As a Czech tax resident you declare your worldwide income, and pensions are income too. The good news: regularly paid pensions are tax-free up to a generous yearly limit. Only when all your pensions together are above that limit does the pension go in your personal income tax return.
The limit: 36 times the minimum wage
Regularly paid pensions (old-age, disability and widow's pensions) are exempt up to 36 times the minimum wage of 1 January of the year:
| Tax year | Minimum wage | Tax-free pension a year |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 20,800 CZK | 748,800 CZK |
| 2026 | 22,400 CZK | 806,400 CZK |
| 2027 | 24,900 CZK | 896,400 CZK |
- All pensions count together: the Czech pension and the pensions from abroad, converted to CZK.
- Only the part above the limit is taxed, as other income (§10), at 15%. Not the whole pension.
- Your other income does not matter. Until 2015 a pensioner with more than 840,000 CZK of salary, business or rental income lost the exemption completely. The Constitutional Court abolished that rule in 2016 (Pl. ÚS 18/15), so today a job or a trade license next to your pension does not touch the exemption.
- No social security or health insurance is paid on a pension.
In practice, a Czech pension alone almost never reaches the limit. It is crossed when a Czech pension and a pension from a former job abroad add up.
An example
In 2025 you receive a Czech pension of 300,000 CZK and a pension from abroad worth 550,000 CZK, together 850,000 CZK. The first 748,800 CZK is tax-free; 101,200 CZK is taxable. 15% of that is 15,180 CZK, but the basic taxpayer credit (30,840 CZK a year) also applies to pensioners, so with no other income the tax is zero.
You still have to file: taxable income above 50,000 CZK a year means a tax return, even when the tax comes out at zero.
Pensions from abroad and tax treaties
Which country may tax a foreign pension is decided by the double tax treaty between the Czech Republic and the paying country. As a rule of thumb:
- Private and company pensions are usually taxed only in the country where you live, so in the Czech Republic.
- State pensions for government service (civil servants, teachers, the army) are often taxed in the paying country.
- Social security pensions differ per treaty.
When the other country has already withheld tax, the treaty decides how the Czech Republic avoids double tax: by exempting that pension or by crediting the foreign tax. That is why we need a confirmation of the tax withheld, from the pension fund or the tax office there. Even a pension that is taxed abroad can count for the Czech limit and the tax rate. See foreign income and double tax treaties.
A one-off lump sum, or a payout from private pension savings or life insurance, follows different rules than a regular pension. Ask us before you take one.
Working pensioners
- Salary is taxed as usual by your employer, and the basic taxpayer credit applies.
- A trade license next to your old-age pension counts as a secondary activity (vedlejší činnost): social security is only due when your profit is above a yearly threshold, and there is no minimum health insurance, because the state pays it for pensioners. Everything about trade licenses is on tradelicense.cz.
What we need from you
- The yearly pension statement of each pension, Czech and foreign.
- For a foreign pension with tax withheld: the confirmation of that tax.
Below the limit and no other income? Then there is usually nothing to file. Above it, the pension is a part of your tax return.
This guide is general information, not personal tax advice. Taxbot answers follow-up questions from our guides: ask Taxbot.
Related
- Personal income tax return (our service)
- Foreign income and double tax treaties
- Tax residency and the 183-day rule
- Do I have to file as an employee?
Official sources: Income Tax Act No. 586/1992 Coll., §4(1)(h), §10 and §38g (zakonyprolidi.cz); Constitutional Court ruling Pl. ÚS 18/15 (usoud.cz); Financial Administration (financnisprava.cz).
