Shrnutí: The Trade License Register is a public online registry where you can verify whether a business owner has a valid trade license, as well as their company ID number (IČO), registered office, business locations, and areas of business. You can search the Trade Register for free via the Trade Business Portal by name, company name, or business ID number. If you need an officially valid document—for example, for a bank or government agency—you will need an extract from the Trade Register.
The online Trade License Register is used to verify business owners who currently hold or have previously held a trade license. In the public section, you can find, for example, the business owner’s name, company ID number (IČO), registered office, business activity, place of business, or the status of their trade license. The fastest way to search the Trade License Registry is by company ID number, as this number uniquely identifies a specific individual or company. An extract from the Trade License Registry can be obtained online via the Trade Licensing Portal or as a certified document at a Czech POINT location.
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The Trade Register—officially known as the Trade Business Register—is one of the key public administration information systems and is centrally administered by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic (MPO). As the name suggests, it covers natural persons and legal entities (“companies”) that hold (or have held in the recent past) a trade license. However, you’ll also find information here about foreign entities if they conduct business within the Czech Republic. All of this is available for free and online.
Every entrepreneur listed in the Trade Register must hold a valid trade license, which specifies the field in which they may conduct business. Information on whether a given person holds an active trade license can be found directly in the public section of the Trade Register.
It may come as a surprise to some that a person may still appear in the registry as a sole proprietor even after their trade license has expired. This is because the public section of the Trade License Register also includes sole proprietors whose most recent trade license expired (or was revoked) less than 4 years ago. Every business owner is assigned an IČO. The IČO serves to uniquely identify a business entity and is also used in communications with government agencies and in accounting.
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After successfully registering as a self-employed person, the entrepreneur is automatically entered into the Trade Register. There is no need to apply for registration separately, as the trade licensing offices enter the information themselves within 5 days of the date the entrepreneur reported it or the date the trade licensing office learned of it by other means.
Trade licensing offices have access to slightly more information than what ultimately appears in the registry. Therefore, you do not need to worry that, for example, your birth number will be publicly available. The non-public section of the Trade Register also contains the permanent addresses of individuals and any fines imposed.
The public section of the registry contains, for each entity, the first name, last name (or name in the case of a legal entity), date of birth, personal identification number, registered office address, and details regarding individual business licenses (scope of business, date of establishment, place of business, responsible representative, suspension of business operations, and obstacles to conducting business). If a business license is revoked or suspended, this change is also reflected in the registry. If certain details regarding a business owner change—such as the registered office or the responsible representative—the business identification number (IČO) remains the same.
In our next article, we focused on the different types of business licenses and the Trade Licensing Act in general.
The registration process for self-employed individuals typically takes place at the trade licensing office, where you register your business using the Unified Registration Form. The good news is that digitization has also reached trade licensing offices. This means you no longer need to visit the office in person to report new information.
Notifications of new businesses, applications for licenses, and changes to existing registrations can be submitted using the electronic version of the Unified Registration Form. However, you must log in via the electronic user identification service. After submitting your self-employment registration, you can file documents not only with trade licensing offices but also with other institutions, such as the relevant social security administration, health insurance provider, tax office, or employment office.
After logging in, you can also take advantage of the feature that pre-fills data from other basic public administration registries.
Tip: As a self-employed person, you are required to pay your own health and social insurance. We’ve also discussed both types of insurance in our articles.
As of January 1, 2024, the requirement for individuals to register for personal income tax has been abolished. This means that new entrepreneurs no longer need to file an application for this tax with the tax office and are not assigned a tax identification number (TIN).
If you want to search for a specific person in the Trade Register, you have several options. Simply open the search form and select “Search by Person or Entity.”
Searching by person allows you to enter a first and last name, identification number (IČO), date of birth, or the person’s role (e.g., statutory body or entrepreneur). If you enter an IČO into the search engine, the other fields will be ignored.
Searching by entity focuses primarily on legal entities, and you can also select the company’s address here.
You can search for an entity or person using any available information you have,even if, for example, you do not know its IČO. However, if you search by the name “Jan Dvořák” and have no other information available, finding the correct person may take a considerable amount of time. The more precise the information you have, the faster you’ll find the entity.
