The Czech tax year is the calendar year. During the year your employer deducts a tax advance (záloha na daň) from every payslip. After the year ends, that tax is settled in one of two ways: your employer does an annual tax settlement (roční zúčtování daně), or you file your own tax return (daňové přiznání). This guide explains which one applies to you.
The employer's annual settlement
If you only had employment income, you can ask your employer to settle your tax for the year. The employer adds up your salary and the tax advances, applies the tax credits and deductions you have proved, and pays back what was deducted too much.
- You must ask for it, in writing, by 15 February of the following year (when that day falls on a weekend, the next working day), and hand in your documents by then: mortgage interest certificates, pension or life insurance statements, donation receipts, and so on.
- You must have signed the employer's tax declaration (prohlášení poplatníka daně) for that year.
- The employer does the settlement by 31 March and pays a refund with the March salary.
- Had you several employers one after another? The last one can do it, if you bring the income confirmations (potvrzení o zdanitelných příjmech) from the earlier ones.
If you do neither (no settlement, no tax return) and you are not obliged to file, the tax deducted during the year simply stays as your final tax. Nothing goes wrong, but credits you did not claim monthly are lost.
When you must file a tax return yourself
An employee must file a tax return, and the employer cannot do the settlement, when any of these applies:
- Other income above 20,000 CZK in the year next to your salary: rent, a side business, interest and dividends from abroad, selling shares that is not tax-free. The 20,000 CZK is counted before costs.
- Two or more employers at the same time, even for a single day, or employers one after another where you did not sign the tax declaration with each.
- Income from abroad as a Czech tax resident: a salary from a foreign employer, a foreign pension, rent from property abroad. A Czech tax resident declares worldwide income.
- You want to claim something the employer cannot settle, or you are a non-resident claiming more than the basic credit.
The general rule behind this: anyone whose taxable income in the year is above 50,000 CZK must file, unless the only income is a salary settled by the employer (plus other income up to 20,000 CZK).
One exception that surprises people: a salary for work done in another country and taxed there may be exempt in the Czech Republic. If it is your only income, you may not have to file at all. See foreign income and double tax treaties.
Deadlines
| How you file | Deadline for the 2025 return |
|---|---|
| On paper | 1 April 2026 |
| Electronically (data box or the tax portal) | 4 May 2026 (1 May was a holiday) |
| Through a tax advisor, with a power of attorney filed in time | 1 July 2026 |
The same dates apply every year: 1 April on paper, 1 May electronically, 1 July with a tax advisor, moved to the next working day when the date falls on a weekend or holiday. The tax must be paid by the same deadline. Filing more than five working days late costs 0.05% of the tax per day, but a fine under 1,000 CZK is not charged.
Why filing can pay off even when you don't have to
Many expats never ask for the annual settlement and never file, so the tax deducted during the year becomes final. That is where refunds go missing:
- The spouse credit can only be claimed in the annual settlement or a tax return, never monthly. See tax benefits for families.
- Deductions such as mortgage interest, pension and life insurance savings, and donations are applied only once a year.
- Part of the year without work: you arrived in the middle of the year, or had a gap between jobs. The basic credit of 30,840 CZK is a yearly amount, but monthly you only got it for the months you worked. Settling the year usually brings money back.
- Children you did not claim on the payslip can still be claimed for the whole year.
Try the tax refund estimate to see roughly what you could get back.
High salaries
Income tax is 15%, and 23% on the part of the tax base above 1,762,812 CZK a year (2026). A high salary on its own does not oblige you to file: the employer applies the higher rate during the year and can still do the settlement.
Working for a foreign employer
A foreign employer without a Czech payroll does not deduct Czech tax, so there is no annual settlement. You declare the salary in your own Czech tax return and may have to pay tax advances yourself. This is covered in working remotely for a foreign employer.
First and last year in the Czech Republic
In the year you move here or leave, check whether you were a Czech tax resident and from which date. This decides whether your income from abroad belongs in the Czech return. See your first Czech tax return and leaving Czechia.
This guide explains the general rules; your own situation can change the answer.
Related
- Personal income tax return: we file it for you
- Tax refund estimate for employees and the net salary calculator
- Tax benefits for families
- Foreign income and double tax treaties
- Tax residency and the 183-day rule
Official sources: Income Tax Act No. 586/1992 Coll., § 38g and § 38ch (zakonyprolidi.cz); Financial Administration, deadlines for the 2025 return (financnisprava.gov.cz).
