The flat-rate tax in Czechia (paušální daň) is a single monthly payment for self-employed OSVČ that replaces three separate obligations at once: income tax, social insurance, and health insurance. Three bands apply in 2026 — 9,162, 16,745 and 27,139 Kč per month — and as of 1 July 2026 the first-band payment was reduced from 9,984 to 9,162 Kč, retroactively from January.
The scheme is available to OSVČ with annual income up to 2 million Kč who are not DPH payers. Below you'll find the current 2026 amounts, a comparison with the standard tax scheme, minimum zálohy (advance payments) for social and health insurance, and all the relevant deadlines. If you're just planning to open a živnost in Czechia, it's worth deciding on your tax regime right away — you can only switch it starting from a new calendar year.
The flat-rate tax combines income tax, contributions to ČSSZ (social insurance), and contributions to a health insurer (VZP or another) into a single payment made to the Finanční správa (tax office) account. Payment is due by the 20th of each month.
Your band depends on your annual income and the type of activity you do — more precisely, on which percentage expense paušál (80%, 60%, or 40%) you'd be entitled to use under the standard scheme.
| Band | Monthly payment | Of which tax | Social insurance | Health insurance | Annual income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 9,162 Kč (9,984 Kč was paid January–June) | 100 Kč | 5,756 Kč | 3,306 Kč | up to 1 million Kč — any activity; up to 1.5 million if at least 75% of income qualifies for the 80% or 60% paušál; up to 2 million if 75% of income qualifies for the 80% paušál |
| II | 16,745 Kč | 4,963 Kč | 8,191 Kč | 3,591 Kč | up to 1.5 million Kč; up to 2 million if 75% of income qualifies for the 80% or 60% paušál |
| III | 27,139 Kč | 9,320 Kč | 12,527 Kč | 5,292 Kč | up to 2 million Kč |
Which band applies to you with income between 1 and 2 million Kč depends on the structure of your income — it's worth checking the "at least 75% of income at the 80% or 60% paušál" rule with an accountant or on the Finanční správa website.
Parliament scrapped a planned increase in the minimum social-insurance base from 35% to 40% of the average wage (48,967 Kč in 2026). As a result, the first-band payment dropped from 9,984 to 9,162 Kč — retroactively from 1 January 2026. Anyone who paid at the old rate from January through June now has an overpayment of 4,932 Kč.
Using it is simple: reduce any of your remaining monthly payments for 2026. For example, for July you'd only need to transfer 4,230 Kč instead of 9,162 Kč. You can also spread the overpayment across several months — say, paying 8,340 Kč from July through December — or, if you haven't used it by year-end, request a refund from Finanční správa afterward. Bands II and III remain unchanged.
The application — oznámení o vstupu do paušálního režimu — must be filed by 10 January (or the next business day if that date falls on a weekend; in 2026 the deadline was 12 January) via the MOJE daně portal, a datová schránka, or in person at the tax office. You can't switch mid-year; the exception is new OSVČ, who can join the regime immediately upon registering their business. If you're still deciding on a work format, compare živnost vs. an employment contract.
Outside the flat-rate regime, an OSVČ makes three separate payments and once a year files a tax return plus two přehledy reports — to ČSSZ and to their health insurer. Expenses can be deducted either as actual costs or via a percentage paušál: 80% for trade-based (řemeslná) živnosti and agriculture, 60% for other types of živnost (free-trade, licensed, or concession-based), and 40% for free professions and copyright income.
| Payment | 2026 rate | Base | Paid to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income tax | 15%; 23% on the portion of the base above 1,762,812 Kč per year | profit minus deductions and slevy | Finanční správa |
| Social insurance | 29.2% | 55% of profit, but no less than the minimum base | ČSSZ |
| Health insurance | 13.5% | 50% of profit, but no less than the minimum base | VZP or another insurer |
The basic personal tax credit (sleva na poplatníka) is 30,840 Kč per year: with modest profit, income tax often ends up at zero, and part of the zálohy already paid gets refunded — we covered how this works in our article on tax refunds in Czechia.
The same July amendment restored the minimum social-insurance base to 35% of the average wage instead of the planned 40% — minimum monthly advances went down, and the base itself was recalculated retroactively from 1 January 2026. OSVČ pay the new amount starting with the July contribution.
| Contribution | Main activity | Secondary activity |
|---|---|---|
| Social insurance (ČSSZ) | 5,005 Kč from July 2026 (5,720 Kč was paid January–June) | 1,574 Kč — unchanged |
| Health insurance | 3,306 Kč — unchanged | no minimum — calculated from actual profit |
The January–June overpayment — up to 4,290 Kč for those who paid the minimum — can be reclaimed in three ways: file an application with your local OSSZ by the end of 2026 (funds are refunded within 60 days), ask for it to be credited against future zálohy, or have it factored into the annual přehled calculation for 2026. Check your new payment amount on the ePortál ČSSZ. First-time OSVČ (those who haven't run a business in the last 20 years) benefit from a reduced minimum social-insurance contribution of 3,575 Kč per month; confirm the current figure with ČSSZ. For secondary self-employment with annual profit below the decisive threshold (117,521 Kč in 2026), social-insurance contributions can be skipped entirely. The minimum health-insurance advance remains unchanged at 3,306 Kč per month.
There's no one-size-fits-all answer — it all comes down to your profitability and eligibility for deductions. Here are some guidelines.
An exact calculation based on your own numbers takes a specialist under an hour: the tax accountants in our directory can run both scenarios and handle the switch for you.
No, as long as you met the scheme's conditions throughout the year. If your income exceeded your band's limit but stayed within 2 million Kč, you still don't need a full tax return: you file an oznámení (notification) with the tax office and pay the difference up to the higher band's amount — before the tax-return deadline. A full tax return and both přehledy are only required if you breach the scheme's conditions — income above 2 million Kč, or the appearance of employment income.
Practically no: any income from dependent activity, other than income taxed at source (srážková daň), disqualifies you from the regime. Side work under a dohoda o provedení práce within the srážková daň threshold is allowed.
No. Under the flat-rate regime, all slevy and deductions are unavailable, including the child tax bonus. If you have significant deductions, the standard scheme is almost always more favorable — run the numbers for both before switching.
The 4,932 Kč overpayment is already sitting on your tax account. Reduce your July payment to 4,230 Kč, spread the amount across subsequent months, or request a refund from the tax office after year-end.
Yes. The social-insurance portion of the payment goes to ČSSZ, so service years accrue just as for a regular OSVČ. However, in the first band the contribution base is only 15% above the minimum, so the resulting pension will be modest — if you want, you can boost it with voluntary contributions.
You fall out of the flat-rate regime: for that year you must file a tax return and přehledy, and you should also check whether you're now required to register as a DPH payer. If the situation is unclear, bring in an accountant — late filing and late payment both incur fines and penalties.
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