VAT registration in the Czech Republic (for Czech registered companies and individuals)
Warning: the following information is for those wishing to do the registration themselves. If you don’t wish to do so, please write to or call us, and we’ll happily take care of it: Ludek.Bartak@eibd.cz, tel. +420 603 937 736
Where to find the VAT registration form, how to fill it out, and what documents to attach.
You may become aware that you’re required to register for VAT or feel that registration would be beneficial for you, and you therefore want to register voluntarily. All you have to do is take some action. The process of registering for VAT involves three stages:
Initial distrust of a form that is difficult to understand.
Realising that only a few basic pieces of information are needed, and that the form is actually simple.
Realising that filling out the form is far from enough and that the tax authority requires much more.
Instructions on filling out the form and next steps in registering for VAT.
The online form is available here and can be viewed in pdf in the downloadable documents below. However, be careful: it can only be submitted electronically via adisepo or in xml format via a data box. (i.e. not scanned pdf, not by mail).
Besides identification data about your company or line of business, you should fill in:
Registration type: check “taxpayer”.
Decisive date for the obligation to register: for voluntary registration leave blank; for mandatory registration it’s the 15th day of the month following the month in which you exceeded the turnover limit.
Reason for registration: Section 6f(1) for voluntary registration; Section 6 if turnover is exceeded.
Reason for voluntary registration: “Cooperation with input and output VAT payers”; for mandatory registration, leave blank.
Estimated annual turnover for voluntary payer registration: based on your realistic estimate; however, ideally you should state an amount greater than CZK 1 million.
Bank accounts: here you’ll fill in all the accounts to which your clients make payments.
Refund account: to which account the tax authority should refund excessive VAT deductions; of course, it can be the same as the bank accounts listed above.
Attachments
And that’s all; you can submit the form. Theoretically. If you send it like this, you’ll waste time. After a week or two, the tax authority will ask you to complete the data. You can only prevent them from doing so by providing it with the necessary information even earlier, ideally together with the form. You must draft a cover letter answering the following questions:
- What is your main economic activity? Describe the service you provide or the products you sell.
- Describe the personnel aspects – is your activity carried out by employees, subcontractors, or the business owner only? If you have employees, what technical equipment do you need to provide the services?
- If your activity requires financing, describe how you have secured it (own means/loan).
- List your main suppliers and customers and describe what is being supplied.
- Where the services are provided or the sale of goods takes place and where the actual registered office of the company management is located.
- Who manages your accounting?
Although points 2 to 6 can be described more or less in a few words, point 1 must include detailed information. That you want to buy a car and do so 21% cheaper, however, isn’t what the tax authority wants to hear. You should briefly but logically explain your business plan and ensure that part of the story is that the company will buy goods or services from VAT payers or from abroad and sell goods or services to VAT payers in the Czech Republic. (In the chain of VAT payers, the non-payer would not be competitive because it would increase the price of resold goods or services to its customers).
And now the crucial information: words alone aren’t enough. The cover letter with the above information must be accompanied by as many contracts as possible (concerning work provided, service provision, sales, leases, credit, employment, etc.). Other documents, such as invoices issued and received, budget, website link, marketing materials, etc. are welcome. At a minimum, three external documents should be sent (scanned as with other attachments), but the more, the better. The goal is simply to prove that it’s a real company with a real business plan.
Need help? We can handle the process of registering for VAT for you, free of charge. Write to me on: ludek.bartak@eibd.cz, or call me on: 739 634 583 and we’ll make an appointment.
