Czech Republic VAT Onboarding

Your Czech onboarding in one page

Onboarding is everything between signing up for Czech VAT with Taxually and the day we file your first Czech VAT return. It has three steps, and you are only active in the first one.

1. You tell us about your business and upload your documents in the Taxually portal, and sign one power of attorney. Most clients finish this in one sitting if they have the documents from the checklist at the end of this guide ready.

2. We check everything and file it with the Czech tax authority. We prepare your registration application in the electronic format the Czech authority requires, so there is no registration form for you to fill in. If a document or an answer needs fixing, the portal sends that one item back to you with the reason.

3. The tax authority issues your Czech VAT number, or confirms our authorisation, and we switch on filing.

At the end you have either a new Czech VAT number (DIČ) with an effective date of registration, or your existing Czech registration handed over to Taxually for filing. Your portal shows the status of every item throughout, so you always know whether the next move is yours or ours.

Which path you are on

The service you bought, where your business is established and what you sell decide most of what you will see. Find your row; the rest of this guide points out where your path differs.

Whether you are a company, a partnership or a sole trader does not change the path. It only changes which identity document we ask for and which version of the power of attorney you sign.

What we will ask you

The questions come in short cards. In the portal every question carries a short description and, where it helps, extra information next to it; read those before you answer, they are written for exactly that question. Most questions are straightforward facts about your business; the few that need thought are marked below.

• Your business: legal form, legal name exactly as registered, registered address, incorporation date and registration number, trading name, postal address, and for EU businesses your home VAT number.

• What and where you sell: your product type (physical, digital or both), your product categories, every channel you sell through (Amazon store, Shopify, other marketplaces, your own website) with the storefront link, and any VAT numbers you hold in other countries.

• Who signs for your business: the legal representative's personal details, ID document details, home address, email and phone. These must match the ID you upload and are printed on the power of attorney.

• Bank details: IBAN, BIC or SWIFT, bank name, bank address and the currency of the account. Your bank certificate must show the same details.

• Czech Republic-specific questions: see the boxes below; this is where a wrong answer costs the most.

If you are registering: the start date question

The Czech Republic has no registration threshold for foreign businesses: your VAT obligation starts with your first taxable sale there, typically the first sale of goods held in a Czech warehouse. We ask whether your registration should be effective from an earlier date. If you already sell in the Czech Republic, answer Yes and give the exact date of your first sale; check your sales records or marketplace reports before you answer. If you have not started, answer No and we set the start date from your signup date.

A past date means a retrospective registration: returns for every period since then are filed retrospectively, the tax authority may charge late-registration penalties and interest, and Taxually charges a separate fee for retrospective filings. A wrong date causes far more trouble than an honest past one. Amazon sellers registering from a past date also upload an Amazon report or a sales invoice as proof of that date.

Where your goods are

The Czech application lists where your goods are held. If you sell on Amazon, we list Amazon's Czech fulfilment centres and ask nothing more. If you do not sell on Amazon, we ask whether you store goods in the Czech Republic, in your own or a third-party warehouse, and for the warehouse address.

Your business activity code

The Czech authority records your main activity by its NACE code, the EU's standard classification of business activities. We pre-fill 479100, the code the authority has confirmed for online retailers. Change it only if your main activity is something else. EU businesses usually find their code in their business register entry or tax registration (national versions such as WZ, NAF or ATECO follow the same structure); businesses outside the EU can look up the closest match on Eurostat's NACE page.

If you are transferring an existing registration

Only a few things: your Czech VAT number (DIČ), how often you file your VAT returns (with proof if you file quarterly) and, if you sell physical goods, your Intrastat position. No start-date or warehouse questions.

Documents to have ready

Upload PDF, PNG or JPEG scans. Every detail on a document must match what you typed: name, address, numbers, dates. We and the Czech tax authority compare them line by line, and a mismatch is the most common reason an item comes back.

A transfer needs no Czech VAT certificate and no bank certificate: your Czech VAT number (DIČ) is enough.

Forms we prepare for you

One form needs your signature: the Czech power of attorney (Plná moc), which authorises Taxually to represent your business before the Czech tax authority and to handle your registration and filings. It is bilingual Czech and English and pre-filled from your answers. Download it, sign by hand (the authority does not accept digital signatures on it), do not edit the printed text, scan all pages and upload (PDF, JPEG, PNG or HEIC). The signature must match the one on the ID you uploaded.

The rest needs nothing from you. We prepare your Czech VAT registration application electronically and, for sellers of physical goods, a one-page annex describing your goods, where they are stored and where you sell online. Both appear in your portal marked "no action needed", so you can see what we file.

That is the complete list. The Czech Republic asks for no shareholder documents, bank guarantees, warehouse contracts, marketplace screenshots, translations or legalisations.

After you submit

When every item in the Czech Republic card is complete you press "Confirm all data for Czech Republic". From then on the work is ours and the tax authority's, and the Czech Republic card in your tracking view shows one step per stage.

If something is sent back

The item reopens in your portal with a rejection reason. The reason tells you which of two things to do:

• The document itself is the problem (unreadable, wrong document, a page missing, expired, edited, an ID card where a passport is required, signature does not match your ID): upload the correct document in place of the old one. The earlier upload is kept in the item's history on our side, nothing is lost.

