK 100 / 4,963 / 9,320 a month by band). Taxorio doesn't record them, the XML doesn't carry them and the card flags it; add them in EPO.
• Your first year in business: you pay no advances unless the tax office has set them. If you filed a return for last year from other income (for example rent), you do have a last known tax — click “I did file a return”.

Once you have entered the tax, the tax calendar on the Overview shows your deadlines with amounts. Below the advance is the “Paid in advances so far” row — that is line 85 of the return. Use Enter or Edit to fill in the income tax advances due that year which you paid by the return deadline, including an overpayment the tax office kept as an advance (§ 38a odst. 1, filing instructions). Social and health insurance and flat-rate payments don't belong there. The XML carries that amount on line 85 and takes it off the amount left to pay on line 91. Until you enter it, the card only works out the advances from the schedule (“1 advance per schedule”) — that figure never goes into the XML.