If you are the owner of the property, you are subject to the obligation to register for tax. You can do this by filing a property tax return. But you don’t have to file this every year; in principle, you only need to file it once. So when and under what conditions does filing a tax return apply to you?
The tax return is typically filed by the owner of the property. The taxpayer is the person who owns the land or unit registered in the Land Registry. There are some exceptions, for example in some cases of leases or rentals, but these are rather rare.
Tax returns can be filed electronically or on paper. It is submitted to the tax authority, which is the tax office in whose district the land or building is located. Unlike income tax returns, the return is due by 31 January and includes all buildings acquired or altered in the previous year.
Under what conditions do you have to file a tax return?
If you are unsure whether you are required to file a tax return, don’t be afraid to consult an attorney.
A tax return form, including completion sheets and attachments, is available from all local tax offices. It is available for download in electronic form on the website of the Tax Administration www.financnisprava.cz under the Tax forms menu. You will also find instructions for completing the tax return.
The use of this website is highly recommended. Although the calculation itself is not at all complicated, it is relatively simple mathematics. It must, however, be preceded by a search for the type of building or land in question, what category it falls into, or what coefficients apply to the property in question and what local coefficients are set by the municipality.
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Councils have been given the ability to set a local coefficient for individual boroughs as part of the tax changes from 2021. They can, for example, collect more money in industrial areas. The truth is that this is the only tax that remains for the municipality or city. By setting its level, the council can support the local economy.
Tip: Have you bought a house or land and are getting ready to file your property tax return in January and can’t do the math? It’s not as hard as it may seem at first. Read our related article and you’ll be able to calculate your tax quite easily.
The tax return is always filed only once. If there is no change and the property has already been subject to one tax return, there is no need to file a new return in subsequent years, you just need to pay the assessed tax on time. For this purpose, the tax administration sends out annual tax notes with the current amount of tax.
One of the variables that affects the amount of tax is the local coefficient, which is set by the municipality and can be increased or decreased. If the amount of tax changes from year to year in this way, there is no need to file a new tax return and recalculate the amount of tax. The tax authority will automatically take these changes into account when calculating the tax for the current year itself.
As mentioned above, you can also file your real estate tax return electronically. For electronic filing of the tax return, we recommend using the Electronic Filing for the Financial Administration (EPO) application or the Online Financial Office application (both available at the electronic address of the filing office of the Financial Administration authorities – www.mojedane.cz).
However, only a full tax return can be filed this way, not partial returns.
If one person has several real estates within the whole Czech Republic, he/she cannot file one summary tax return, but must file individual returns with the individual tax offices in whose territorial jurisdiction the real estates in question are located. There are a total of 14 tax offices in the Czech Republic. Their territorial jurisdiction follows the boundaries of the regions. However, it is possible to file a summary tax return for several immovable properties located in the territory of one office.
Tip: Did you become a new property owner in the previous calendar year? Check out a quick summary on property tax – what it is, when it is due and how to apply for it. We’ll also answer common questions about what to do if you no longer own the property, or what to expect if you didn’t file your tax return on time.
A one-off tax return is one thing, but that’s only the beginning of your tax obligations. Paying your tax each year is just a matter of minutes away. The tax authorities themselves will send you a tax bill each year, which must be paid by the end of May. You can pay your tax by bank transfer, bank transfer, SIPO or cash at the tax office. If the tax exceeds CZK 5,000, you can split the payment into two instalments. If the payment is divided into two instalments, the second instalment must be paid by the last day of November.
Data box owners will receive the information for payment of the real estate tax in their data boxes instead of a deposit slip. In this case, they will no longer be sent a letter of credit.
Taxpayers with agricultural and fish farming operations have a different deadline for paying the tax, which has been extended to August 31 and November 30.
Tip: The government’s consolidation package did not avoid real estate. Czechs are to pay roughly two-thirds more for property tax in the future than they do now, which is expected to bring an additional CZK 9 billion to the public budget. What will the increase look like and who will benefit from it? This is the subject of our separate article.
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