How to file a tax return in Czechia

This page is for people who are filing a tax return in Czechia for the first time or are not sure whether they need to file one. It covers the rules of the 2026 campaign (for 2025) and the deadlines for 2027, calculated under the law.

# Who must file a tax return?

Anyone whose taxable income for the year exceeded 50,000 Kč, or who has a tax loss. Income that is exempt from tax or taxed with a final withholding tax does not count toward this amount.

An employee may skip the tax return if all of the following apply:

• they had income from employment from one employer or from several employers one after another;
• they signed the taxpayer’s declaration (prohlášení poplatníka) for that year with each of them;
• they had no other income (from business, rent and so on) above 20,000 Kč.

A tax return must be filed by, among others:

• a non-resident who wants tax credits other than the basic one, the child tax benefit or deductions (they are not available to Ukrainian tax residents, see Taxes in Czechia);
• anyone who did not sign the taxpayer’s declaration with all their employers;
• an employee with other income above 20,000 Kč;
• anyone who was in the flat-rate regime for at least part of the year, if their tax does not equal the flat-rate amount;
• anyone whom the tax office has asked to file a tax return.

In one of its answers, the General Financial Directorate explained the following. A non-resident who had a salary from only one employer in Czechia, signed the taxpayer’s declaration there and asks only for the basic tax credit does not have to file a tax return and does not give the employer a certificate of tax residence.

# What is the annual tax settlement, and can you do without a tax return?

The annual tax settlement (roční zúčtování) replaces the tax return for employees: the employer recalculates the tax for the year and refunds any overpayment. You must ask for it no later than 15 February of the following year (for 2025, by 16 February 2026, because 15 February fell on a Sunday); the form is 25 5457/B. Certificates from previous employers are handed in by the same deadline. The employer does the calculation by 31 March and refunds the overpayment no later than with the salary for March.

In the annual tax settlement, a Ukrainian tax resident can get the basic tax credit of 30,840 Kč in full and have a donation made through the Embassy of Ukraine taken into account. They will not get the child tax benefit here, or deductions for interest on a housing loan, other donations or life insurance. An employee does not have to file a tax return only to deduct a donation to Ukraine made through its embassy (Act 128/2022 Sb.; Sb. stands for Sbírka zákonů, the official Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic).

There is no annual tax settlement for people who file a tax return or must file one.

# When do you file a tax return?

The deadline depends on how you file. The tax is due on the last day of the deadline.

The law gives 3 months after the end of the year, 4 months for electronic filing and 6 months for filing through an advisor. If the last day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. That is why the electronic deadline for 2025 was 4 May, and for 2026, by our calculation, it will be 3 May 2027. If some of your income is foreign, the tax office can, at your request, extend the deadline to 10 months after the end of the year.

# Which form do you fill in?

The main form, “Přiznání k dani z příjmů fyzických osob”, has the number 25 5405, version 30; it is the same for 2025 and 2026. If needed, you attach:

• Annex No. 1 for business income;
• Annex No. 2 for rent and other income;
• Annex No. 3 for foreign income, including income from Ukraine, together with a separate sheet for the foreign tax credit;
• Annex No. 4 for a separate tax base under § 16a.

For employees who have only income from employment, including non-residents, there is a short form 25 5405/D. The employer issues a certificate of income on form 25 5460.

An English version of the form (5405/AJ) exists, but you cannot file it: the Financial Administration works in Czech, so the tax return is filed on the Czech form.

# How do you file a tax return?

On paper, in person or by post, or electronically. An electronic filing is accepted if it is:

• signed with a qualified electronic signature;
• sent from a state electronic mailbox (datová schránka), or with identity verification of the kind used to log in to one;
• filed using a guaranteed electronic identity;
• filed through the tax information box in the online tax office DIS+.

You log in to DIS+ through Identita občana (the eGovernment mobile key, eObčanka, bank identity and so on), with your datová schránka login details or with login details issued by the Financial Administration. Filing without a signature is also possible if you confirm the filing within 5 days. The tax portal MOJE daně (mojedane.cz) accepts tax returns, but not for part of a year.

People who have a datová schránka set up by law, for example self-employed people, must file only electronically. A personal electronic mailbox, which can be switched off on request, does not create this obligation.

You file the tax return with the tax office for your registered address or, if you have none, for the place where you mostly stay. Only if neither an address nor such a place can be determined is the Tax Office for the Capital of Prague (Finanční úřad pro hlavní město Prahu) responsible.

# How do you pay the tax?

The tax must arrive no later than the last day of the filing deadline. You pay to your tax office’s account with the prefix 721 (format 721-…/0710), constant symbol 1148. The variable symbol is usually the Czech personal number (rodné číslo); for people who do not have one, the tax office issues its own identifier (VČP).

If your tax return shows an overpayment, it is refunded only at your request. The overpayment arises no earlier than the last day of the filing deadline, and from that date the tax office has 30 days to refund it.

# How do you correct a tax return?

• Before the filing deadline, you can file a corrective tax return (opravné přiznání), which replaces the previous one.
• After the deadline, you file a supplementary tax return (dodatečné přiznání). It is mandatory if the tax should be higher: you file it and pay the difference by the end of the month after the month in which you found the error. If the tax should be lower, you can file it on your own initiative.

# What happens if you file late?

A penalty is charged if the tax return is filed more than 5 working days after the deadline:

• 0.05% of the tax for each day of delay, but no more than 5%;
• a penalty below 1,000 Kč is not collected;
• if the tax return is never filed, the penalty is at least 500 Kč;
• the maximum is 300,000 Kč;
• for filing within 30 days after the deadline, the penalty is halved;
• if more than half of the base is employment income from which the employer withheld advances, the penalty is reduced to one tenth (Income Taxes Act, § 38o).

# How do you confirm tax residency?

A Czech resident can ask the local tax office for a certificate of tax residence (potvrzení o daňovém domicilu). A sample application in Ukrainian is on the Financial Administration’s page for citizens of Ukraine, in the forms section.

# What will change from 2027?

Act 360/2025 Sb. has already changed the rules from 1 January 2027. Without a taxpayer’s declaration, the tax on small agreements for work outside an employment relationship (DPP and DPČ) will no longer be final: it will become an advance of 15% or 23%. Only tax residents of Czechia, the EU and the European Economic Area will be able to credit this advance in the tax return; residents of Ukraine are not on that list. The employer will send the application for the annual tax settlement and its result through the employer’s single monthly report (JMHZ).

# What mistakes should you avoid?

• Filing the tax return on the English form: the Financial Administration writes that a return cannot be properly filed this way.
• Missing 15 February if you want an annual tax settlement by your employer.
• Not attaching Annex No. 3 for income from Ukraine when you are a Czech resident.
• Waiting for an automatic refund of an overpayment: you have to ask for it.
• Mixing up the deadlines: on paper by 1 April, electronically one month longer.