Accounting for road tax

In this article we explain how to account for the road tax regulation, how to pay the road tax correctly, what to do with operating leases and leased vehicles and we add specific examples of accounting and the most common mistakes.

Who pays road tax

From 2022, road tax primarily applies to heavy goods vehicles in categories N2, N3 and their trailers O3, O4. Cars and buses have been exempted. The taxpayer is the operator registered in the technical licence. In practice, this means that ordinary passenger fleets of companies do not pay road tax, while hauliers with heavy vehicles do. The return is filed annually and payment is due by the same date. In addition, from 1 January 2025 the return must be filed electronically.

As of 1 July 2025, the amendment applies retroactively for the entire 2025 tax year. It changes the rules for the combined transport discount and refines the rates according to the type of axle hitch. Hauliers are therefore advised to check that their rebate entitlements are in line with the new wording of the law and the FS methodology.

Accounting for road tax and advance payment of road tax

Road tax prepayment is the point at which you recognise an expense and recognise a liability (or an estimate) for the relevant tax year. In Czech accounting, account 531 – Road tax is used for road tax. Against it, a liability to the tax authority is recorded in account 345 – Other taxes and charges.

The road tax is written off on the last day of the accounting period to which the expense is materially and temporally related, not on the date of filing the return. Thus, for 2025, you make the prescription on 31 December 2025.

Advance payments of road tax are no longer payable after the major amendment effective from 2022 – the tax is paid in one lump sum for the whole year by the return filing deadline of the end of January of the following year). This eliminates the continuous recording of advance payments in the accounting.

Important: prescription = accounting, payment = cash flow. The tax is already a tax deductible expense when it is prescribed, regardless of whether you have paid it.

Road tax regulation

Calendar year (most common case)

In a calendar year, the road tax is already recognised in the accounts at the balance sheet date – on the 31st you recognise an expense and a liability to the tax authorities: MD 531 / D 345:

• 531 – Road tax is an expense account specifically for this tax.
• 345 – Other Taxes and Charges holds liabilities (and overpayments) for taxes, which includes road tax.

This entry will ensure factual and temporal continuity – the expense belongs to the period to which the tax relates, not to the month in which you file the return.

In January, after the return is filed, it is just a cash flow: you pay the calculated amount from the bank. This resets the balance due to the taxman and leaves only the 531 expense in the correct year on the books.

You don’t know the exact amount at 31 December (calculation still in progress)

What if you don’t know the exact amount at 31 December? At that point, you use an estimate. At the balance sheet date, you book the estimated annual road tax as MD 531 / D 389 because you know the type of expense and the period, but you have yet to calculate the amount. Once you have the return ready, you convert the estimate to an actual liability by entering MD 389 / D 345 and make up any difference against the estimate in the expense on 531 (increase or decrease depending on reality).

Why not post the prescription in January?

Because you would be breaking the principle of factual and temporal nexus – the tax expense belongs to the year to which the tax relates. By adjusting through the guess (389) you maintain this principle and do not inflate the previous year’s result.

Financial year (different from the calendar)

If you keep a financial year different from the calendar, the principle does not change, you just need to capture the liability over the year. Therefore, at the balance sheet date of the financial year, you book the pro-rata or estimated part of the road tax MD 531 / D 389, after the annual return is prepared you switch the estimate to a liability MD 389 / D 345 and then pay MD 345 / D 221.

Payment of road tax

For the payment to arrive correctly, you need the correct tax authority account number, tax prefix, tax office registration number, bank code and variable symbol.

• The prefix for road tax is 748.
• Bank code: 0710 (CNB).
• The registration number varies according to the local jurisdiction (e.g. Prague 77628031, South Moravian Region 77628621). The shape of the account thus looks like 748-(matrix)/0710, e.g. 748-77628031/0710. Tables of accounts of tax offices can be found on the website of the Tax Administration.
• Variable symbol: if you have a VAT number, use the stem part of the VAT number, i.e. numbers without “CZ”. A natural person without a VAT number should enter his/her birth number without a slash, a legal person without a VAT number should enter his/her registration number. Foreign persons use the VAT identifier assigned by the tax authorities.
• Constant symbol: not mandatory, but for non-cash payments 1148 is traditionally used .

The deadline for payment and filing is by the end of January after the end of the year (e.g. for 2025 by 31 January 2026). It is mandatory to file the return electronically.

Operating leases and leased vehicles – who is the taxpayer and how to account

The taxpayer of the road tax is the operator indicated in the technical certificate. In the case of finance leases, this is typically the lessee (the user of the vehicle), in the case of operating leases it is usually the leasing company (the lessor).

What does this imply for the accounting for the lessee in an operating lease?

You don’t charge road tax because you are not liable for it (unless you are registered as the operator). You charge the rent for the vehicle (typically MD 518 / D 321).

If the lessor is contractually recharging you for road tax, check that it is indeed a contractual recharging of the lessor’s expense, and account for it as a service (MD 518) based on the content – not as your tax. In a legal sense, the taxpayer remains whoever is listed on the bill of lading. (Always refer to the lease and the TP to be sure.)

In 2025, the amendment clarified the discounts for combined transport – if you are a taxpayer, make sure you keep the transport documents with the transhipment centre’s confirmation.

Summary

The road tax today is mainly aimed at heavy goods vehicles (N2, N3 and O3, O4 trailers). You account for the prescription tax in the year to which it relates (usually 31 December): MD 531 – Road tax / D 345 – Other taxes and charges. If you don’t know the amount at the balance sheet date, use the MD 531 / D 389 estimate and, after the calculation, switch it to MD 389 / D 345. Advances are not payable from 2022 onwards. The tax is already tax deductible at the time of prescription. The deadline for filing and payment is the end of January of the following year and from 1 January 2025 filing is mandatory electronically.

Payment: prefix number 748, bank code 0710 (CNB), registry number according to local jurisdiction (account in the form 748-(registry)/0710), VS = tax identification number without “CZ”, or birth number without slash / ID number (for foreigners VČP); KS usually 1148. For operating leases, the lessee does not charge road tax (charges only rent MD 518 / D 321; any re-invoicing as a service).