Administrative fees: the most common types and their amounts

Administrative fees are charges levied for certain acts performed by administrative bodies or other public authorities. These fees are set by the Law on Administrative Fees and are paid for various types of services and acts. These include, for example, the issue of various permits, extracts from registers, activities related to construction management, transport, issuing documents (e.g. ID cards, passports), etc.

Act on administrative fees

As mentioned above, administrative fees are regulated by the Administrative Fees Act. It primarily determines what exactly is subject to the fees, who is obliged to pay them and how the rates are set, including rounding rules. The Act also deals with the process of assessing and collecting fees, sets out the deadlines for their payment and describes the consequences of non-payment. It also includes provisions on methods of payment, refundability of fees and exemptions from fees. Other parts of the law focus on the supervision of the correct transmission of fees to the state budget, define transitional provisions when rules are changed and define the authority for further regulations.

Payment of administrative fees

Administrative fees are usually set either as an exact amount in crowns or as a percentage. In the case of percentages, they are rounded up to the nearest ten crowns. Fees are set directly by the competent administrative authority and are payable immediately on receipt of the submission or at a later date, but always before the act is carried out. Should you fail to pay the fee within the time limit, you will receive a notice from the authority to pay the administrative fee. Upon receipt of this notice, the 15-day period for payment will start. In the case of fees determined on a percentage basis, payment must be made within 15 days of receipt of the payment notice.

If you fail to pay within 15 days in both cases, the proceedings will be dismissed. The good news is that you are not at risk of incurring a debt or penalty.

Tariff of administrative fees

Administrative fee rates are determined based on several factors. The main factors include the time and complexity of the action, the economic importance of the action for the applicant, the material cost of carrying out the action, and the public interest and the promotion of certain behaviour, which are reflected in fee exemptions for certain groups of people or situations.

The specific rates of fees are fixed in the fee schedules set out in the Administrative Fees Act. Let us now look at the most typicaladministrative fees and their prices:

• Extension of time for filing a tax return: 300 crowns.
• Inspection of the Trade Register: 20 crowns for each individual subject.
• Notification of change of permanent residence: 50 crowns.
• Provision of data from the traffic accident register: 100 crowns.
• Verification of a signature or stamp on a document: 50 crowns for each individual signature or stamp.
• Issuing an identity card: 0 – 2000 crowns depending on specific conditions.

• Issuing a disabled person’s card: 30 crowns or 200 crowns if it is a replacement for a damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen card.
• Criminal record extract: 100 crowns.
• Change of surname or first name: 3,000 crowns or 200 crowns in the case of a derogatory or ridiculous surname or 300 crowns in the case of a foreign surname or change to a former surname (if the change of surname after a divorce back to the surname used during the maiden name, no fee is payable).
• Marriage in an administrative district where neither of the fiancés has a permanent place of residence: 1000 crowns.
• Wedding outside the designated place and time: 3000 crowns.
• Issue of a certificate of fulfilment of the conditions for a church marriage: 500 crowns.
• Issuance of a permit for change of land use: 3000 crowns.
• Issuance of a permit for the subdivision or division of land: 1000 crowns.
• Administrative fee for a building permit: 5,000 – 10,000 crowns, depending on the nature of the planned construction.
• Issuance of a building permit: 1000 – 5000 crowns depending on the type of construction.
• Permitting a change in the use of a building: 1000 – 5000 crowns depending on the type of building.
• Issuance of a permit to remove a building: 1000 – 5000 crowns depending on the type of building.
• Registration of a trade: 1000 crowns.

• Acceptance of a concession application: 1000 crowns.
• 300 – 700 crowns depending on the type of vehicle.
• Issue of a registration plate: 200 crowns, or 5,000 crowns if you want a custom plate (with your own text)
• issuing a driving licence: 200 crowns in the standard period or 700 crowns in a shorter period.
• Issuing a passport: 600 crowns or 100 crowns for persons under 15 years of age.
• Extract from the Land Registry: 100 crowns.
• Application for entry in the Land Register: 2000 crowns.

What are administrative fees for?

Administrative fees are not there to make the state take money from ordinary people unnecessarily. Their existence has quite a broad justification:

1. To cover costs: one of the main reasons for charging administrative fees is to cover the costs of providing certain services, processing applications or issuing official documents. In this way, the State and local authorities receive funds to cover part of the costs of operation.
2. Prevention of abuse of services: setting a fee for certain administrative tasks also prevents abuse of the system. The fee acts as a barrier against unnecessary applications. Indeed, if these services were provided free of charge, they could be overloaded or abused, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs in the public sector.
3. Ensuring service quality: Reducing the number of unjustified requests allows public authorities and public administrations to focus on providing better services to those who really need them. This allows faster processing, better access to information and a greater emphasis on individual attention.
4. Regulating behaviour: In some cases, administrative charges can also be used to regulate the behaviour of citizens or businesses. For example, high fees for certain types of applications can discourage excessive submissions or can be used to regulate the market (e.g. licensing fees).