• The document is fine but does not match what you typed (a name, address, number, IBAN or date): leave the document and correct the answer instead, in the card where you entered it, then confirm the card again. If the answer is one of the signup questions (legal form, legal name, address), go back to the Business basics card; the rejection does not yet point you there automatically.

How long it takes

Verification is fastest when the first upload is complete and every detail matches; each item sent back adds a round trip. By law the Czech tax authority has 30 days to decide on a complete application; if it asks for additional information, which we handle with you, the 30 days start again once the information is provided. In practice it usually decides within two to three weeks. These times are outside our control; your tracking view updates as soon as we hear back.

Transferring an existing Czech registration to us

A transfer is the shorter path: your registration already exists, so we only need its details and your authorisation.

1. You tell us your Czech VAT number (DIČ) and, if you sell physical goods, whether you have an Intrastat obligation and for which flows (arrivals, dispatches or both). We also ask how often you file your VAT returns. Most businesses file monthly. If the tax authority has granted you quarterly filing, we ask you to upload your latest quarterly return as filed, or the authority's decision, and we set your filings up as quarterly once we have checked it.

2. You upload your company registration document or business licence, your home tax certificate (where applicable) and the legal representative's ID. No Czech VAT certificate and no bank certificate are needed.

3. You sign the power of attorney (Plná moc), and the Intrastat power of attorney if you have an Intrastat obligation.

4. We file the power of attorney with the Czech tax authority only after the deadline of the last return your previous provider is responsible for, because a new power of attorney replaces the previous one as soon as it is filed. Until then this step shows as waiting, which is expected. Once filed, the authority's confirmation usually takes a few days; the Authorization item in your portal shows Pending until then and Confirmed afterwards. There is nothing for you to do at this step. A note at the top of the Submission step in your portal explains this handover order.

5. We start filing your returns, control statements and Intrastat reports from the next open period. Keep filing with your previous provider until we confirm the handover date with you, so no period is missed.

Frequently asked questions and common blockers

Do I need a fiscal representative in the Czech Republic? No. The Czech Republic lets a foreign business act through an authorised representative under a power of attorney, for EU and non-EU businesses alike. The power of attorney you sign appoints Taxually, and the tax authority sends its correspondence to us.

Which date will my registration start from, and what if it is in the past? From your first taxable sale in the Czech Republic. If you already sell there, give that exact date; it cannot be moved later, and a past date means retrospective returns, possible penalties and interest from the authority, and a separate Taxually fee. If you have not started, we request the registration from your signup date.

I only use Amazon's Czech warehouse. Do I really need a Czech VAT number? Yes. Goods stored in a Czech fulfilment centre and sold from there are Czech taxable sales from the first one, and moving your own stock into or out of the warehouse must also be reported. This is the most common reason our clients register in the Czech Republic.

Why do you ask for my other EU VAT numbers? The Czech application has a section for registrations in other EU member states, and we fill it from the numbers you enter. Missing numbers can affect how your movements of goods between EU countries are treated.

Why do you need a bank certificate and the account currency? The Czech application names the account the authority uses for refunds, and the certificate or statement proves it exists and belongs to your business. We do not use these details to collect our own fees; those are billed separately.

Which product type should I choose? Physical Products for tangible goods, Digital Products and Services for anything delivered without a physical product (software, SaaS, courses, e-books, subscriptions, consulting, design), Both only if you really sell both. It cannot be changed once your subscription is active. A digital seller established outside the EU cannot select the Czech Republic or any other EU country individually; the non-Union One-Stop Shop (EN) is the right choice.

How often will I file? A new Czech registration starts with monthly VAT returns for the year of registration and the following year. Quarterly filing can be requested afterwards if your yearly turnover stays below CZK 15 million. A control statement (kontrolní hlášení) accompanies each return that reports transactions; a nil return needs none. Companies file the control statement and the EC Sales List monthly even when their VAT return is quarterly. We tell you your schedule when your Czech VAT number (DIČ) arrives. If you transfer an existing registration, we keep your current frequency; quarterly only where you gave us proof.

What is Intrastat? The statistical report on goods moving between EU countries. It applies only once your arrivals into or dispatches out of the Czech Republic cross about CZK 15 million a year per flow. We ask about it when you transfer an existing registration.

Before you start: a short checklist

• Your registration document (companies: register extract or certificate of incorporation; sole traders: business licence, showing your trading name if you want it registered) and your home tax certificate, as scans

• The legal representative's passport (or, for a representative based in the EU, passport or ID card), both sides, not expired, plus their date and place of birth, nationality, home address, email and phone

• Your business bank details (IBAN, BIC, bank name and address, account currency) and a bank certificate or statement on the bank's letterhead

• Registering: the exact date of your first sale in the Czech Republic if you already sell there; Amazon sellers also an Amazon report or sales invoice showing it

• Registering without Amazon: whether you store goods in the Czech Republic and the warehouse address

• Every online channel you sell through, with its storefront link, and any VAT numbers you hold in other countries

• Transferring: your Czech VAT number (DIČ), your filing frequency (proof if quarterly) and your Intrastat position

• A printer and a scanner, or a phone camera, for the signed power of attorney

With these at hand, the whole first step usually fits in one sitting.