Self-employed person – definition

In accordance with Act No. 155/1995 Coll., on pension insurance, as amended, the following persons are considered to be self-employed:

• persons pursuing activity as a self-employed person,
• or persons cooperating in the performance of a self-employed activity, if the income from this activity and the costs incurred in connection with this activity can be divided to include this person in accordance with Act No 586/1992 Coll., on income taxes, as amended,
• and who have at the same time completed compulsory school attendance and have reached the age of at least 15 years.

Activity as a self-employed person means:

• performance of a gainful activity on the basis of a trade licence or other authorisation,
• performance of a business in agriculture, if the natural person carrying out the farming is registered in accordance with a special legal regulation,
• performance of a craft on the basis of an authorisation to practice crafts in accordance with special legal regulations,
• performance of the activity of a partner in a limited partnership or a general partner in a limited partnership carried out on behalf of that company,
• performance of artistic or other creative activity on the basis of copyright relationships.

Activity as a self-employed person in the Czech Republic means the performance of an activity as a self-employed persons in the Czech Republic and outside the territory of the Czech Republic, if it is performed on the basis of an authorisation to perform this activity in accordance with Czech legislation. This rule does not apply if, for example, the self-employed person also works abroad. In such a case, it is first necessary to determine which legislation applies; these rules are contained in European law and international agreements. Learn more here.

Types of activities as a self-employed person

From 1 January 2004, a distinction is made between primary and secondary activity as a self-employed person.

• Activity as a self-employed person is always considered to be the major activity, unless the conditions for subsidiary activity as a self-employed person are met or unless the self-employed person has announced that he or she is performing a subsidiary activity.
• Activity as a self-employed person is considered to be subsidiary activity if the self-employed person notifies and, where required, proves the following:
  • that he or she was employed in the relevant calendar year,
  • that he or she was entitled to disability pension or was granted an old-age pension in the relevant calendar year,
  • that he or she was entitled to parental allowance or maternity benefits or sickness benefits due to pregnancy and childbirth in the relevant calendar year, if there is a right to these benefits under the sickness insurance of employed persons,
  • that, in the relevant calendar year, he or she has personally cared for a person under the age of 10 who is dependent on the help of another person in degree I (light dependence) or for a person who is dependent on the help of another person in degree II (moderate dependence) or grade III (severe dependence), or degree IV (complete dependence), if the person who is dependent on the help of another person is a close person or lives with the self-employed person in the same household, unless he or she is a close person,
  • that he or she was a dependent child in the relevant calendar year in accordance with Section 20(4)(a) of Act No. 155/1995 Coll., on pension insurance, as amended (study).

Self-employed person’s insurance number (PIN)

• Czech birth number; or
• The insured person´s registration number, which is assigned by the CSSA at the request of the self-employed person in the event that the self-employed person does not have a birth number.

Note: for the purpose of making insurance premium payments, it is also necessary to state the variable symbol, which is allocated by The District Social Security Administrations (DSSA).