{"id":14396,"date":"2026-09-12T15:04:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T13:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/consultoriaehero.com\/?p=14396"},"modified":"2026-09-12T19:48:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T17:48:47","slug":"vat-in-czechia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/consultoriaehero.com\/en\/vat-in-czechia\/","title":{"rendered":"VAT in Czechia in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Czechia, VAT is called da\u0148 z p\u0159idan\u00e9 hodnoty<\/em>, DPH for everyone. It has a general rate of 21 %<\/strong>, which has not changed since 1 January 2013, and a single reduced rate of 12 %<\/strong>. These are set by \u00a7 47 of the VAT Act (z\u00e1kon \u010d. 235\/2004 Sb.<\/em>), and most of what goes to 12 % is listed in its Annexes 2, for services, and 3, for goods. A few things go to 12 % under their own article and you will not find them in those annexes: heat and cold, social housing, and electronic press. Be careful with tables from before 2024: until 31 December 2023 there were two reduced rates, 15 % and 10 %, and on 1 January 2024 they were merged into one.<\/p>\n

There is a third case that technically is not a rate but behaves like 0 %: books. Since 2024 they have been exempt with the right to deduct, and that includes shipping. This is what will change your store setup the most, so I go into more detail below.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Rate<\/th>\nPercentage<\/th>\nApplies to<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
General (z\u00e1kladn\u00ed sazba)<\/span><\/td>\n21 %<\/strong><\/td>\nEverything the law does not expressly send to 12 % or to exemption: clothing, footwear, electronics, cosmetics, household goods, toys. Since 2024 also beverages \u2014 juices, bottled water and soft drinks \u2014, cut flowers and decorative foliage, firewood, and advertising leaflets and brochures, which used to be at a reduced rate. Alcoholic drinks are at 21 %: as products, wine and bottled beer were already there before 2024, and the ones that left the reduced rate that year were juices, waters and soft drinks. There is one case that did change, although it does not affect a store: draft beer served in hospitality was at 10 % from 1 May 2020 within restaurant services and on 1 January 2024 it went back to 21 %, like the rest of the drinks served<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Reduced (sn\u00ed\u017een\u00e1 sazba)<\/span><\/td>\n12 %<\/strong><\/td>\nFood, feed and food supplements, except beverages: of those, only milk, liquid dairy products, their plant-based alternatives (soy, oat, almond) and tap drinking water remain here. Coffee and tea in dry form \u2014 beans, ground, leaf or in bags \u2014 are at 12 %; served in a cup, at 21 %. Syrups, powdered drinks and instant mixes remain at 12 %, because they do not count as beverages. Also live plants and seeds, medicines, medical devices in Annex 3, prescription glasses and contact lenses when they are medical devices, child car seats, newspapers and magazines in print and digital, accommodation, catering, collective passenger transport by road and inland waterway \u2014 scheduled air travel and taxis are at 21 % \u2014, tickets to culture and sport, and heat and cold<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Exempt with deduction (osvobozen\u00ed od dan\u011b s n\u00e1rokem na odpo\u010det dan\u011b)<\/span><\/td>\n0 %<\/strong><\/td>\nBooks, illustrated books, drawing and colouring books, non-advertising brochures and loose sheets, sheet music and maps, in print or digital, and the sound recording of their content. Excluded are those with more than 50 % advertising and those consisting mainly of music or video<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Rates verified on 12 September 2026 against the information \u00abInformace GF\u0158 ke zm\u011bn\u00e1m sazeb DPH od 1. 1. 2024\u00bb from Finan\u010dn\u00ed spr\u00e1va, the Czech Tax Administration, which includes as annexes the full lists of Annexes 2 and 3 of the VAT Act (financnisprava.gov.cz<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n

Books are 0 %, and book shipping too<\/h2>\n

Since 1 January 2024<\/strong>, Czechia does not tax books: \u00a7 71i of the VAT Act declares them exempt with the right to deduct<\/strong>. This is not the usual kind of exemption. The bookseller does not charge VAT to the customer and still deducts all input VAT, so the price really goes down. The invoice shows no VAT amount, and anyone taxable in Czechia reports those sales on line 26 of the return.<\/p>\n

The exemption covers the printed book and its digital equivalent: download, email delivery, online reading, lending and rental, and also the sound recording of the content, i.e. the audiobook. Two cases are excluded: anything with more than 50 % advertising<\/strong> and anything consisting exclusively or mainly of musical or audiovisual content. Since 1 January 2025<\/strong>, loose sheets, let\u00e1k<\/em>, have also been included; until then they were excluded even if they were a medicine leaflet. The definition was broadened because in practice there was no way to distinguish a let\u00e1k<\/em> from a bro\u017eura<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The detail almost nobody configures: Finan\u010dn\u00ed spr\u00e1va says the exemption also covers the ancillary costs<\/strong> under \u00a7 36.4 and expressly mentions packaging and transport of the book<\/strong>. If the order contains only books, shipping is also 0 %. If you mix a book with a mug, you have to split the taxable base and shipping is no longer fully exempt.<\/p>\n

And the trap that catches people out: press did not go down with books. Newspapers and magazines remain at 12 %<\/strong>, both in print and digital. If you sell books and magazines, those are two different tax classes in the same store.<\/p>\n

Which VAT you charge customers in Czechia if you sell from another EU country<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.<\/p>\n