The registry will also provide information about the person you’ve searched for, including their business purpose, field of activity, type of trade, and the start and end dates of their business license.
In practice, we often see that people only verify the company name but fail to check whether the business owner actually has an active business license for the activities they offer. This can be a problem, for example, with skilled trades, service brokerage, or online stores. Therefore, before signing a contract, we recommend verifying not only the IČO but also the business scope, registered office, and any suspension or termination of the trade license.
The fastest way is to search the Trade License Registry by IČO. The IČO is a unique identifier, so it will usually lead you directly to the correct business owner or company. If you do not know the IČO, you can also search the Trade Register online by first name, last name, business name, or address.
The process is simple:
The Trade Licensing Portal explicitly allows you to search for a business owner in the public section of the Trade Register and obtain an extract for that business owner.
You can obtain an extract from the Trade Register at any Trade Licensing Office (regardless of your place of residence or where your company’s registered office is located) and at all contact points, known as CzechPOINTech locations. Upon request, the Trade Licensing Office will issue you an extract in paper or electronic form, containing all officially verified information regarding your business—for example, for use by banks or other institutions.
From our legal practice, we are familiar with cases where an error in the registry has complicated the conclusion of a contract or the opening of a bank account. If you discover that the Trade Register lists an incorrect registered office, an outdated business location, or any other erroneous information, do not delay in correcting it. Even a minor discrepancy can make you appear untrustworthy to business partners.
Do you need an extract for a contract, a bank, or a new business partner, and aren’t sure if your information is correct? Have your business documents checked before the other party points out the error to you.
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The terms “trade register” and “commercial register” can sometimes be confused. However, these are distinct registers, each governed by different rules. Unlike the Commercial Register, which records business corporations, the Trade Register focuses on individual entrepreneurs. Both of these systems can be viewed as business registries used to verify business entities.
Like the Trade License Register, the Commercial Register is available online. It also contains basic information about business entities, such as first and last names, registered office, identification number, and business activity.
However, the Commercial Register (as well as the Collection of Deeds) falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic—and the content that is publicly available also differs. If you are looking for information about business entities, you can use the Justice Register, which is the publicly accessible Commercial Register administered by the Ministry of Justice on the justice.cz portal.
The fundamental difference, however, lies precisely in the entities listed in the registers. The Trade License Register contains records of all holders of trade licenses, i.e., self-employed individuals (OSVČ).
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The following are entered in the Commercial Register:
The Trade Register is, however, closely linked to the Commercial Register. Together, they provide us with comprehensive information about any businessperson with whom we enter into a contract, for example.
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The Trade License Register is a public registry that contains basic information about all holders of trade licenses, i.e., self-employed individuals (OSVČ). It records information such as the business owner’s name, registered office, identification number (IČO), and business activity.
Entrepreneurs can use electronic filing to register a trade or update their information, which significantly simplifies administrative procedures. If they need an extract from the Trade Register, they can obtain it in person at the trade licensing office or electronically through specialized portals.
The Trade Register differs from the Commercial Register, which records business entities and certain individuals.
Yes, you can view the public section of the Trade Register online for free. You only need to pay for a certified extract if you need it as an official document.
Simply enter the business ID number of the entrepreneur or company. Since the business ID number is unique, this is the fastest and most accurate way to find a specific entity in the Trade Register.
An extract from the Trade License Register includes, in particular, the business owner’s identifying information, registered office, company ID number, scope of business, type of trade, and information about the trade license.
No. The Trade License Registry lists business owners with trade licenses, while the Commercial Registry primarily covers business entities and other entities specified by law.
Yes, the public section may continue to display individuals whose business licenses have expired or been revoked for a certain period of time. Therefore, always check not only whether a record exists, but also the status of the license.
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Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 15 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
Ondřej is the attorney who came up with the idea of providing legal services online. He's been earning his living through legal services for more than 15 years. He especially likes to help clients who may have given up hope in solving their legal issues at work, for example with real estate transfers or copyright licenses.
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