The Czech tax year is the calendar year. When you arrive in, say, May, the year is split between two countries, two employers and often two currencies. Four questions decide what your first Czech return looks like: when you became resident, which income belongs in the return, which tax credits you can claim, and how you avoid paying tax twice.
When your Czech residency starts
- From the day you set up your home here, if you came to live here for good: a rented flat, your family with you, a job here. You are then resident for the rest of the year, and non-resident before.
- From 1 January, if you spend 183 days or more in the Czech Republic in that calendar year. Arriving before early July usually means you pass 183 days, and then Czech law treats you as resident for the whole year, including the months before you came.
If your home country also still treats you as resident, the double tax treaty decides which country you belong to in each part of the year. Usually the treaty gives a clean split: resident in the old country until the move, in the Czech Republic after it. See tax residency.
Which income goes in the return
| Income | In your first Czech return? |
|---|---|
| Czech salary after you arrived | Yes, always |
| Salary from your old employer for work done abroad before the move | Usually taxed in the old country under the treaty. If Czech law makes you resident for the whole year, it is still declared here, and then exempted or credited |
| Foreign salary for work you do from here after the move | Yes: see working remotely for a foreign employer |
| Rent, dividends, interest or shares from abroad while you are resident here | Yes, with the treaty deciding how double tax is avoided |
| Czech income before you became resident | Yes, as non-resident income |
Amounts in foreign currency are converted to CZK, either at the Czech National Bank's daily rate or at the single yearly rate (jednotný kurz) published by the Ministry of Finance. See exchange rates and the currency converter.
Is your Czech employer's settlement enough?
A Czech employer can do the annual tax settlement for you, but only if you signed its tax declaration form (prohlášení poplatníka) and your income that year came only from Czech employers whose declaration you signed, one after the other. In a move year you almost always had other income, such as the salary from your previous employer, so you file your own return. In a move year it is often also where the refund is: the taxpayer credit is a full year's amount even if you only worked here a few months. See do I have to file a tax return as an employee?
Tax credits in your first year
- Taxpayer credit: 30,840 CZK for the year, not reduced for the months before you arrived.
- Children: per month in which the child lived with you in your household. Non-residents only get this if at least 90% of their worldwide income is Czech and they live in the EU or EEA.
- Spouse with low income: for the months of the year you were married and lived together, if the spouse's own income for the whole year stayed under 68,000 CZK.
- Mortgage interest, pension and life insurance savings, donations: under the same conditions as for anyone, mostly limited to Czech products or EU providers.
More in tax benefits for families, and a quick estimate with the tax refund estimate.
Avoiding double tax
The treaty between the Czech Republic and your previous country tells you which country may tax each type of income, and how the other country avoids taxing it again: by leaving it out (exemption, sometimes still counted for the rate) or by subtracting the foreign tax (credit). For the credit you need proof of the tax paid abroad, such as the foreign tax return, a payslip summary or a tax certificate. See foreign income and double tax treaties.
Practical points
- No Czech tax number yet? You do not need one to file. With your first return the tax office registers you; we then use your birth number (rodné číslo) if you have one, or the number the tax office gives you.
- Deadline: 1 April of the following year on paper, 1 May electronically, or 1 July when a tax advisor files it for you. A deadline on a weekend or holiday moves to the next working day.
- Documents: the Czech employer's income statement (potvrzení o zdanitelných příjmech), foreign payslips or year-end statements, proof of foreign tax, bank statements for investment income, your lease or other proof of the date you moved, and birth or marriage certificates for tax credits.
- Health insurance: once you work for a Czech employer or have permanent residence, you are in Czech public health insurance; your employer registers you with the insurer you choose. Others need their own cover, see the visa and residence guide.
- Your old country: most countries expect a final or "emigration" return for the year you leave. Ask your adviser there, and tell them the date you moved, so both returns use the same date.
Quick general questions: ask Taxbot. We file first-year returns as part of our personal income tax return service.
Related
- Tax residency: why the 183-day rule is not the whole story
- Foreign income and double tax treaties
- Do I have to file a Czech tax return as an employee?
- Tax benefits for families
- Leaving Czechia: final tax return, health insurance and what to cancel
This guide is general information, not advice on your own situation.
Official sources: Act No. 586/1992 Coll. on income taxes, §§ 2, 35ba, 35c and 38c; Financial Administration, methodological information on tax residency (2026).
